As of 1st Jan 2013 it will be an offence, punishable through a fine and the loss of points, (in France you lose them, don’t gain them) not to wear at least 150cm2 of relective clothing between the waist and the shoulders and not to be using an enlarged number plate.

You may remember that this was first mooted as an accident reduction issue, but most accidents involve 125cc bikes and below, and these are exempt from the new rules.

Riders in France must already use their headlights all the time and carry reflective stickers on their helmets.

You may also remember that the French Government then said the regulations were to ensure other motorists could see if riders were lying in the middle of the road at night…

FFMC’s Frederic Jeorge said “It will be considered almost as bad as driving without a helmet, even if you are wearing full leather armour, on a bike with the headlights on and knowing that our helmets already have 4 mandatory reflective stickers…  Also, it will NOT include the mopeds and 125cc, where’s the logic?”

Logic? We are not sure that’s generally considered when creating legislation for motorcyclists.

Let’s hope it’s a good one for you and if we can keep up the pressure from last year, it should be a good one for Riders’ Rights too.

If you live in the South East of England, we are pleased to announce that one of your MEPs, Peter Skinner, is holding a special ‘motorcycle surgery’ at P&H Motorcycles in Crawley on 14th January, at:

P&H Motorcycles Ltd
61-63 Gatwick Road
Crawley
West Sussex
RH10 9RD

As a result of the huge volume of correspondence he has received from riders in his constituency, he has agreed to meet as many as possible on Saturday afternoon (14th Jan) in perhaps the ideal venue, a bike shop.

He is hoping to hear all your concerns about EU legislation first hand, as well as discuss rider training issues, the state of the retail bike industry and the future of the whole industry in light of various legislation, both proposed and under discussion for future proposal.

If you could arrive before 2pm (time enough to grab a cuppa) Mr Skinner will be available to take questions and hear what you have to say, after 2pm.

It is common to visit an MP surgery and discuss local or national issues, but so much of what affects our motorcycling lives now is decided in Europe, this is a great opportunity for us to voice our concerns to an MEP who genuinely wants to understand riders and the bike industry generally.

It should be an interesting afternoon, and remember, P&H is a multi-franchised dealer, so there’ll be loads of bikes to look at too…

Words by: Paddy Tyson, Campaigns Manager.

The IMCO vote, which is tabled to take place on 5th Dec, (as it was on 22nd Nov and 17th October and in June before that…) looks set to be taken before the MEPs have gathered the information that they may need to make an informed decision.

If you happen to live in one of the following areas, you may wish to contact the relevant MEP (below) with a version of the letter at the bottom of this note.

An Impact Assessment is currently being undertaken into aspects of the proposed Type Approval Regulation, regarding the speed at which new emission criteria should be introduced or whether Euro 6 levels of emission control should be introduced at all, as well as good old ABS for all.

Regulations aren’t usually delayed this long and it’s a testament to the lobbying so far that so much attention is being given this piece of legislation, but it would severely undermine the credibility of the EU legislative process (I know, I know..) if a committee were to make a decision that effects us all, and the motorcycle industry, without first considering all the available information.

It will be embarrassing if it has to be postponed yet again, but with weight of feeling, it may be. Questions have now been asked in EU Parliament about the quality of the original impact assessment that the Commission did as part of the original proposal, and a complaint to the Ombudsman now has to be answered by the Commission, so the case continues to build.

The vote is timetabled for Monday 5th December and the following MEPs are either members of the IMCO (internal market and consumer protection committee) or substitute members.

In Scotland:

Catherine Stihler Labour MEP

(full member and shadow raporteur) is currently on maternity leave, but her mail will be forwarded to the relevant person.

cstihlermep2@btconnect.com

Ian Hudghton SNP MEP

(substitute member)

ian.hudghton@europarl.europa.eu

George Lyon Lib Dem MEP

(substitute member)

george.lyon@europarl.europa.eu

In West Midlands:

Malcolm Harbour Con MEP

(chairman of committee)

malcolm.harbour@europarl.europa.eu

In East Midlands:

Emma McClarkin Con MEP

(substitute member)

emma.mcclarkin@europarl.europa.eu

In London:

Claude Moraes Labour MEP

(substitute member)

claude.moraes@europarl.europa.eu

In South West:

Ashley Fox Con MEP

(substitute member)

ashley@ashleyfoxmep.co.uk

Trevor Colman UKIP MEP

trevor.colman@europarl.europa.eu

There are a lot of substitute members but remember, there are committee members from all over Europe but these ones are those that we can hold directly accountable, as they represent us in the UK. Please feel free to use any or all of the letter below if you would like to, inserting/deleting the relevant bits.

Dear

I note with some dismay that the Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee (IMCO) upon which you sit as a member/substitute member, is planning to vote on 5th December on the amendments that have been under discussion regarding the proposed Regulation on Type Approval and Market Surveillance of 2 and 3 wheeled vehicles.

This appears to be in spite of the fact that there is an Impact Assessment ongoing, having only commenced on 23rd November, into certain aspects of the proposed regulation.

I urge you to consider the impact that this will have, not only on your ability to make an informed decision, but also on the credibility of the European legislative process, which will appear to be one that carries on regardless of the interests of those citizens most affected and any evidence that may appear to the contrary to that presented by the Commission.

Yours sincerely,

Thank you for any of the letters you may have written in the past. Please remember the battle is not over.

We knew that the 22nd November IMCO vote (Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee) on the Regulation would be delayed again, as MAG, FEMA and the UK Gov among others, battled to secure another, more robust Impact Assessment (IA) of the Regulation that could see an end to the modification of power-trains and compulsory ABS for all.

The vote had already been postponed twice, before it was rescheduled for the 5th December. Now we have good cause to believe it will be moved yet again, as there is no realistic way the IA can be completed, a report prepared, and the IMCO committee members given time to read it, before the 5th December.

Remember, every delay is a minor victory, as it ensures more time and effort is being expended examining this proposed legislation. We planned to ensure that every UK MEP would read this proposed Regulation and make sure it wasn’t just rubber-stamped, as much legislation is and we’ve certainly managed that; there aren’t many pieces of EU legislation that are delayed this long.

We suspect IMCO won’t have sufficient time to vote before Christmas, meaning the Plennary Session won’t have an opportunity to vote until the Spring.

The full EU Parliament only meet to vote about 5 or 6 days in every month and at this rate it is unrealistic to assume they could be presented with ‘our’ Regulation until the Spring, at a Strasbourg meeting.

That’ll be our time to write more letters and perhaps get out on the streets again, because it’ll be all our UK MEPs who are voting, whether they sit on IMCO or not. We hope every rider and the bike press will ensure they hear our opinions before that crucial vote.

The great news is that we hear from IMCO that the more outrageous amendments to the proposals, like giving the police the powers to stop and check bikes, have now been thrown out. There is even a chance that because there is so much debate around article 18, the dreaded ‘anti-tampering’ of power-trains, that the whole article may be thrown out. This would be a massive victory, but is still something for which we have to wait and see.