In May 2018 the European Commission proposed a review of the Motor Insurance Directive (MID), aiming to strengthen the rules on motor insurance and better protect victims of motor vehicle accidents. In its legislative proposal the European Commission proposed to clarify the scope of this Directive based on the recent case law of the European Union Court of Justice.
This resulted in a proposal to include motorsports in the scope of the Directive without making an appropriate distinction between vehicles used in traffic and non-traffic situations. Further to this, a coalition of organisations led by the International Automobile Federation (FIA), which brings together the European Association of Motorcycle Manufacturers (ACEM), the International Motorcycle Federation (FIM), and the All-Terrain Vehicle Industry European Association (ATVEA) expressed their concerns about the damaging consequences of the Commission’s proposal for motor sports in Europe.
During the parliamentary discussions on the file, the members of the European Parliament’s Internal Market Committee (IMCO) adopted a report recommending excluding “vehicles intended exclusively for motorsports” from the scope of the Directive, “as these vehicles are generally covered by other forms of liability insurance and are not subject to compulsory motor insurance when they are solely used for a competition”. The report also made it clear that it was necessary to make an appropriate distinction between “in traffic” and “non-traffic” situations in the scope of the Directive.
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Commenting on this debate, ACEM Secretary General Antonio Perlot said: “ACEM welcomes and congratulates the work of the European Parliament and of its rapporteur Ms Dita Charanzová, who has shown a clear understanding of the concerns shared by key stakeholders, particularly the severe implications for motorcycle sports and related leisure activities in Europe”.
“The motorcycle industry in Europe calls now on Members of the European Parliament to support the decision adopted by the IMCO committee during the next European Parliament Plenary session that will take place on 13 February 2019 in Strasbourg. A similar approach should be followed by the Council of the EU during the upcoming trilogue negotiations which will take place later in 2019”.
Press contact
Manuel Ordonez de Barraicua
ACEM communications manager
Email [email protected]
Phone +32 (0)22 30 97 32
