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.

MAG welcomes the fact that so much attention is being paid to this piece of legislation, at Committee stage, after the many, many months of lobbying by MAG and FEMA.

It shows that the lobbying tactics are working and the postponement comes as no surprise as the vote date had already been postposed several times and we had said this further delay was always a real possibility.

This further delay, as the 305 tabled amendments continue to be discussed, means that the Plenary Session vote, or vote by the whole European Parliament, will now be pushed back to the Spring.

A complaint against the Commission was upheld earlier in the year by the European Ombudsman, that the Commission had failed to provide sufficient evidence for its proposals on Anti-Tampering and Automatic Headlights On, and we have discovered today that the Commission has failed to provide any further supporting evidence.

These two events exonerate MAG’s position that much of the TA Regulation is  ill-conceived and highlights the difficulties that our politicians face if they choose to support some of the Commission’s more outlandish ideas.