It is estimated that Leaseurope represents approximately 96% of the European leasing market. In 2008, 330 billion euros of new leasing volumes were granted by the firms represented through Leaseurope's members, contributing to financing on average 18% of total European investment. Moreover, these firms are responsible for the leasing and rental of around 16 million cars throughout Europe.

What's new?

In the spotlight

"Being already 12 months in the Chair, I felt it would be worthwhile sharing with you some of my thoughts about our Federation.
 
EU and international developments increasingly impact on our industry. Also, the financial crisis will most likely result in more regulation, especially in the field of supervision.
 
Therefore the need for our industry to have a very strong voice at EU and international level is absolutely obvious.
 
Leaseurope is that voice.
 
Given the complexity of some of the issues at stake, it is imperative that enough expertise be made available to Leaseurope. Some national associations are, in my opinion, still a bit too shy with that respect: they should not fear staffing Leaseurope’s working groups with real experts. This is indeed what we need: strong, well thought-through, high quality, substantiated positions!  Everything is not always 'political' and there are a number of issues that can be best discussed by real practitioners, people with hands-on experience ... Member associations should not fear that, as they can always veto a position in due course. Although this is somewhat theoretical as in practice I note that the Secretariat is very good at finding compromise wording anyway.
 
That being said, I am fully aware of the political dimension of most of the things we do. As a matter of fact I believe it is essential to adopt a political approach on top of a technical approach.  Both approaches are not exclusive from one another but rather complement one another.
 
This is precisely what we are doing in the lease accounting field: combining technical expertise and high level meetings with the policy-makers, taking due account of the highly political context.
 
(…)
 
The Federation has been particularly active over the last 12 months as the Activities Report, which comes next on the agenda, will demonstrate. Those efforts are bearing fruit as evidenced in the achievements sheet that has been distributed to you. It is therefore no surprise if Leaseurope attracts more and more interest. The joining of the BVRLA earlier this year is particularly worth highlighting in that respect and should be interpreted as a confirmation that the decision to integrate ECATRA into Leaseurope was the right one. And indeed as a recognition of the quality of Leaseurope's work in the automotive leasing and rental field.
 
Which brings me to the size of our Federation - By Brussels standards, and looking at the number of member associations, Leaseurope is a big association. Given the diversity of the industries represented, and the limited resources available to the Federation, it is essential to prioritize the work. The priority setting mechanism put in place two years ago is a corner stone of our structure and work methodology. The various Committees and Groups will soon be asked to identify their priorities for 2010. This priority setting will be carried out using a written procedure. Therefore all member associations will have the opportunity to shape the future work programme of the Federation. Let me insist on the importance of this exercise, the outcome of which will determine the scope of Leaseurope's activities going forward.
 
The visibility of the Federation has increased a lot over the last few years. A new website, a newsletter, an increased presence in the media, a new logo, high quality research reports being published, are just some of the recent major improvements. This is good news and I will see to it that our visibility is further raised in the next 12 months, be it through possible media partnership or additional research and market surveys. Also I intend to discuss with the Director General his idea of changing premises which has undoubtedly some merit. The premises currently occupied by the Federation are not entirely practical and might not necessarily reflect the strength of our industry and convey the right image.
 
This year's Annual Convention has, once again, attracted a high number of participants, despite the difficult economic and financial environment. This shows that the decision not to cancel the event but simply to downsize it was the good one.  (…) I am well aware of the strains the organisation of such a big event put on the Secretariat and I intend to initiate a debate on this issue by the end of my term as Chair.
 
Which leaves me twelve months only - Twelve months also to find a successor. In that respect, the informal process has already started and will soon enter into a formal finding procedure in accordance with the Articles of Association of the Federation."

Rüdiger von Fölkersamb
Chairman