Roadworthiness tests for vehicles, speed limitation devices (consol. and amend. Directive 77/143/EEC)

1995/0226(SYN)

The rapporteur, Mr Bellere (NI, I), presented a number of amendments that had been submitted for approval, including those relating to technical inspections on lightweight commercial vehicles and two-wheeled and three-wheeled vehicles. In anticipation of future technological developments in this sector, he did not rule out subsequent changes to the directive in question that could provide for an extension of the inspections to include, for example, airbags and the FIS fire protection system, in order to improve vehicle and road safety at European level. Commissioner Kinnock declared that he fully supported the call for more frequent tests for motor vehicles, but could not accept Amendment No 6, which he thought premature, since it sought to apply the requirements to all Member States, including those which had just begun to apply the tests and the five countries that had still not introduced them; on the other hand, he was prepared to accept Amendments Nos 2, 3, 5 and 8 along with Amendment No 4, which concerned inspections on motorcycles and scooters. Amendment No 7, which related to cold-start carbon monoxide emission checks on petrol engine vehicles, could not be taken over for technical reasons; the same applied to Amendment No 9, which assumed a high level of harmonisation of the roadworthiness tests carried out by the Member States.