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European Sunlight Association

voice of the european indoor tanning industry

Who We Are

The European Sunlight Association a.s.b.l. (ESA) was originally established in 2002 to promote benefits of sunbed use and provide balanced information on the risks and benefits of UV light. Today ESA is recognised by all stakeholders as the representative European association for and the voice of the European indoor tanning industry.

Who We Represent

The European Sunlight Association (ESA) represents national indoor tanning associations and leading manufacturers of indoor tanning equipment. ESA currently has 24 members from 15 countries, of which 12 are EU countries. Through its national associations and individual company membership, ESA represents most indoor tanning facilities, manufacturers and distributors of indoor tanning equipment in Europe.

Indoor tanning facilities are mostly privately-owned small and medium-sized enterprises, which play a strong role in their local economy. The association represents some 20,000 indoor tanning facilities with approximately 120,000 sunbeds in use, employing nearly 130,000 people in Europe. The annual turnover of the indoor tanning industry (manufacturers, dealers and studios) is about 2.5 billion Euros. Note: The above numbers do not include businesses that provide indoor tanning as an additional service such as fitness studios, hairdressers, beauticians etc.

Our Industry Commitment

We, the voice of the European indoor tanning industry, pledge to: 

  • Maintain constructive dialogue with the EU and Member State national authorities on policy, standards, and implementation.
  • Collaborate on safety standards across the value chain to ensure the highest possible level of customer safety.
  • Systematically trigger an operator’s exclusion from national and European professional associations if they fail to abide by the standards.
  • Work towards wide scale implementation of the new European Standard on training & service provision and ensure informed advice to customers on sunbed use and exposure schedule.
  • Continue to support and promote research on the effects of UV radiation.
  • Invest in innovative and safe tanning solutions.

 

We ask the EU and Member State governments for:

  • Effective, comprehensive and consistent market surveillance to verify compliance with existing legislation and standards, to complement the measures already taken by the industry.
  • Acknowledgement of the initiatives taken by the industry and support for the implementation of the new European Standard on training & service provision, with a view to making it mandatory.
  • A balanced approach to sunbed use, looking both at the risks and benefits of UV radiation, especially given a growing awareness of the risks associated with Vitamin D deficiency.
Christian Schraft

Chairman

Christian Schraft

Jens-Uwe Reimers

Treasurer

Jens-Uwe Reimers

Stefan Dressendörfer

Secretary

Stefan Dressendörfer

Frank Harbusch

Secretary General

Frank Harbusch

Jovana Vukovic Kolmacic

Legal Advisor

Jovana Vukovic Kolmacic

Jonas Noswitz

Communications Officer

Jonas Noswitz


Our Values and Code of Conduct

ESA is promoting safe, controlled and informed use of sunbeds in compliance with EU legislation.

For this purpose, ESA has developed a binding European Code of Conduct for every tanning studio affiliated with one of the member associations of the European Sunlight Association. This code indicates how the quality and safety of tanning and related services are to be carried out. Employees of these indoor tanning facilities are bound by this code.

Moreover, ESA wants to promote the image of a responsible sunbed’s industry by publicly showing that its members comply with the following set of rules:

  • Ethics and fair competition rules[1];
  • Competition rules as they apply in the EU and in other major developed economies in the world.

The following Guidelines apply to ESA, including all working groups, individual members, and any sub-group within the association, irrespective of size and name.

[1] « Members » means both effective and affiliated members as defined in Article 6 of the ESA Statutes