Brussels, 03/07/2013 (Agence Europe) - MEPs have significantly reoriented the Commission's goals in its draft review of the rules on vehicle controls for improving road safety. They adopted a negotiating mandate with the Council for the three reports making up this package (technical roadside inspections for commercial vehicles and periodic technical inspections for motor vehicles and their trailers, and vehicle registration documents) so that the procedure can be concluded in a first reading.
Despite a few last-minute hitches, MEPs agreed a position on motorbike inspections. These will be compulsory throughout Europe from 2016 for motorbikes and 2018 for lighter vehicles. Trailers weighing more than 2 tonnes and caravans of more than 750 kg will also be subject to these rules, in an effort to harmonise rules throughout Europe. Despite these adjustments, MEPs stuck to the spirit of the Commission text, which was appreciated by the European Commissioner for Transport, Siim Kallas, who said: “I am glad that the European Parliament takes the view that motorcycles need to undergo technical checks. Technical inspections of motorcycles will be a step forward to reach our road safety target to halve the number of road fatalities by 2020 and towards vision zero”.
On the other hand, MEPs did not support the convoluted Commission proposal on annual tests for older vehicles (first test after four years, then two years later and then every year thereafter). Parliament preferred to maintain the current minimum requirements of inspections after four years, followed by annual controls.
In the context of roadside inspections, MEPs sought to establish a system for evaluating operator risk. Olga Sehnalova (S&D, Czech Republic), the rapporteur, explained that there was a need to “classify them on the basis of their risk profile and on a gradual basis, not before three years”. She said that this would enable the national authorities to better target controls and “reduce the costs for those whose car maintenance is good”.
Finally, on the question of vehicle registration, national authorities are expected to maintain an electronic trace of documents, which will help facilitate data exchange between countries to tackle the trafficking in stolen vehicles more effectively. (MD/transl.fl)