Apply the technical control of two-wheelers on January 1, 2022 to comply with European law or postpone it for fear of "
disturbing public order
"?
The question was examined on Monday, November 8 by a summary judge of the Council of State.
The technical control of motorized two-wheelers was established by a decree published on August 11, 2021 for a gradual entry into force from 2023. But the President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron suspended it the next day.
Faced with this decision, three associations, Respire, Ras le Scoot and Paris Sans Car have filed an excess of power request and a summary suspension before the Council of State.
"A sea serpent"
"
We are dealing with a sea serpent
", while this technical control, required by the European Union since 2014 to improve road safety, protect the environment and limit noise pollution, should normally be implemented on January 1 2022, noted the lawyer of the associations during the hearing. "
There is no option in European law to postpone this date
", she continued, arguing that "
it would still be possible materially for this technical control to be put in place on January 1, 2022
" to justify the urgency to suspend a postponement to 2023.
The applicant associations also stressed the urgent need to fight against air pollution and noise pollution, and to reduce the mortality of motorbike drivers through technical inspections. Conversely, the Ministry of Ecological Transition considered that the deadlines were too short to train the staff of the approved centers and that it is not technically possible today to measure noise and air pollution. He also highlighted the "
risk of disturbing public order
", referring to associations of bikers "
very aggressive with the capacity of social disturbance
". It is necessary "to
try to obtain a more important social adhesion
", argued the representative of the ministry.
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The Minister for Transport, Jean-Baptiste Djebbari, at the beginning of September presented avenues for alternative measures around the strengthening of road safety through "
training
", the experimentation of sound radars against falsified exhaust pipes, and a two-wheeler conversion bonus project to encourage the purchase of less polluting vehicles.
Most European countries have already implemented this technical control.
Only Finland, Ireland and the Netherlands have adopted alternative measures to reduce the number of accidents, which have enabled them to bypass it.
