All member states are supporting the European Commission proposal to set up an information exchange forum on the approval of motor vehicles. According to a progress report from the Maltese Presidency, consulted by EUROPE on Tuesday 14 February, they are, however, divided on the specifics of its role and the constraints imposed upon the positions it is able to take.
"Strong” or “weak” forum?” As previously reported by EUROPE last month (see EUROPE 11711), the member states are divided amongst those that consider that this forum should simply be an exchange forum and those that see it as an instrument for implementing European legislation. The United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands and Germany appear to be more in favour of a “strong” forum, whilst Italy, Spain, Poland, Romania and Bulgaria are more in favour of a “weak” casting.
The Maltese Presidency has explained that the working party discussions have demonstrated that it is necessary to clarify the tasks of the said forum, in an effort to avoid any divergences of interpretation among the member states.
Commission follow-up on vehicle compliance and approval authorities. On the subject of the future Commission role and ensuring compliance of vehicles and the approval authorities with European legislation, many delegations have expressed doubts about the added value of this kind of provision. They highlight, on the contrary, the importance of the Commission’s role remaining connected to the coordination of best practices and know-how. Other delegations, however, believe the Commission should verify respect for European legislation so that implementation is done in a standard manner.
Period of type approval certificate. The Commission proposed that certificate validity should be set at five years. Some delegations, however, expressed a preference for maintaining the current unlimited system. Others support the proposal. The Maltese Presidency stated that it wanted to find the right balance between the two groups of member states and that it would, in any case, seek to avoid any unnecessary addition of red tape.
Peer reviews of national approval authorities. The European Commission has introduced the concept of peer reviews by the national authorities responsible for motor-vehicle approval. Again, two mutually opposed groups began to take shape at the Council, with those in favour of strengthened standard implementation and those that had concerns about introducing new administrative procedures, explained the Presidency.
Other questions will be debated in a dossier that is still technically and politically very complicated and is creating significant sluggishness in moving forward by the co-legislators (see EUROPE 11719), as well as a certain dissatisfaction at the European Commission. The latter would like to move forward more quickly on this initiative, which was presented more than a year ago, following the diesel emission defeat device software scandal.
One diplomatic source points out, however, that this commitment applies to the Maltese Presidency and not the Council.
After a number of successive postponements in the vote, on Thursday 9 February, the European Parliament adopted, during an internal market and consumer protection committee meeting, the particularly controversial report by Daniel Dalton (ECR, United Kingdom) (see EUROPE 11722). (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)