DRIVING LICENCE-EU MINISTERS FAIL TO AGREE
08 December 2005 - Federation of European Motorcyclists' Associations

Federation of European Motorcyclists Associations

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.

www.fema.ridersrights.org

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