International Road Maintenance Day 2019

On 4 April 2019 the 2^nd International Road Maintenance Day (IRMD) will be held. The motto of this year’s edition will be “Maintaining roads is protecting the environment”. The goals and aims of the IRMD are stated in a manifesto.
The core of this manifesto can be summarised as: Maintaining pavements in an appropriate condition with even road surfaces and adequate texture, contributes to lower rolling resistance and therefore to the reduction of CO2 emissions from road transport. This will be of help in the fight against climate change in the transport sector. Therefore, it is necessary to do proper road maintenance to meet the climate targets established at the COP21 of Paris and other national environmental strategies.
Please be active on Social Media to support the IRMD. Using 5 times the hashtag #IRMD2019 in your tweets or retweeting 5 times from @IRMD2019 you could become a #IRMDFriend and you will be included in the related list on the website.
If you publish a card of IRMD 2019 in your magazine or newsletter you will become member of the #IRMDMedia-list on the website.
For more information please go on the IRMD website https://roadmaintenanceday.org and check the hashtag #IRMD2019.

Conclusions of the latest European Council meeting

With 140 member organisations from across the EU and spanning most sectors of the economy, Industry4Europe is helping to set the vision for the long-term future of the EU’s industrial and manufacturing strategy. The European Asphalt Pavement Association is part of this coalition.

Before the latest meeting of the European Council on 21 and 22 March 2019 the Industry4Europe coalition had released a Joint Call to all Heads of State and Government for a proactive and coordinated leadership of EU leaders to make sure that Europe remains a hub for a leading, smart, innovative and sustainable industry, that benefits all Europeans and future generations. This joint call was supported by 136 European and 396 national industrial associations amongst them EAPA.

After this meeting the European Council published its conclusions. Among other key topics, the Heads of State and Government are insisting on “the importance of a globally integrated, sustainable and competitive industrial base” and calling for “an assertive industrial policy allowing the EU to remain an industrial power”.
Furthermore, the Heads of State and Government are inviting the European Commission to “present, by the end of 2019, a long-term vision for the EU’s industrial future, with specific measures to implement it”, addressing “the challenges European industry faces and touching upon all relevant policy areas”.
This announcement makes the update of the Industry4Europe 2017 Joint Paper even more important as it will allow the coalition to provide input to the European Commission before it presents its long-term strategy.

Industry4Europe has published several Joint Papers and Declarations on establishing an ambitious Industrial Strategy, which you can find on the publications page. For more information on the Industry4Europe Coalition go to https://www.industry4europe.eu/

The 11^th EAPA Symposium will be held on 6 June 2019 in Paris with a networking dinner in the evening before. Under the heading “The future of the asphalt industry” EAPA will inform the participants about the latest news of the asphalt sector concerning current and future topics. The Symposium provides an excellent opportunity for networking, information exchange and discussions; it will be held at La Maison des Travaux Publics, 3 rue de Berri, 75008 Paris, France, close to the Champs Elysées.

International Symposium about the use of ground penetrating radar (GPR) technology for quality control of compaction and homogeneity of asphalt pavements
Date: 2 April 2019
Place: Stockholm, Sweden
Organised by the Swedish Transport Administration together with the paving industry

The 6th International Seminar “Asphalt pavements 2019”
Date: 4 and 5 April 2019
Place: Opatija, Croatia (Local Name: Hrvatska)
Organised by the Croatian Asphalt Association