End clap for the compulsory technical control of two-wheelers in France. While the measure was to come into force in October 2022 as required by the Council of State, it was finally canceled by a new decree published on Tuesday July 26, 2022.
This is the end of a case with many twists and turns. It all starts with an obligation formulated by the European Parliament to impose the technical control of two-wheelers on all member countries by July 1, 2022. Unsurprisingly, the introduction of this controversial measure met with fierce opposition from the part of associations for the defense of bikers, the French Federation of angry bikers in the lead. Moreover, the government had finally chosen to cancel the measure.
Finally in June 2021, the entry into force of this measure in 2023 was approved by the Directorate General for Energy and Climate. Other associations, such as Respire, Ras le Scoot or even Paris without a car, had filed a request with the Council of State for accelerate the implementation of the mandatory technical inspection of motorcycles on January 1, 2022.
The three organizations assured that such a measure would drastically reduce the mortality of motorcyclists, as well as noise and atmospheric pollution. Regarding the first point, a recent MAIDS report (Motocycle Accident in Depth Study) carried out by the ACEM (association of European motorcycle manufacturers) questioned the arguments of the associations, since it has been proven that about 1% of fatal accidents are due to poorly maintained two-wheelers.
No technical control for motorcycles… for now
The supreme court had finally rejected the request of the three associations, arguing that there was no urgency to deploy the device. And on this Tuesday, July 26, 2022, we have just learned to everyone’s surprise that the compulsory technical control will not see the light of day, At least for now. Indeed, the decree which provided for the implementation of the system from 2023 comes to be canceled by a new decree published this Tuesday in the Official Journal.
Still, the repeal of this decree does not necessarily mean that a compulsory technical inspection for two-wheelers will never be introduced. For good reason, a new decree must be published soon and we know that Clément Beaune, Minister Delegate in charge of Transport, must receive the various biker associations on Tuesday to discuss this subject.
So what can we expect? This future decree could contain alternative measures on road safety, pollution and noise. A solution already issued in November 2021 by Jean-Baptise Djebbari, the predecessor of Clement Beaune.
