ACEM 3DLD Rejection

The European motorcycle industry has called on the European Parliament and Member States to reject an Amending Directive to the 3rd European Driving Licence Directive.

ACEM the motorcycle industry representative in Europe argues that, “this is due to the questionable rationale applied by the EC and the impact it will have on EU riding schools and on the access to the product.”

ACEM also say that this would have the effect of setting, “arbitrary provisions for test vehicles with heavy impact on EU riding schools and access to motorcycles.

Right To Ride’s Trevor Baird has just returned from a stakeholders meeting concerning the introduction of the 3rd European Driving Licence Directive in Northern Ireland.

This issue was discussed, as he had made the group aware of the amendment earlier, Right To Ride supports the ACEM initiative and calls on member states and European Parliament to reject the amendment.

ACEM Press Release

12th October 2012

ACEM, the Motorcycle Industry in Europe, calls on the European Parliament and Member States to reject the Directive on driving licences due to lack of consultation of stakeholders and potential negative consequences on riding schools operations and licensing costs, raising the barriers to the access of motorcycles and scooters.

The provision, tabled by the European Commission under the comitology procedure less than three months before it enters into force requires motorcycle training schools and test centres to purchase an additional vehicle fulfilling the new A2 test vehicle requirements in order to be able to offer the test to A2 motorcycle licence applicants. The consequent EU-wide increase of test vehicles fleet is not economically justified due to the low demand for motorcycle licences in certain areas of the European Union.

ACEM points out further that raising the minimum power for test motorcycles of category A from 40 kW to 50 kW will lead to an increase in costs for training and licensing and is unjustified.

By referring to gender differences as regards motorcycle minimum weight, the European Commission furthermore risks being criticized for discriminating women and citizens of small stature, who should be free to take their test on an appropriately sized vehicle.

By excluding industry and stakeholders from any kind of consultation the European Commission, incomprehensibly ignored the fact that these provisions will lead to an increase in costs for training and license acquisition, unfairly raising the barriers to motorcycle use.

Member States will be asked to express themselves on these provisions at next COREPER’s meeting on Wednesday, October 17th. As no amendments can be proposed in the Comitology procedure at this late stage, ACEM calls on MEPs and Member States to reject the directive as a whole, allowing for stakeholders’ positions to be duly taken into account, and a compromise solution to be found.

Quote

Jacques Compagne, ACEM Secretary General: “It is regrettable that the European Commission conducted the revision of the directive behind closed doors without involving any stakeholder in the discussions. Provisions that directly affect driving schools which are mainly SMEs and family run businesses, must take into account the economic crisis and the difficulties experienced by such businesses today. Unlike car driving schools, motorcycle riding schools do not benefit from the same economies of scale. ACEM therefore calls for a rejection of the directive, allowing for an appropriate consultation process to be launched.”

Note for editors

The imminent entry into force of the Third Driving Licence Directive [2006/126/EC] (19.1.2013), which redesigns the access framework to L-category vehicles (mopeds, motorcycles, scooters, tricycles and quadricycles), creates three motorcycle licence categories (A1, A2 and A), calling for coherent minimum requirements for test vehicles.

The proposal laid out by the European Commission under the comitology procedure aims at modifying the minimum requirements for driving tests vehicles covered by the Directive on driving licences.

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