The technical control of two-wheelers must be in place by October 1, 2022, says the Council of State

Europe 1 6:25 p.m., May 17, 2022

The Council of State announced on Tuesday that a postponement of the entry into force of the technical control of two-wheelers over 125 cm3 beyond October 1, 2022 "for the oldest vehicles" was "not justified".

The technical control for two wheels was, according to a European obligation, to apply no later than January 1, 2022, but the government had decided last year by decree to postpone this obligation to 2023. It is this decree that the Council of State suspended.

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.

"No time to bother the French"

An adviser to the executive had explained that the head of state considered that "this was not the time to bother the French".

The Ministry Delegate for Transport then announced in 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 judge in summary proceedings (emergency procedure) 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 such as to justify the transposition of this “European” directive in the absence of effective implementation of the measures envisaged.

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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 obligation to technical control".

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

Satisfied associations

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 control "would also make it possible to 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."

Victory for health and ecology: we have obtained from the Council of State the application of the technical control of motorized 2-wheelers for October 1, 2022!

@RasLeScoot@parisansvoiture@CamilleMialot@Conseil_Etat#CT2RM#2rm#AirPollutionpic.twitter.com/qN8DNajNcv

— Breathe Association (@respireasso) May 17, 2022