The Council of State gives the government two months to introduce the technical control of two-wheelers

The Council of State has given the government two months, from Thursday 1 June, to take the decree implementing technical control for motorized two-wheelers, in accordance with a provision imposed at European level but never put into practice by France. The Minister Delegate for Transport, Clément Beaune, reacted immediately, saying in a press release that the government would apply “of course the decision of the Council of State” and that he himself would specify “in the next few days the calendar and the methods of the technical control”.

At this stage, the exact date on which the motorcycles and scooters will be subject to technical control in France is not known. The highest administrative court, seized in summary proceedings by several associations fighting for air quality and road safety, ordered the government to “take the decree of application of the decree of August 9, 2021 relating to the implementation of the technical inspection of motorized vehicles with two or three wheels and motorized quadricycles within a period of two months from the notification of this decision “.

In July 2022, the government had repealed the decree of August 9, 2021 which introduced the obligation to carry out a technical inspection on two-wheelers over 125 cm3, from the beginning of the year 2023. At the end of October, the Council of State had announced to reinstate the technical control two-wheelers. “The decision taken by the government on July 25, to reverse the application of technical control to ‘two-wheelers’ (…) is illegal”had estimated the highest administrative court in a press release. A few weeks later, hundreds of bikers marched in several cities in France – including Lille, Nantes, Toulouse and Rennes – to express their opposition to the introduction of this technical control.

“We are worried about such a rapid implementation”

On Thursday, the applicant associations, including Respire and Ras Le Scoot, welcomed the decision of the Council of State, recalling that they were fighting “for two years to enforce European law”. The European Commission had imposed a technical inspection in 2014 in all countries of the European Union, wishing it to be implemented from January 2022 for two-wheelers over 125 cm3.

Céline Aubrun, coordinator of the national office of the French Federation of Angry Bikers (FFMC), judged “complicated” to apply it in such a short time. “As the technical control centers were not necessarily ready, it will be put in place in a hurry, we are worried about such a rapid implementation”.