The Committee on Transport and Tourism of the European Parliament adopted a draft revision of the rules for periodic technical inspections. The key innovation relates to the facilitation of freedom of movement within the Union, whereby car owners would be enabled to perform a technical inspection in any EU member state, i.e. even where the vehicle is not registered. In that case, a temporary EU certificate of conformity would be issued with a validity period of six months, after which the next regular inspection would have to be carried out in the home country.
The members of the Committee opposed the proposal of the European Commission, which envisaged shortening the interval of technical inspections for cars and vans older than ten years from two years to every year. It was assessed that such a measure is neither proportionate nor based on evidence that it would directly contribute to reducing the number of accidents. It was pointed out that even according to the current rules, member states reserve the right to introduce stricter or more frequent inspection intervals if they deem it necessary – like, for example, Croatia, where you don’t have to go for a technical inspection only in the first year with a new car.
Keeping pace with technology
The revision of the rules also brings an updated list of items that are checked during the technical inspection. The focus is on advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), such as airbags and automatic emergency braking systems, which until now have not been subject to regular inspections. Also, specific control elements for electric and hybrid vehicles are introduced, and the measurement of the number of particles and nitrogen oxides is supported to improve air quality, which will remain on a voluntary basis in individual member states.
More frequent mileage logging
Special emphasis is placed on suppressing the manipulation of odometers, i.e. returning the mileage. According to the new rules, service shops will be obliged to record the state of the mileage for each procedure longer than an hour, while manufacturers will have to enter data from connected vehicles into national databases, all in order to protect buyers in the used car market.