European transport ministers, meeting in Council on Thursday June 5 in Luxembourg, discussed for the first time the proposal to update EU road safety rules. While the directive’s objectives are widely shared, the ministers remain unconvinced by certain measures.
Presented in April by the European Commission, this revision concerns three European directives applicable to vehicle inspections, vehicle registration and roadside inspections of commercial vehicles (see EUROPE 13627/8).
Overall, the Council was in favour of digitalising registration documents. However, the Luxembourg representative was sceptical about including a history of previous owners or holders.
The ministers are also in favour of exchanging data between Member States - which should help limit fraud involving second-hand vehicles - and of harmonising this data and its format at European level. “From an economic point of view, the reform will enable a more effective fight against fraud, in particular by monitoring mileage and technical modifications”, said the Belgian minister, Jean-Luc Crucke.
Italy and Austria do not want vehicle databases to be interconnected via the ‘MoveUp’ system, but rather via the ‘EUCARIS’ vehicle and driving licence information system, to which 32 countries belong.
However, the most heavily criticised measure is the mandatory annual technical inspection for vehicles over ten years old. A few countries were exceptions: Ireland, which has already introduced this measure, Luxembourg, which already applies this rate for cars over six years old, and Latvia. “Studies show that a third of passenger cars failed their first technical inspection; for vehicles that are five or six years old, the risks are significant and continue to increase with time”, argued Latvian minister Atis Švinka.
Germany, Croatia, Portugal, Slovenia, Malta, France, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Greece, Lithuania and Italy have set this measure as a red line, for various reasons: lack of evidence regarding the impact on road safety, bureaucratic overload, additional costs for vehicle owners, lack of technical staff and an ageing vehicle fleet. “This would result in excessive costs and burdens for citizens, and would have an impact precisely on the poorer segments of the population who cannot afford to buy new vehicles”, said the Italian representative.
Similarly, Finland, the Netherlands and Portugal would like to make mandatory technical inspections for motorbikes over 125cc optional, but Italy, Malta and Sweden support this extension of the scope.
Some environmental controls, such as remote sensing for nitrogen oxide, are also the subject of some disagreement. France, supported by Finland, would also like to include the implementation of recall campaigns, particularly for airbags, as part of the technical inspection.
Discussions will continue under the Danish Presidency of the EU Council, which begins on Tuesday 1 July. (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)