There has been an official announcement that the rules on the future of Type-Approval for two- and three-wheeled vehicles have now been provisionally agreed by MEPs and Council (governments’) negotiators.
The headlines are…
- Anti-lock braking systems (ABS) on all new motorcycles over 125 cc.
- Either ABS or combined brake systems (CBS) on all new bikes/scooters under 125 cc – four years after implementation (c.2016/17?) the Commission will have to present a cost-effectiveness analysis, with recommendations as to whether the rules should be revised.
- Anti-Tampering measures on power-trains of new A1 (125cc bikes/scooters) and A2 (48bhp bikes/scooters) – the details to be decided under ‘Delegated-Acts’ by the Commission and experts over the next 12-18 months.
NB: the findings of an official study recently completed by TRL for the Commission show that AT will not be easy to achieve, so the main hope has to be that manufacturers will be able to take a light-touch when it comes to designing-out the possibility of modifications being made to the power-train. - Euro 3 emission standards will apply to new mopeds from 1 January 2016.
- New motorcycles will have to meet the more stringent Euro 4 standards from 2016 and Euro 5 limits from 2020 – the Commission will have to carry out a comprehensive environmental impact study before 2016 to evaluate the air quality and share of pollutants emitted by bikes.
Next steps:
The provisionally agreed text still needs to be formally endorsed by Council and Parliament. The deal will be put to an Internal Market Committee vote in October (rubber stamp) and then a plenary vote of the full Parliament on 19th November.
The Delegated Acts are likely to take 12-18 months to thrash-out, these will be subject to scrutiny by MEPs but any changes that the Commission won’t accept could only be forced by the MEPs if they were prepared to throw out the whole thing.
MAG as a FEMA member had a presence at the FEMA meeting this weekend just gone in Brussels. We will issue a further report shortly.