The motorcycle industry in Europe welcomes the recent decision by the Council of the EU and the European Parliament to endorse the European Commission’s proposal adapting the rules on end-of-series vehicles in EU Regulation 168/2013. This amendment will give motorcycle dealers and companies across Europe, which have been affected by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the possibility to sell their stock of Euro 4 vehicles until 31 December 2021.
The proposal supported by the two legislative bodies will cover only the vehicles that were in stock at the moment when national lockdowns were introduced across the EU. More specifically, the amount of vehicles benefiting from the revised end-of-series measures will not exceed the number of Euro 4 L-category vehicles in stock in the EU on 15 March 2020, which was estimated by industry experts at around 550,000 units.
A much-needed revision of end of series
Under EU type-approval rules, all Euro 4 motorcycles needed to be registered before the application of the environmental Euro 5 step on 1 January 2021. This requirement was impossible to achieve as a result of the drop on sales caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
EU type-approval rules foresaw a flexibility mechanism called “end of series”, which allowed manufacturers to continue making available on the market, register or enter into service a limited part of their stock of Euro 4 vehicles. However, this flexibility clause was not sufficient to address the problem of extra vehicle stock created by the sudden outbreak of the virus.
The political agreement reached by the two European legislators will help motorcycle companies and dealers to better face these troublesome times.
It is worth emphasizing that the amendment to the end-of-series provisions in EU Regulation 168/2013 will not affect the original timeline foreseen for the introduction of the Euro 5 standard, i.e. 1 January 2021 for existing moped and motorcycle models type-approved before the 1 January 2020.
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Commenting on the political agreement reached by the EU institutions, Antonio Perlot, ACEM Secretary General, said:
“ACEM welcomes the positive vote of the Council and the European Parliament on this important legislative file. The amendment to EU Regulation 168/2013 will help those manufacturers in need of specific support and will help to bridge the gap towards Euro 5. The new rules will also provide a much needed ‘safety net’ for the entire sector, including downstream dealerships, and will prevent the unnecessary scrapping of Euro 4 vehicles”.
“The motorcycle sector thanks European Commission’s President von der Leyen as well as Commissioner Breton and his team at DG GROW for their decisive political dealership and swift response to this crisis”.
“Over the coming the months, ACEM but most importantly – as since day one – the sector national associations will continue working constructively with public authorities to ensure that the new end-of-series rules support manufacturing in Europe and dealerships in these challenging times”.
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Press contact
Ilaria Balloni. ACEM communications assistant
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M. +32 22 30 16 83