MEPs Jens Gieseke (EPP, German) and Johan Danielsson (S&D, Swedish) presented their reports on the roadworthiness package to the European Parliament’s Committee on Transport and Tourism (TRAN) on Monday 12 January (see EUROPE 13776/9). The former’s proposal to make remote sensing optional for measuring vehicle emissions did not meet with unanimous approval.
Remote sensing and monitoring frequency. “We need to ensure that the rules that exist are effective and proportionate, and that citizens are able to manage them”, emphasised Mr Giesecke during his presentation. “I think the European Commission has missed the point a little”. He proposed that roadworthiness tests should continue to be carried out every two years for vehicles over ten years old, and that remote sensing should be optional for Member States.
This measure was welcomed by Ondřej Krutílek (ECR, Czech) and Asger Christensen (Renew Europe, Danish). For Mr Krutílek, an annual inspection seems “excessive in terms of workload, and there is no evidence that these vehicles are more likely to be the source of road accidents”. “This would have a disproportionate impact on vulnerable populations or those living in areas with limited transport services. Remote sensing must not lead to an additional administrative burden, particularly for small vehicle repair businesses”, he added.
This view is not shared by Tilly Metz (Greens/EFA, Luxembourger), who even supports an annual inspection from the vehicle’s sixth birthday, as practised in her country. With regard to the financial aspect, she referred to the legislation of certain Member States which makes it possible “both to guarantee the affordability of tests and the transparency of pricing for consumers”.
She supported remote sensing, as did Sérgio Gonçalves (S&D, Portuguese), who said that it could “reduce air pollution without having the slightest impact on the vast majority of vehicles and drivers”.
Access to physical registration documents. Mr Danielsson insisted that the digital transition must “be inclusive, with strong safeguards to ensure that citizens with little digital literacy are not disadvantaged”. “So a physical document must always be available on request and free of charge”, he argued, just like his colleagues.
With regard to data exchange, Markus Ferber (EPP, German), speaking on behalf of his compatriot Alexandra Mehnert (EPP, German), said that there were still a number of inaccuracies concerning the platform. He also called for consistency with the regulation on old vehicles, particularly with regard to registration changes for classic vehicles, where the procedures differ from one Member State to another.
As for Ms Metz, she wants to propose amendments concerning deregistration, as around four million vehicles a year disappear in Europe. This could be used to recycle batteries and resolve environmental issues relating to dismantling.
MEPs have until Thursday 15 January to table their amendments.
To read the draft report on roadworthiness testing: https://aeur.eu/f/k3c
To read the draft report on registration: https://aeur.eu/f/k3e (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)