At an ad hoc meeting of the committee of permanent representatives (Coreper) on Friday morning 12 May, national delegations, with the notable exception of Germany, approved the compromise tabled by the Maltese Presidency of the Council of the EU on the regulation on the approval and market surveillance of motor vehicles.
“The Maltese Presidency is very pleased, especially as this was is particularly sensitive issue and we are very proud of the result we have achieved”, said Maltese Presidency spokesperson Pablo Miccalef. This was a matter to which the Maltese Presidency had given particular importance, doubling the number of technical-level meetings (see EUROPE 11748). The satisfaction and relief were clear to see among the delegations, according to a diplomatic source who said that, “very unusually”, applause had rung out at the end of the meeting.
The only point that remains outstanding is Article 90 on administrative fines and the issue of acts delegated to the European Commission. The subsidiarity principle was underlined by a number of delegations fearing overlaps between administrative fines and the fines that member states can impose.
Some eastern European states, notably Bulgaria, Romania and the Czech Republic, are reported to have expressed reservations on the Article dealing with market surveillance, arguing that this monitoring was, first and foremost, a matter of national responsibility.
Germany, quite simply, did not support the text, taking the view that the text was not fully developed. This is a position that “has no sense”, according to a diplomatic source, who noted that the German proposals relate to points that have been covered many times at the technical level. A further source told EUROPE that the German proposals related to an earlier version of the text.
The Commission is said to be rather pleased with the compromise as the main pillars “have been kept in place”. It regrets, however, the lack of ambition on certain points, such as the objectives for control of national market surveillance.
The compromise will be discussed by the competent ministers at the Competitiveness Council on 29 May when a general approach will be agreed. Only then will it be possible to open negotiations with the European Parliament, which adopted its position in April (see EUROPE 11761). (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)