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Back to MAG Reviews on the 3rd European Licence Directive Here
 Appeal to MEPs - Proposal for a Third Driving Licence Directive
July 2006
In view of the imminent second reading by the European Parliament of the Proposal for a Third Directive on Driving Licences, The Federation of European Motorcyclists Association (FEMA) appeals to MEPs from all parties to reconsider the Proposal for a Third Directive on Driving Licences and ask for their support for meaningful legislation based on facts.
FEMA believes that the compromise1 regarding motorcycle access provisions, which was reached between the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers, is unreasonable. FEMA calls for a full second reading and the removal of the motorcycle aspects from the Directive with a review of the provisions already in force in three years times (2009), in order to assess the implementation of the Revised Annex II of the Second Directive.
The compromise reached on the proposal aims to introduce a range of measures that will restrict access to motorcycling without offering any road safety benefits. Indeed the proposed motorcycle access regime is illogical and unjustified. It leads to the conclusion that the intent of the compromise is to frustrate the objectives of "improving access to motorcycles" as stated in the original European Commission proposal.
To illustrate this, FEMA, with the support of the Belgian Motorcycle Council, organised a demonstration2 of the new driving licence practical test manoeuvres as introduced in the revised annex of the Second Driving Licence Directive. The demonstration took place at FEMA's 2006 MEP Ride, attended by MEPs and European Commission officials.
Qualified instructors highlighted that there is no difference in the skills required to ride a category A2 or a category A motorcycle. However, the proposed compromise requires "a test or at least seven hours of training", in order to move from category A2 to category A. Effectively, the compromise will deter people from progressive access to motorcycles, or even deter people from taking up motorcycling at all by introducing constraints on the citizen which, as evidence has shown elsewhere3, do not bring about any road safety benefits.
Other aspects in the proposed progressive access regime in the draft directive will create further barriers for safe and cost effective access to motorcycles - a recognised environmentally and congestion friendly mode of transport. Therefore FEMA demands the removal of the motorcycle provisions of the proposal.
If the removal cannot be taken into consideration, FEMA calls on the European Parliament to reconsider the compromise and to modify the most stringent requirements concerning motorcycle access. Hence we ask for the training and testing requirements between category A2 and A to be deleted and for the introduction of a mandatory provision so that direct access to category A is allowed at 21 years of age.
FEMA and its National Organisations have argued the position of the rider within the European institutions highlighting research-based road safety evidence and with the knowledge of the important contribution that motorcycle use makes to society. FEMA asks all MEPs to consider these points when addressing the Proposal for a Third Directive on Driving Licences in the second reading.
1 See FEMA Press Release of 31st March 2006 at http://www.fema.kaalium.com/news.php
2 Pictures of the FEMA event at the Parc du Cinquantenaire in Brussels, "Towards an improved mobility for Citizens, The contribution of Motorcycles and Scooters" are available under "MEP Ride 2006" at http://www.fema.kaalium.com/pictures.htm
3 This system was introduced in Germany and subsequently retrieved, since authorities stated that it did not produce any safety benefits.
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