Today the 20th December, the Council of the European Union at its 3213th Council meeting regarding Transport, Telecommunications and Energy, under the present Cyprus Presidency, agreed a general approach on a draft directive updating the common rules on periodic roadworthiness tests for motor vehicles.
For motorcycling, the so called general approach, does not retain the Commission’s proposal to extend periodic tests to motorcycles, this was discussed previously in the Council early in December when the council reported its intention to, delete the requirement for mandatory Road Worthiness Testing for L3e (that’s low-performance, medium and large size) motorcycles!
The council reports that, “the legal form of the draft legislation has been changed from a regulation, as proposed by the Commission, to a directive, which leaves more scope for taking into account the particularities of the member states.”
Importantly it would also appear that all category L vehicle are now outside the scope of the directive, as previously Italy wanted to include L1e, L2e and L6e and therefore these categories are now not included in the document:
- Category L1e vehicle (light two-wheel powered vehicle), sub-categorised into:
(i) L1Ae vehicle (powered cycle);
(ii) L1Be vehicle (two-wheel moped).
(b) Category L2e vehicle (three-wheel moped).
And Category L6e vehicle (light quadricycles), which includes the sub-category of
- (i) L6Ae vehicle (light on-road quad);
Italy and the European Commission are still against the deletion of L category vehicles.
After five years, the Commission will review the effectiveness of the directive and, if necessary, present new proposals.
Member States may introduce national requirements concerning roadworthiness tests for vehicles registered in their territory which are not covered by the scope of this Directive, so for example, we in the UK, would definitely retain our MoT – Road Worthiness Testing.
The European Parliament, whose approval is also required for the adoption of the proposal, has not yet determined its position.
This position is being dealt with by the TRAN (Transport and Tourism) Committee of MEPs.
So all is looking peaceful and quiet in the world of European motorcycling …………………….. for now!
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