The Council of State whistles the end of recess for two-wheelers.

Hotly discussed under Emmanuel Macron's first five-year term, the entry into force of the technical inspection of two wheels must take place before October 1, 2022. Originally, European regulations required its generalization in the course of 2022, but the government had decided last year to postpone by decree this new constraint to 2023. A postponement "not justified" for the Council of State, which therefore suspended the decree.

The introduction of this technical control (for 2023) coming up against a revolt from biker associations, President Emmanuel Macron had finally announced the day after its publication in the Official Journal that it would not be applied.

An adviser to the executive had explained that the head of state considered that “it was not the time to bother the French”.

Alternative measures not implemented

The Ministry Delegate for Transport then announced last November the implementation of alternative measures covering “the challenges of road safety, the fight against pollution and noise”, and which should make it possible to obtain an exemption from the European obligation.

But the interim judge of the Council of State, seized by NGOs, considered that the mere notification by France to the EU of its intention to introduce such alternative measures is "not likely to justify the transposition of this "European" directive in the absence of effective implementation of the measures envisaged.

In addition, as the government has not canceled or officially modified its decree of August 2021 setting an application timetable postponed to 2023, this text is therefore considered to still be in force despite the announcements by Emmanuel Macron and the government.

The judge therefore considers the associations' request to "request the suspension of the execution of the contested decree as (…) it postpones beyond October 1, 2022, the entry into force of the technical inspection obligation ".

The judgment does not specify the choice of this date of October 1st.

Fight against unclamping of engines, a source of air and noise pollution

The applicants pointed out in particular "that in France, a user of motorized two-wheelers is 22 times more likely to be the victim of a fatal accident than a user of a light vehicle (but that) this risk is lower in the Member States having already implemented the technical control: 16 times in Germany, 17 times in Spain”.

The NGOs also argued that the technical inspection “would also reduce the noise pollution caused in particular by the unclamping of the engines, but also those linked to air pollution”.

The "Respire" association, one of the three applicants, welcomed this decision on Twitter: "The Council of State gives the government of @Elisabeth_Borne the opportunity to realize its ecological ambitions: it requires it to establish the technical inspection on October 1, 2022”.

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