01 Oct New European Commission’s package on vehicle testing
14 July 2012 – The Commission has proposed a “Roadworthiness Package” for tougher vehicle testing rules.
The current legislation dates back to 1977 and has undergone only minor updates that do not sufficiently take into account the profound evolution of the vehicles-not only cars but also vans, scooters and motorcycles. In particular, the EC proposes compulsory tests (where actually statistics of accidents involving commercial vehicles accounts to just a couple of percentage points at EU level, those for cars and motorcycles are four times more). For older vehicles, the EC proposes to increase the frequency of regular inspections. Among the objectives is the fight against counterfeiting by recording the mileage.
In all cases, the proposals establish common minimum standards at European level for roadworthiness of vehicles.UETR highlights that in fact there are too many differences today from country to country, with the consequence of not only heavy and unacceptable discrepancy in terms of red tape – and costs – for companies, but also in terms of road safety in the country where a foreign carrier is operating, entitled to travel and work according to the standards of the country of origin, which may be higher but also lower). At the same time Member States would be free to impose stricter rules if needed. New standards for technical checks at the roadside have been also proposed.
UETR already underlines that harmonization will have to go hand in hand with a small financial impact and administrative burdens on road transport SMEs.
More info at DG MOVE web page here.
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