The drastic reform of the car inspection procedure in Flanders, planned by Flemish Mobility Minister Annick De Ridder, goes in the opposite direction to the new regulatory plans of the European Union, says GOCA, the sector federation currently responsible for the technical and safety inspection.

“We have a growing impression that a more ideological viewpoint is gaining ground in Flanders,” says Dirk Snauwaert, spokesman of the federation. “Apparently, the Minister is on a political mission that sees technical inspections as an administrative and practical burden for the Flemish car owner rather than an essential instrument to guarantee safety, consumer protection, and technical control.”

Paradox

The EU Commission on Transport and Tourism (TRAN) of the European Parliament voted recently with a clear majority to revise the regulations for periodical technical inspections and road surveillance. “Europe is aiming for a new, more extensive and more harmonized system of technical vehicle inspections,” explains Snauwaert.

“And this makes the whole thing rather contradictory. While Flanders tends to abolish or simplify certain technical inspections, Europe is working to extend and modernize these same controls.”

Europe foresees a ‘Roadworthiness Package’ with new rules concerning digital car data, software control, ADAS systems, electric vehicles, emission tests, fraud detection, and the mandatory follow-up of manufacturers’ recalls.

“Europe is giving a clear signal that there has to be less flexibility and that, for example, also motorbikes should be regularly inspected, which is not the case now in Flanders,” notes Snauwaert. “And in Flanders, even the inspection of second-hand motorbikes (when sold) is questioned again, a measure that was implemented only four years ago.” Snauwaert insists that technical inspections work well only when there is societal consensus and a coherent, consistent system.

Not amused

In a reaction last Friday, the minister was not amused. “We have made a clear choice, and we are trying to modernize car inspection, to make it consumer-friendly and to remove ‘over-inspection’ (where we are more stringent than Europe). In the longer term, independent garages will also be able to do technical inspections. That’s the way we handle archaic, consumer-unfriendly practices without jeopardizing traffic safety.”

In her conclusion, the Minister also lashes out at the sector federation: “From an executive body that can work in a competition-free environment, I expect a clear engagement for the general interest inside a legislative framework determined by the Flemish government and not a focus on its own, individual financial interests.”