Issued 8th December 2005   Driving Licence-EU Ministers Fail to Agree

Council of Ministers fails to reach agreement on the driving license FEMA calls for improvement of the proposed motorcycle access provisions

Earlier this week, the Transport Council of Ministers of the EU failed to agree on a Common Position on the third driving licenses directive. This proposal contains provisions, which will change the way citizens access motorcycles in the Member States, five years after the directive is agreed by the European institutions and published in the Official Journal.

Recognising the objectives and the implications of the proposal, FEMA has been seeking to contribute to the process, in order to achieve an appropriate proposal for motorcycle access, balancing safety with mobility and accessibility.

Back in June, a compromise proposal was agreed between the Luxembourg Presidency of the EU and the European Parliament. This compromise proposal covered administrative points such as the issue and renewal of licenses, the replacement of old National licenses with one European model, as well as the access schemes for caravans and motorcycles. Had the Council accepted the compromise proposal, the directive could have been agreed without further consideration.

However, for the third time since June and under two different Presidencies, the Council considered the compromise proposal and failed to reach an agreement, mainly because of opposition focussing on the replacement of old licenses by Germany, France, Poland, Denmark and Austria. FEMA also knows, through its National contacts, of other Member States presently questioning the motorcycle access scheme in the compromise proposal.

Antonio Perlot, Secretary General of FEMA, commented: "The whole motorcycle sector welcomes the outcome of the Council meeting. Citizens deserve good legislation and good legislation takes time. Important parts of the motorcycle access scheme, as they are proposed in the compromise proposal,
are unjustified, fundamentally illogical and even countering the stated objectives of the European Commission. There is a real need for attentive consideration of the motorcycle provisions in second reading in order to improve the proposal and make it acceptable to the citizen."

Talking about the next steps in the legislative procedure, he added: "We believe it is now time for the EU institutions to acknowledge that the compromise proposal made in June is politically dead. We urge the Council, under the upcoming Austrian Presidency, and the European Parliament to take the opportunity to appropriately review the proposal. This should be done in co-operation with the stakeholders, as it is in everybody's interests to achieve a workable and effective licensing scheme for motorcycles."

To that end and in view of second reading, FEMA already shared new evidence within the European Parliament with MEP Mr Grosch, Rapporteur for the driving license proposal, and other key MEPs, whom have confirmed that they will push for meaningful improvements to the motorcycle access scheme.

ENDS


Issued by Antonio Perlot

FEMA - Federation of European Motorcyclists Associations
Rue des Champs 62, 1040 Brussels, Belgium
Tel: +32 (0)2 736 9047 / Fax: +32 (0)2 736 9401
www.fema.ridersrights.org