EFESME and ANACAM Partner

Strong cooperation on the national level aims to make for a stronger European federation.

submitted by EFESME

The European Federation of Elevator Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (EFESME) believes its success as an organization for the protection of European SMEs in the elevator sector is largely based on collaboration with and among its members. Among them, ANACAM (Italian elevator association) plays a particularly active role within the federation, thanks to its history and structure, and to the national market it represents.

Understanding Brussels’ Importance

The European presence of EFESME is the direct consequence of the expression of some perceived needs at the national associative level, with ANACAM at the forefront in intercepting these new dynamics. Fifteen years ago, stakeholders in the elevator (as well as many other) industries realized the focus of decision-making power was shifting unequivocally and incontrovertibly from the single European capitals to Brussels. This shift, caused and then strengthened by the presence of the most important European institutions in the Belgian capital, was proof of the growing interest of the European Union (EU) in creating a stable and regulated internal market, so as to offer both workers and consumers clear rules to be respected, enforced and known. With the shift in the legislative initiatives’ power, decision-making power itself and ability to produce shareable regulations and rules, the need for representation in Brussels became clear.

The strategic importance of Brussels for stakeholders, then as now, is undeniable. Reasons include the proximity to the institutions, not only geographically, but also in a similar mentality and an overall vision by a European association. This often complements a more entrepreneurial vision of the associations closely linked to and protecting industry. The change in decision-making dynamics at the legislative level prompts stakeholders to redefine their field of action — to underline each other. The EU’s firm intention is to strengthen the internal market, providing common rules considering as many actors as possible. 

Such aspects, so important on a continental level, prompted five national associations to found EFESME in 2005. Three founding associations were Italian, demonstrating the importance of the Italian market in the elevator sector, and its weight at the European level by its number of SMEs, number of workers involved (in various roles) and level of earnings. Among these, ANACAM is a dynamic and efficient example of how a national member can make an indispensable contribution for SMEs, not only at a national level, but also at a European level with EFESME.

ANACAM, a Dynamic EFESME Cornerstone

The crucial participation and commitment of our members has been shown in the federation’s activities and projects over the years. EFESME has created a stable network of contacts and knowledge, to make the constant pursuit of important objectives at the European level possible. In this context, the strong participation of the Italian association within EFESME’s activities has proved to be often fundamental and always valuable, both in contributions to projects and in unveiling the challenges to be faced together — to protect SMEs that both ANACAM, at the national level, and EFESME, at the European level, represent, protect and support. 

Among our members, ANACAM is one of the most active. Such a strong presence is due to multiple factors that have allowed the Italian elevator industry to be more active and involved than some other markets represented within the federation. First, the importance of the Italian elevator market is relevant. In fact, until 15-20 years ago, Italy was the largest market globally for number of lifts installed, and it represented the main market in turnover given by lift component manufacturers. (Today, Italy has 1 million installed lifts.) As such, part of the Italian motivation to found EFESME revolved around the idea of having an association able to manage and guarantee the quality of the markets. This happened before the advent of Asian components and the opening up of those markets, but the substance remains the same: the Italian market played and still plays an important role as an active player in the development of a control body to protect the interests of SMEs.

Second, ANACAM is a solid national federation with a stable and well-organized structure, actively present in the territory in a capillary way as it involves its 400-plus associates in its activities, seminars and initiatives at regional and national levels. This is also due to and facilitated by the Italian socioeconomic fabric, historically based on a dense network of SMEs that collaborate with each other. Nevertheless, the merits of ANACAM are countless and undeniable. Evidence of its fundamental importance for its members can be seen in its longevity: next year, it will celebrate its 50th year.

These reasons are why, over the years, ANACAM has gradually become and remained a permanent pillar in EFESME activities. Among other things, the association expresses three of the most important positions within EFESME and, therefore, actively participates in the development of activities and projects shared with other members. EFESME President Massimo Bezzi, General Secretary Luciano Faletto and Policy Officer Luca Incoronato are each part of the Italian elevator market in different ways, either as an SME owner, industry consultant or association manager, and are directly involved in the activities of ANACAM, of which Incoronato is director and Bezzi is a board member.

Furthermore, many experts directly involved in EFESME’s activities within standardization bodies (such as CEN-CENELEC and ETSI at the European level and the International Organization for Standardization at the international level, as well as within countless other working groups in contact with European institutions) comes from ANACAM. These same experts are often SME owners themselves. As such, they also collaborate with the association at the national level. This creates a virtuous circle of events and knowledge, moving from national to European to international level and vice-versa to give to SMEs represented by EFESME and ANACAM the best possible support and a completeness of information that would be difficult to reach otherwise. Moreover, thanks to the dense network of contacts created at the national level, ANACAM is always involved in EFESME events at the European level, both as a guest and as a speaker, acting as a point of contact between different realities and bringing examples and case studies from one of the most consolidated and ambitious national associations into the discussion.

ANACAM Proactiveness Benefits EFESME

As ANACAM represents a strong, active, high-quality elevator market, it knows the details of problems that affect Italian SMEs and their European counterparts. It is also well-positioned to interpret the needs and requests that are important to bring to the attention of Europe’s decision-makers. ANACAM’s dense calendar of seminars, meetings and training courses allows the association to collect important information it forwards to the federation, so that it can be used at the European level to support the development of standards and policies in favor of SMEs.

Likewise, EFESME’s European concerns present themselves well to its Italian national counterpart. There is always a way to discuss EFESME’s activities during the ANACAM General Assemblies, just as the federation frequently participates in the initiatives of the Italian association — for example, at the new ANACAM National Assembly, taking place on June 18-20 in Milan. Such events often dedicate space to EFESME to illustrate its activities or whose work the experts present and are valid examples of how to bring the results obtained in Europe to the local level. More importantly, these events allow the experts to explain, without the often-complicated European jargon, the practical consequences of EFESME’s work for SMEs at the European level.

The importance of ANACAM for EFESME’s activities is multiple, well-articulated, and a source of ideas and projects. On one hand, from a more political point of view, the Italian association is an excellent channel to ensure the information and results obtained at the European level are translated at the national level, giving the necessary explanations where the European approach is not particularly practical. Mirrorlike, ANACAM proves to be a constant and valid spokesperson for Italian SMEs and can formulate advice and guidelines so national and local bodies communicate with EFESME. Moreover, it is also fundamental to underline the more technical contribution ANACAM brings to EFESME with its experts and positions it expresses within the federation. 

As a European federation, we are proud to have such a member and to be able to organize events, conferences and projects knowing we have the support of an active, involved and present association. We are confident this European and national collaboration will continue steadily in the years to come and that the positive contributions represented by ANACAM will remain a fixed point in EFESME’s work.