The Federation of European Motorcyclists' Associations
The transposition of the 3rd Driving Licence Directive reveals big problems with the interpretation of its content by EU member states. While Spanish motorcycle licences issued since 2009 are not valid in other countries, France even aims at a post-validation scheme. Some Member States of the European Union will implement both testing and training instead of testing or training and many other details remain unclear.
The new EU regulations for motorcycle licences are interpreted differently among member states which were asked to transpose the directive into national law by January 2011 while implementation, and therefore application, is foreseen by 2013. Both FEMA and ACEM, the association of the motorcycle manufacturers, have warned for years about cases of inaccurateness of some substantial parts of the directive on driving licences (2006/126/EC) but never received any feedback from the institutions.
Now, as most countries have transposed the legal text, the most pressing problems become obvious. Not to mention that Spain has implemented the directive already which means that the motorcycle licences issued since 2009 become valid throughout Europe only in 2013. In the meantime Spanish novice riders are only allowed to ride within their national territory, which of course sharply contradicts the principle of free movement of citizens. Similar problems exist in Slovenia.
A costly approach contradictory to initial safety objectives
A problem shared by many countries is the interpretation of training and testing requirements of the legal text. In the case of the licence for scooters (category AM) everything is clear: a theoretical test is required and member states may also require a test of riding skills and behaviour. For more powerful two wheelers the directive states the following:
Driving licences shall be issued to those applicants "who have, as regards category A2 or category A, on the condition of having acquired a minimum of 2 years experience on a motorcycle in category A1 or category A2 respectively, passed a test of skills and behaviour only, or completed a training". The wording "or" actually differs from the word "and" but even though many member states assume that in any case testing and training will be required for each of the three motorcycle licences (categories A1, A2 and A).
The original intention of the 3rd driving licence directive was to increase safety bringing the novice rider step-by-step to more powerful motorcycles. Such an approach assumes that everybody completes each of the three licence steps and that each test builds on the previous step instead of simply being repeated.
But many countries intend to implement both, training and testing, for each licence step, which is of course more costly than just a training or just a test. FEMA expects that many European citizens will either prefer to wait until they are 24 and then pass the A licence for motorcycles of unlimited power directly or to simply not have a motorcycle licence at all. The latter would even have negative impacts on all other motorcyclists since decreasing numbers of motorcycles on the road will also lower other motorists' awareness for motorcyclists.
France thinks about post-validations
In France, the Committee on road safety (Comité interministériel de la sécurité routière) decided to invalidate A-licences, issued as from 2013, in case a rider has not been riding a motorcycle during a period of five years. The idea is to validate the use of a motorcycle via insurance certificates otherwise the owner is asked to pass a renewal test.
The checking of insurance certificates to validate the regular use of a motorcycle, of course, implies multiple problems, for example in case a motorcycle is shared within one household. Furthermore, looking at this measure from a European perspective, it raises further questions in terms of validity of the licence outside the national territory.
Another point of confusion turns around the requirements for the vehicles used for testing. The directive requires a 400cc motorcycle with at least 25 kW for the A2 licence and a 600cc motorcycle with at least 40 kW for the passing of the A-licence. This represents a problem for driving schools since many popular training bikes only have a cylinder capacity of 598cc.
Officials of the European Commission are unable to provide any answers
In a meeting with Commission officials on Friday June 17 FEMA addressed these issues and for none of the described problems a satisfying answer could be given. The Commission representatives referred to a technical working group that might come up with guidelines for the member states.
Indeed the Commission is only partly to blame. The limited validity of novice riders' licences in Slovenia and in Spain is the responsibility of the national administrations. And many of the unclear definitions stem from the changes European Parliament and Council have required from the Commission; therefore the latter is now in charge of supervising the implementation of a directive whose wording had been diluted by others.
What remain are the problems and the lack of a responsible body being able to answer the questions of national administrations, riders' rights organizations and the motorcycle industry.
Background on driving licence rules:
Currently, the 2nd Driving Licence Directive (91/439/EC) applies. It shall be repealed with effect from 19 January 2013, when the 3rd Driving Licence Directive (2006/126/EC) is due to apply. The 3DLD provides for 4 Motorcycle Licence Categories, each permitting the use of powered two-wheelers of specific engine size and progressive power. AM: Mopeds (max 50cc and 45 km/h); A1: Light Motorcycles (max 125cc and 11KW); A2: Medium Motorcycles (max 35KW); A: Motorcycles above 35KW. Minimum ages are foreseen for the different categories, i.e. AM: 16 years, A1: 16 years, A2: 18 years, A: 20 years (with upward or downward derogations possible). Direct access as well as B-AM and B-A1 equivalence (i.e. the possibility to ride a Moped or a Light Motocycle with a car permit) will also be possible options within the 3DLD.
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