Laws & Regulations

BRUSSELS, India - The EU and India are intensifying bilateral contacts again with a view to concluding negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA). European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced during her speech in Davos that the first trip of the new Commission would be to India. "Together with Prime Minister Modi, we want to upgrade the strategic partnership with the largest country and democracy in the world," she said.

BRUSSELS, Belgium - "Riding manipulated e-bikes on public roads may result in serious legal consequences," writes the European industry confederation CONEBI. The national industry associations and companies operating under the aegis of CONEBI speak out altogether against any kind of manipulation of e-bikes and e-bike drive systems to increase the performance of the maximum supported assistance speed.

LONDON, UK - The UK Government has accepted the recommendation to revoke anti-dumping and countervailing measures on imports of Chinese non-folding e-bikes to the UK. The measure which came into force from 7 February 2025 will open the market to cheaper e-bikes.

BRUSSELS, Belgium - The reaction to the EU's recent decision to extend the anti-dumping and countervailing measures against imports e-bike from China doesn't come near the heavy discussions six years ago when the measures were implemented for the first time. For that reason, LEVA-EU now draws attention to the cheap and non-compliant e-bike from China and the complex exemption processes for 'made in China' e-bike components.

BRUSSELS, Belgium - When the new battery regulation came into place in August 2023, a lot of attention from the bicycle industry was given to 'Article 11' on repairability. The European Commission has now published guidelines to facilitate the introduction of this part of the regulation, and specifically the much-discussed topic of single-cell replacement.

LONDON, England - Following a public consultation process, the UK's Department for Transport has decided against implementing new legislation for e-bikes in the country. Under discussion were raising the maximum continuous power classification of e-bikes from 250 watts to 500 watts and allowing throttle assistance up to 25 km/h on e-bikes without the need for type approval.

LONDON, UK - The UK Government has accepted the recommendation to revoke anti-dumping and countervailing measures on imports of Chinese non-folding e-bikes to the UK. The measure which came into force from 7 February 2025 will open the market to cheaper e-bikes.

BRUSSELS, Belgium - The reaction to the EU's recent decision to extend the anti-dumping and countervailing measures against imports e-bike from China doesn't come near the heavy discussions six years ago when the measures were implemented for the first time. For that reason, LEVA-EU now draws attention to the cheap and non-compliant e-bike from China and the complex exemption processes for 'made in China' e-bike components.

BRUSSELS, Belgium - The European Commission announced this morning to maintain the anti-dumping as well as countervailing duties on e-bikes imported from China for another 5 years. The Commission has opted for the imposition of per company targeted dumping duties. The dumping duties vary from 9.9% for Giant Electric Vehicle up to 70.1% for a group of non-cooperative companies.

LUXEMBOURG, Luxembourg - Four suspects have been arrested in The Netherlands on suspicion of large-scale customs fraud involving bicycles imported from China. The value of the alleged fraud is over €7 million.

I'm writing this blog while sitting on a train to Amsterdam. Once I arrive and walk to my destination, I'll need to watch out for a fairly recent phenomenon: fatbikes. I live in a quiet little village, so I thought it wasn't that big of a deal. But whenever I come to Amsterdam, I suddenly understand the alarming Dutch news headlines much better. These things can be dangerous!

As I wrote in one of my earlier blogs, the upcoming General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR) is food for many more blogs to come. It contains many provisions that go far beyond the current EU General Product Safety Directive (GPSD). In this blog, I would like to draw attention to a new obligation that is introduced in the GPSR: accident reporting.

Interesting news from Recall Land. The safety of Apple's iPhone 12 has come under scrutiny, as per findings from French regulatory authorities. Their testing revealed that this particular smartphone model did not comply with the legal limits set for radiation emissions. This news is notable not only for the reported safety issue, but perhaps even more so for the safety issues that went unreported.

The rapid growth of e-commerce has transformed the way we shop, allowing us to purchase a wide range of products conveniently from online marketplaces. However, this convenience also brings certain risks, particularly when it comes to product safety.