Mr. Maurice Treacy:

I thank the Chairman. I will go through the main points of the submission. In July 2012, the European Commission published a package of three legislative proposals on roadworthiness testing for motor vehicles. The package consisted of three elements: a proposal for a regulation on periodic roadworthiness tests of private and commercial vehicles; a proposal for a regulation on technical roadside inspections of commercial vehicles; and a proposal for a directive on registration documents for vehicles. The Commission asserted that technical defects contributed heavily to accidents and were responsible for 6% of all car accidents, translating into 2,000 fatalities and many more injuries annually. It claimed that 8% of all motorcycle accidents are linked to technical defects. It also pointed to recent studies from the UK and Germany that suggest up to 10% of cars at any point in time have a defect that would cause them to fail tests. Many technical defects with serious implications for safety, such as ABS and electronic stability control, are not checked under current rules. It indicated that the new proposals were aimed at helping to save more than 1,200 lives a year and helping to avoid more than 36,000 collisions linked to technical failure. I emphasise that the foregoing represents the views of the Commission and is not necessarily shared by member states.

I will briefly run through the proposals contained in each of the three elements of the package. The key points of the Commission’s proposal on periodic roadworthiness testing were as follows: compulsory testing of scooters, motorbikes, tractors and trailers; increasing the frequency of periodic roadworthiness tests for older vehicles; increasing the frequency of tests for cars and vans with exceptionally high mileage; improving the quality of vehicle tests by setting common minimum standards for deficiencies, equipment and inspections; making electronic safety components subject to mandatory testing; and clamping down on mileage fraud, with registered mileage readings. Consideration of the periodic testing proposal commenced at a Council working group in September 2012 and continued with a series of meetings up to mid-December 2012. Although all member states shared the general safety objectives and aspirations on which the Commission had based its reasoning, there was unease among member states with regard to many parts of the proposals in their original form.

The proposals in which Ireland had a particular interest were the introduction of annual road worthiness testing of cars after six years. Ireland currently requires annual testing after ten years, which was introduced in June 2011. Other proposals in which Ireland had a particular interest were: annual roadworthiness testing of tractors; the introduction of roadworthiness testing for motorcycles; use of roadworthiness testing to detect odometer fraud; and an obligation to accept proof of test issued by other member states.

Following protracted discussions, a compromise text was proposed by the Cypriot Presidency and it achieved a general approach at the December 2012 Council of Ministers meeting. The Minister indicated at the Council that he did not favour excessive frequency for testing of cars nor did he favour the testing of agricultural vehicles used solely for agricultural and horticultural purposes.

The main amendments to the original Commission proposals were that the legal form has now changed from a regulation to a directive. A regulation is like an Act in that it is automatically binding, has direct influence and leaves no room for interpretation. A directive is a looser form of legislation, containing agreed policy provisions and the basis of its implementation is decided by each member state. A directive must be transposed into national legislation before it is given effect. The other amendments to the original Commission proposal were as follows: mandatory annual car testing has been deleted; mandatory testing of motorcycles and motorised tricycles has been removed; member states will have discretion as to whether tractors used solely for agriculture, horticulture, forestry, fishery or farming will be tested; and smaller trailers - those weighing less than 3.5 tonnes - have been excluded from the scope of the directive.

Notwithstanding the Council’s acceptance of the compromise text, the European Commission expressed dissatisfaction with significant elements of the Council’s changes and has entered formal reservations on the legal form, the deletion of any category of vehicle, the deletion of small trailers and changes to test frequencies. During its Presidency, Ireland does not propose to progress further with this file but will move on to the remaining elements of the package. The proposal is to wait until all three elements of the package are in an agreed form and then all three will be progressed as a package.

The committee signalled particular interest in the area of the testing of tractors and motorbikes. The current text provides that member states may exempt vehicles used solely for agricultural, horticultural, forestry, fishery or farming purposes and operating in the territory of the member states.

References to the mandatory testing of motorbikes has been deleted from the compromised text. The present proposals exclude the mandatory testing of agricultural tractors and motorcycles.

The main element of the Commission's proposals in relation to roadside inspection of commercial vehicles include: the selection of vehicles should be based on the risk profile of the operators and should target high risk undertakings to reduce the administrative burden on those operators who maintain their vehicles in a proper way; the risk profiling will be based on the results of previous roadworthiness testing and roadside inspections; the extension of roadside inspections to light commercial vehicles and their trailers linking the number of technical roadside inspections per year to the number of registered commercial vehicles in order to provide for a more equal distribution of roadside checks among the member states; and the inclusion of security of cargo in roadside checks. Inadequate cargo securing is considered as a factor related to up to 25% of accidents involving trucks.

Depending on the range of vehicles to be included in the scope of the regulation this could have a significant effect on the current workload of the Road Safety Authority. Currently the RSA carries out about 5,000 roadside inspections annually. The proposed regulation would require 5% of the national fleet to be inspected annually and if light goods vehicles are to be brought within the scope of the regulation, that implies 20,000 vehicle inspections annually and would entail a fourfold increase in current activities. Initial discussions on this proposal opened last Monday and the objective is to secure a general approach at the June Transport Council.

The proposal in relation to a directive on registration documents of vehicles aims at improving the enforcement of roadworthiness testing and roadside inspection regimes through measures such as temporary withdrawal or permanent cancellation of the vehicle's registration. Again it is aimed at cases in which the technical conditions of a vehicle create an imminent risk to road safety. The objective of the Irish Presidency in relation to this element is to achieve a general approach. It is not expected that Ireland will engage in negotiations with the European Parliament on the roadworthiness package during its Presidency, given the planned timing of the agreement on the remaining two files in the Council. However, it is expected that Lithuania, the country that will take up the next term of the Presidency, will take up this issue during its Presidency.

I understand the transport committee of the European Parliament held a general exchange of views with the Commission and other interested parties on the 22 January and they are expected to return to this topic in the near future.

Let me emphasise that all of these proposals are at a relatively early stage. While significant amendments have been made to the original roadworthiness testing proposals during the passage through Parliament, the entire matter remains to be agreed with the European Parliament and the final shape of the proposals have yet to emerge.

We welcome the committee's views on the proposals. Let me repeat that consideration of the proposals is at an early stage and the views of members will be taken into account in determining Ireland's position.