The UK Government through the office of Malcolm Harbour, Chairman of the IMCO Committee and Shadow Rapporteur for the European Conservatives and Reformists Group (ECR) has sent to Right To Ride to publish a briefing for UK MEPs regarding the amendments in the EU Proposed Regulation on the Type Approval of 2 and 3 Wheeled Vehicles.
A couple of juicy bits from the Briefing:
- The UK government supports custom building and wants to retain current schemes and provide a mechanism for mutual recognition between Member States where technical standards are comparable.
- The benefits of anti-tampering are not clear (….) The UK Government (therefore) opposes new blanket anti tampering measures.
The UK Government briefing by the UK Minister responsible: Mike Penning, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Department for Transport comments on the proposed amendments 95 to 304.
At present the IMCO rapporteur and the shadow rapporteurs are discussing the amendments to reach a coherent set of compromise proposals which will then be voted on at IMCO meeting presently scheduled for the 17th October. We would assume that some of the amendments would not reach this vote (for example, the French MEP Robert Rochefort has already withdrawn two of his amendments – 97 and 103).
This is, according to Malcolm Harbour, “to ensure better alignment with progress made on the dossier by the Council of Ministers (The Council of the European Union.)” The Council of the European Union is the EU institution where the Member States’ government representatives sit.
In respect of the motorcycle proposals we are facing, “It adopts legislative acts (Regulations, Directives, etc.), in many cases in “co-decision” with the European Parliament”.
This may all seem to be “Euro speak” as the proposal heads through the complexities of the European Co-decision process, a first reading, in the European Parliament in December, with an expected adoption by the European Parliament expected in December.
Thus the UK Government comments on the IMCO amendments. This is supported by the Department for Transport (DfT) consultation to help refine the UK’s impact assessment on the Commission’s proposal. The response from the consultation is more likely to allow our government to take any additional evidence into account during the negotiating stage in the European process.
At this point in time, whether we agree or not, this is what we have got, this is what we have to deal with and the sooner riders and riders organisations across the rest of Europe get to their MEPs and Governments in this EU legislative process the better, rather than sit in limbo hoping that the UK Government is top of the pile as it amends the worst of the proposal.
It seems to us that the only riders getting upset about the EU proposals are the British and Irish (the French are angry with their own government about other issues such as Hi Viz and bans on 7 year old vehicles in cities, but don’t appear to have anything to say about these proposals).
Our question: What is the rest of Europe – governments and riders – doing?
Read the full article and the UK Governments briefing document on Right To Ride EU – Click Here
