On 13th July 2012 the European Commission announced its proposal for regulation for European wide Road Worthiness Testing (RWT) – previously known as Periodic Technical Inspections.
The announcement included changes to the present European Directive including the introduction of extending mandatory periodical testing for Powered Two Wheelers.
On the 30th May 2013 the Transport (TRAN – Transport and Tourism) Committee of MEPs, which represents the European Parliaments position, voted on amendments and ruled motorbikes out of the European Commissions roadworthiness test package
The package still has to be approved by Parliament as a whole.
With the Council of Ministers and the Parliament now in discord with the Commission’s plans, a common position must be found before a First Reading and vote that would see the proposal going through.
This vote is scheduled for July this year.
There is a compromise on keeping motorcycles out of RWT for now. This review now appears to be three years for the European Commission as the TRAN Committee i.e. whether member states have or do not have RWT for two or three wheeled vehicles. The review would be a report based on further research by the Commission and presented to the European Parliament. Depending on that outcome there could still be a “new” proposal for motorcycles, in other words, they haven’t gone away….
So it looks like at this stage that here in Northern Ireland and GB there are no surprises and we can keep calm and carry on!
PLEASE NOTE – The UK would still retain its MoT scheme for motorcycles, this does not mean a stop to motorcycle – scooter – moped – Trike – MoTs in the UK!
Council Proposal
Although the UK has Road Worthiness Testing in the form of the MoT for PTWs (Powered Two Wheelers – motorcycles, scooters and mopeds) not all European countries test Powered Two Wheelers, therefore there has been both prior to and after the anouncement a rider lobby from within these countries against the proposed regulation.
On the 20th December 2012, the Council of the European Union 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.” and includes text such as, “Testing during the lifecycle of a vehicle should be relatively simple, quick and inexpensive.”
These changes are major and reflect the unhappiness of the member states in relation to the Commission’s proposal which was seen as costly, impractical and unnecessary.
The changes proposed allows Member States to introduce national requirements concerning roadworthiness tests for vehicles registered in their territory, so for example, we in the UK, would definitely retain our MoT – Road Worthiness Testing.
Approval European Parliament
The European Parliament, whose approval is also required for the adoption of the proposal, is being dealt with by the TRAN (Transport and Tourism) Committee of MEPs who have produced a draft report.
Unfortunately the TRAN Committee has ignored the wishes of the Council and has aligned itself with the Commission by agreeing that the proposal should be a regulation. Changing the proposal into a Directive means that Member states would have significant leeway to decide how they could implement it.
The draft report also includes extending mandatory periodical testing to Powered Two Wheelers, that includes mopeds, scooters motorcycles, sidecar combinations and trikes, however it has amended the frequency to 4-2-2 for PTWs and cars. In the UK the test is at, 3-1-1 (first test at 3 years and then every 1 year thereafter).
The Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) Committee has published its opinion and suggested amendments, which focuses on single market matters.
However what must be pointed out is that this is not the end but it’s the first of many discussions that will take place between the European Parliament’s representative committee (TRAN), the Commission and the European Council.
The Rapporteurs will present these draft reports in the next TRAN Committee meeting on the 19th March 2013, any other amendments may be submitted by 27th March 2013, a vote in the TRAN Committee on 29th or 30th March 2013, which would be the recommended position for the European Parliament to vote on 2nd July 2013.
Contacting The Players
Our view at Right To Ride was that we needed to look at the proposal, get talking to those involved and report the facts as they develop so that riders can make up their minds in order to debate the issues, based on the information provided and to see if what was being hailed as a “Super MOT” on top of our own MoT would arrive on our shores.
We have been in contact with the “players” which included the DfT (Department for Transport) our own authorities in Northern Ireland and the UK MEP Phil Bennion as Shadow Rapporteur for the European Parliament.
Noises over the past month from the European Affairs Committee of the French National Assembly, the Swedish Parliament, the Dutch Parliament were not supportive of the proposal.
Meanwhile in the UK, the DfT/UK Government continued its reporting from EU meetings and its on-going opposition to the EU proposed regulation, the House of Commons has published its views on the proposal which included comments from the Northern Ireland Assembly.
“The Northern Ireland Assembly rejects the proposal because of the cost implications and counter proposes a Directive rather than regulations”.
The Transport Committee dealing with the proposal for the European Parliament reported from a meeting that, “Not all groups welcomed the inclusion of motorbikes and tractors in the proposal.” We said that like all proposals, the devil is in the detail, there were potential benefits of extending the MoT to include emissions testing, considering that the industry will be obliged to declare emissions and the majority of new motorcycles would have benefitted from lower road tax as a direct consequence.
The Council’s previously said, “Many member states, however, had misgivings about the legal form of the proposed legislation and would prefer a directive rather than a regulation; they considered that a directive, which leaves more room for manoeuvre to take into account the specificities of the member states, would be more appropriate to achieve an improved degree of harmonisation and adequate implementation.
A majority of member states voiced concerns about the lists of vehicles to be tested, with a large number of delegations questioning the extension of the checks to two- or three-wheeled vehicles, tractors or light trailers. Moreover, many delegations were not convinced by the proposal to increase the frequency of tests”.
RWT News & Information
You can view all our news and reports on PTI.
All on the RWT news page – including what others are saying and reporting!
View latest news on RWT – Click Here
View all our releases on RWT - Click Here.
View Our Documents on RWT - Click Here
Procedure Files – ‘Roadworthiness Package’
The procedure file from the Legislative Observatory of the European Parliament regarding:
Pperiodic roadworthiness tests for motor vehicles and their trailers.
Procedure File:Click Here
Registration documents for vehicles. ‘Roadworthiness package’
Procedure File: Click Here
Technical roadside inspection of the roadworthiness of commercial vehicles circulating in the Union. ‘Roadworthiness package’
Procedure File: Click Here
Transport and Tourism (TRAN)
Committee of MEPs responsable Transport and Tourism (TRAN)
MEP committees who will be offering an opinion:
Environment, Public Health and Food Safety “ENVI) – The committee decided not to give an opinion.
Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) – Opinion published – pdf document
Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) – Opinion published – pdf document
European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) - consultative body of the European Union – Opinion Published – Word Document
European Commission Package
Proposal for a Regulation on periodic roadworthiness tests – pdf – 86kb – Click Here
Annex to Proposal for a Regulation on periodic roadworthiness tests – pdf 27kb – Click Here
Proposal for a Directive amending Directive 1999_37 on registration documents for vehicles- pdf – 47kb – Click Here
Road worthiness package – Commission website – 13th July 2012 - Click Here
Library of the European Parliament
A page published on the Library of the European Parliaments website which gives detailed information on the “Roadworthiness Package”.
From links to the European Commissions presentation of the three legislative proposals contained in the Roadworthiness Package to overviews, analysis, Stake holder views, NGO views, Producers views, Statistics and EU Programmes and projects.
Library of the European Parliament – Click Here
Links Information
Proposal for a REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL on periodic roadworthiness tests for motor vehicles and their trailers and repealing Directive 2009/40/EC – pdf 179kb – Click Here
Press release from the Council of the EU of 29th October – pdf 206kb – Click Here
House of Commons European Scrutiny Committee: Periodic Roadworthiness tests for motor vehicles and their trailers: Reasoned Opinion – pdf 769kb – Click Here
Written statement by the Rt Hon Patrick McLoughlin MP, Secretary of State for Transport – Click Here
Draconian European Vehicle Testing must not come to Northern Ireland, Committee urges – Click Here
Impact Assesment
These documents look at the European Commissions Impact Assesment which was was launched at the beginning of 2010. An Impact Assessment Steering Group (IASG) was set-up in July 2010, there was a public consultation and the experts have met. The proposal includes the inclusion of powered-two wheelers in vehicle inspections.
Impact Assessment pdf – 750kb – Click Here
Impact Assessment Study - pdf – 2mb – Click Here
Summary of the Impact assessment- pdf 58kb – Click Here
Related Documents
AUTOFORE – Study on the Future Options for Roadworthiness Enforcement in the European Union – 2007 – pdf 901kb – Click Here
DEKRA – Motorcycle Road Safety Report 2010 – Strategies for preventing accidents on the roads of Europe – pdf 5.4mb – Click Here
Consultation – 2010
On the 24th September 2010 Right To Ride responded to the European Commission’s (EU) consultation relating to Periodic Technical Inspections (PTI) for motor vehicles and their trailers by submitting separate comments to the Commission’s online questionnaire.
The purpose of the EU consultation was to seek views on possible new policies regarding present arrangements on PTI and Roadside inspections which includes encouraging bilateral agreements between Member States on quality of testing, mutual recognition of PTI and exchange of information and imposing through EU legislation a standard EU-wide system for PTI.
The aim of the EU consultation is a “wish list” aiming to seek a reduction in the numbers and severity of road accidents and of emissions from road vehicles.
In Northern Ireland we already have a system of Periodic Technical Inspections (PTI) known as MoT and road side enforcement in place, which differs from the rest of the UK (Great Britain) and is operated by the Driver & Vehicle Agency (DVA) that carries out 900,000 roadworthiness checks a year on cars and motorcycles, light goods vehicles, trailers, large passenger carrying vehicles, heavy goods vehicles, buses and taxis.
At Right To Ride we consider that the system in place to carry out Periodical Technical Inspection (MoT) in Northern Ireland is one of the most comprehensive in Europe for motorcycles which are first tested at four years and over followed by an annual inspection that ensures that motorcycles are roadworthy.
What has evolved from the online consultation and the (lack of) information available is chaos. The Commission has simply stated its intent to extend PTI to 2 wheeled vehicles (mopeds, scooters and motorcycles) across Europe through a harmonised system.
As responsible citizens, we would like to be able to contribute to the debate on the harmonisation of PTI for 2 wheeled vehicles however, before we can answer any consultation on this topic, at the very least, we would require more details on the content of the proposed system.
The state of confusion caused by the Commission’s inability to provide specific information must be rectified as quickly as possible in order for stakeholders to provide comments and expert opinion.
Therefore we are unable to support the introduction of a harmonized mandatory PTI for 2 wheeled vehicles simply because we have no knowledge of what the Commission aims to propose and what possible benefits this could give to Northern Ireland motorcyclists.
Information
View Right To Ride comments to the EU Consultation – pdf 273kb – Click Here
The EU Commission has published the contributions to the consultation – Click Here
Periodic Technical Inspections – What We Face!
10th September 2010
10th September 2010 AUTOFORE – Study on the Future Options for Roadworthiness Enforcement in the European Union – 2007. The Study is also available to view on a website with links to annexes.
Much of the evidence for these proposal of changes to legislation were provided by TUV in a study carried out in 2003 on Road worthiness testing for PTWs, which was based on a “Ouija Board” interpretation of the results.
Periodic Technical Inspections – Background
9th September 2010
The purpose of the EU Commission consultation is to seek views on possible new policies in this area and to gather relevant information from both the public as road users and vehicle owners, as well as the industries and public authorities affected:.
Furthermore, not all member states in the European Union have Periodic Technical Inspections (PTI) for motorcycles, scooters and mopeds and therefore the Commission is looking: “to extend EU legislation on road worthiness testing/inspections to motorbikes and other powered two wheelers” (in ALL EU countries).
Other Links
Driver & Vehicle Agency – Vehicle Testing - Click Here
NI Direct Government Services – MOT – Click Here
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Library of the European Parliament
We have just found this web page published on the Library of the European Parliaments website which gives detailed information on the “Roadworthiness Package”.
From links to the European Commissions presentation of the three legislative proposals contained in the Roadworthiness Package to overviews, analysis, Stake holder views, NGO views, Producers views, Statistics and EU Programmes and projects.
Library of the European Parliament – Click Here