EU must protect motorists from 'regulatory mishmash'

'Monumental folly' of different member state rules for motorists creates legal uncertainty and requires the EU to act and remove 'artificial barriers', writes Hubert Pirker.

By Hubert Pirker

27 Jun 2014

When it comes to registering used cars already registered in another EU country, you will find the public authorities giving you a hard time. They seem, in some ways, more tyrannically bureaucratic in their actions than they are when it comes to road safety. The public authorities in some countries act as though you were asking them to register a lunar vehicle just because a quite normal used car has previously been registered in another EU country. Depending on which EU country it is, the registration bodies require complicated additional evidence of the type of registration, payment of additional marketing duties, customs procedures, and payment of recycling charges or further technical inspection.

The new directive for facilitating the movement of used cars is thus a matter of common sense and will make a significant contribution to the smooth running of the internal market. Vehicles will likewise in the future have to be registered throughout the European Union under the same regulations. Unified, simplified procedures will make it easier for citizens moving from one EU country to another to take their car with them in future. According to this act of parliament, member states are to mutually recognise each other's technical inspections, a period of three months will be allowed for re-registering a vehicle, and member states will be required to allow vehicle owners to register their vehicles online. As such, the council has now been encouraged to start negotiating with parliament to provide timely support to motorists.

"The new directive for facilitating the movement of used cars is thus a matter of common sense and will make a significant contribution to the smooth running of the internal market"

There is another topic I should like to address in this regard. Motorists have approached me in my capacity as a member of the European parliament to say that there are also differences between what motorists are legally required to carry. Whether motorists always need to have high-visibility vests, a first-aid kit, spare tyre, fire extinguisher, tow rope or other traffic-safety-related items, has up to now been regulated differently in each EU member state. Even whether these regulations are to apply to vehicles from the home member state only or whether foreign motorists driving in that country are also liable to pay a penalty, is handled differently in each state.

We boast about the freedom to travel in the EU, but anyone driving around Europe will have to study 27 different regulations and fill up their car boot with the most unlikely items if they wish to avoid a fine. This is a ridiculous legacy from the early days of travel. We need to put an end to this monumental folly as soon as possible. Even such special items as breathing masks, tyre brake pads, spare bulb kits or a second warning triangle, are compulsory in certain EU countries. Rear wheel mud-flaps are required in Poland and specially-curved bandage dressing scissors in the Czech Republic. Of course, it is important to improve safety for road users. But there is no reason at all why 27 different sets of regulations should be required. This regulatory mishmash creates great legal uncertainty and often results in the arbitrary use of authority in inspections abroad. I therefore call upon the commission to put forward a proposal for a 'brief, uniform legal carriage requirement package' as soon as possible.

There is an urgent need for action here in these times, where cross-border traffic is the norm. Artificial barriers, and barriers that frustrate motorists, should be swiftly removed.