“This decision does not lead to an immediate entry into force of the technical control”, estimated the government Monday, taking note of the decision of the magistrates.
New development in the file, more and more complex, of the technical control of the two-wheelers. The Council of State reinstated this controversial measure on Monday, initially decided in August 2021 by the government, then on which it had reversed. The highest administrative court ruled that “the decision taken by the government on July 25, to reconsider the application of technical control to two-wheelers“, was “illegal“. The magistrates, seized by the associations Respire, Ras le Scoot and Paris without a car, considered that the executive had committed a “excess of powerby canceling the creation of a technical control for motorcycles and other scooters, established at European level to protect the environment as well as the safety of motorcyclists.
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The Council of State considered on the one hand that the abolition of this obligation “should have been preceded by public participation, in accordance with the provisions of the law enacted in application of the Environmental Charter incorporated into the Constitution, because it has a direct and significant impact on the environment“. And on the other hand that the alternative measures proposed by the executive to derogate from this European obligation (reform of the license, communication campaigns) “cannot be regarded as effective road safety measures within the meaning of European law“. The institution judgesthat they are only at the draft stage” Where “do not make it possible to improve the safety of motorcyclists on the road in a sufficiently effective and significant manner“.
Launch of a consultation by the government in the coming days
As for the associations, we welcome this decision. “The Council of State whistles the end of recess“, reacted Tony Renucci, general manager of the Respire association, adding that it is about”a victory for ecology and public health“. For Gaël David, president of Ras le Scoot, “the Council of State signals the end of procrastination and hesitation: its clear decision calls for rapid implementation. The government is no longer able to play the watch“. Lawyer for the applicant NGOs, Me Camille Mialot believes that “the government has no choice but to immediately implement technical control for two-wheelers“.
At the French Federation of Angry Bikers (FFMC), on the contrary, we regret a decision “which short-circuits the work, carried out with the government and the French Motorcycling Federation (FFM), to develop alternative measures to technical control“. Measures that wentfurther than the European directive“, insists Céline Aubrun, coordinator of the national office of the FFMC.
At the end of July, the executive had suffered a first setback, with the cancellation by the Council of State of the timetable for the implementation of the technical control of two-wheelers initially defined. He stared “its date of entry into force on a date after the deadline of January 1, 2022 set by European law: January 1, 2023, for vehicles registered before 2016, and dates staggered between 2024 and 2026, for vehicles registered from 2016“, recalls the Council of State.
Read alsoTechnical control of two-wheelers: the Council of State considers the government’s calendar “illegal”
If the magistrates point out that their decision on Monday “has the effect of reinstating” the initial government decree, dated August 9, 2021, which established the technical control of two-wheelers, they open the door to a “phasing in time” of the implementation of this measure or even to a “differentiation according to the age of the vehicle“.
For its part, the government says:take note of the decision of the Council of State“. But he said in a statement:that this decision does not lead to the immediate entry into force of the technical control, given the need to publish beforehand the implementing texts of the decree of August 9, 2021“.
He also announces the launch in the coming days of a consultation, by the Minister in charge of Transport Clément Beaune with the actors concerned, “in order to determine the measures to be implemented“. According to the FFMC,the implementation of a technical control in the immediate future is not possible“. “We start from a blank sheet, we do not know its content. The technical control centers are not at all ready“, points out Céline Aubrun.
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