FEMA have issued the following announcement to all member organisations:
The European Parliament decided this week that motorcycle gear is protective clothing that will have to meet European standards.
Until now only protective (motorcycle) gloves, boots and impact protectors were seen as protective gear and had to meet certain standards. Today the European parliament decided to include all motorcycle gear in the new protective personal equipment (PPE) regulation.
MAG Ireland is a founder member of FEMA
This means, that in a few years’ time all motorcycle gear that is sold in Europe has to meet the same safety standards. They will have to provide a minimum amount of protection against abrasion and impact.
Just like with boots and gloves now, there must be a label inside the gear that confirms that the gear meets the European standards and what level of protection is provided. Also information about maintenance, storage and use must be given to the buyer.
The exact standards and when all motorcycle gear in the shops must meet them are not known yet. It might even take some years. FEMA will inform the riders of all new developments.
This new regulation does not mean that riders are obliged to wear only approved clothing. This regulation is about selling approved protective clothing and not about wearing it. As far as we know the European Commission has no plans to make the wear of approved motorcycle gear mandatory.
FEMA’s General Secretary Dolf Willigers commented:
“When all motorcycle gear meets the standard you know what amount of protection you can expect. This is consumer protection we don’t have now. Of course the new standards will have to meet the needs of the riders, but with the information we have now I have all confidence that this will be the case. As long as the European authorities will not use these standards to force riders to wear only approved motorcycle gear, and we will see to it that this will not happen, standardization of motorcycle gear is a good thing for riders.”
Helmets and visors are outside the scope of this regulation: they are covered by UN ECE Regulation no. 22.
Original Source: http://www.fema-online.eu/website/index.php/2016/01/20/new-european-rules-for-motorcycle-gear/