MEPs support digital vehicle registration documents to cut red tape

The Transport Committee has backed digital vehicle registration certificates and compulsory sharing of mileage data and inspection results, to cut red tape and combat fraud. On Wednesday, MEPs on the Transport and Tourism Committee (TRAN) adopted their position on the revision of the EU rules setting common requirements for vehicle registration documents, by 39 votes to one and with one abstention.

Digital documents
The Transport Committee MEPs voted in favour of a digital vehicle registration certificate, to become the main format for this document within three years of the new rules entering into force. However, MEPs want to maintain the option of a physical version of the document to provide for the needs of citizens with limited digital access or skills, and advocate for a QR code to facilitate immediate access to vehicle information.

Reducing bureaucracy and combatting fraud
The draft rules list the vehicle data, including the vehicle’s make, weight and owner, regular inspection results, and reasons for cancelling vehicle registration, to be registered electronically, to facilitate the work of roadworthiness inspectors and institutions responsible for re-registering vehicles.

To combat fraud, dubious practices in the second-hand car trade and the illegal trade in stolen vehicles, the draft text also instructs EU countries to open these registers to each other. In addition to exchanging information on vehicle registration, mileage, and regular and roadside inspection results, MEPs added an obligation to share, where available, remote sensing data and data for heavy-duty vehicles that have been tampered with.

Source: European Parliament