MEPs on the European Parliament’s Transport and Tourism Committee have backed updated EU roadworthiness rules, but rejected a proposal to require annual mandatory inspections for cars and vans more than ten years old.
MEPs have rejected a proposal to require annual mandatory roadworthiness tests for older cars and vans, while backing wider changes to EU vehicle inspection rules covering safety systems, emissions, odometer fraud and cross-border checks.
The European Parliament’s Transport and Tourism Committee adopted its draft position on the revision of EU rules on periodic roadworthiness tests and roadside inspections on Tuesday. The position was approved by 30 votes to 11, with two abstentions.
The committee’s position responds to the Commission’s roadworthiness package, which seeks to update minimum standards for vehicle inspections, registration documents and roadside inspections. The file is now moving towards negotiations with EU governments, although Parliament as a whole still has to approve the committee’s mandate to begin talks.
The most politically visible element of the committee vote was its rejection of the Commission proposal to shorten inspection intervals for cars and vans more than ten years old from once every two years to annually. MEPs said the measure was not proportionate and had not been supported by sufficient evidence that it would reduce accidents.
The decision means Parliament’s negotiators will enter talks with a position that supports modernising the testing system, but not by increasing the general frequency of mandatory checks for older vehicles. EU countries would still be able to impose shorter inspection intervals at national level.
In a press release on the committee vote, Parliament said MEPs wanted citizens to have more ways to get vehicles checked, while avoiding additional general burdens on drivers and businesses. Rapporteur Jens Gieseke said the aim was to make European roads safer and inspections more efficient, while stepping up the fight against fraud.
The committee supported a new EU temporary roadworthiness certificate to allow a car to be inspected in a Member State other than the country where it is registered. The certificate would be valid for six months, after which the next inspection would have to take place in the Member State of registration. MEPs want this option to apply to vans as well as cars.
The change is designed to address practical difficulties for people living, working or travelling across borders. Under current arrangements, vehicle inspection requirements are still closely tied to national registration systems, which can create complications for citizens who spend extended periods in another EU country.
MEPs also backed updates to the vehicle inspection checklist. Advanced driver assistance systems, including airbags and automatic emergency braking, would become part of periodic inspections. The committee also supported adding test items relevant to battery electric and hybrid vehicles, reflecting changes in the European vehicle fleet.
On emissions, MEPs supported the inclusion of particle number and nitrogen oxide measurements in periodic roadworthiness testing, but only on a voluntary basis. Member States would therefore decide how far to apply such testing within their national inspection systems.
The committee also backed periodic checks on whether a vehicle has complied with an outstanding mandatory recall. If a vehicle has not complied with such a recall, it would not pass the inspection. That proposal would link the roadworthiness system more closely to manufacturer recall obligations and vehicle safety compliance.
A separate part of the proposal addresses odometer fraud, a long-running problem in the second-hand car market. MEPs support requiring repair garages to record the odometer readings of cars and vans, while manufacturers would enter readings from connected vehicles into national databases. To avoid extra administrative work for smaller firms, the committee wants the garage-reporting obligation to apply only where repairs take more than one hour.
The committee also backed changes for motorcycles. MEPs supported removing current flexibility for heavy motorcycles over 125cc, making periodic testing obligatory, and extending roadworthiness checks to electrically powered heavy motorcycles.
Roadside inspections would also be changed. Existing rules provide for an EU-level target of checking 5 per cent of buses and trucks through technical roadside inspections. MEPs want that to become a national target and to extend roadside inspections to vans.
The committee also supported roadside emissions screening for cars, motorcycles, vans, trucks and buses. Vehicles identified as potentially high-emitting could then be required to undergo further technical inspections. Member States could use the same approach to address noise emissions.
The legislative process is not complete. The committee also voted, by 32 votes to 10 with one abstention, to open negotiations with EU governments on the final legislation. That decision requires approval by Parliament as a whole, with a vote scheduled for mid-May.
The committee vote shows the direction of Parliament’s approach: more detailed checks, stronger anti-fraud measures, and wider inspection options across borders, but no automatic shift to annual testing for older cars and vans. The final shape of the law will depend on negotiations between Parliament and the Council.
