WRITTEN QUESTION E-1211/01

by Joan Colom i Naval (PSE), Concepció Ferrer (PPE-DE) and Carles-Alfred Gasòliba i Böhm (ELDR) to the Commission

(24 April 2001)

Subject: Vehicle registration

Regulation (EC) No 2411/98 on the recognition in intra-Community traffic of the distinguishing sign of the Member State in which motor vehicles and their trailers are registered(1) does not prohibit Member States from laying down special provisions to enable regional origin to be indicated on a part of the registration plate other than that specified in the Annex to the Regulation.

The recently proclaimed Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union states that one of the Union's tasks is to safeguard cultural diversity.

Article 151 of the EC Treaty stipulates that The Community shall contribute to the flowering of the cultures of the Member States, while respecting their national and regional diversity and at the same time bringing the common cultural heritage to the fore.

Does the Commission agree that the inclusion of a regional distinguishing sign on the new Spanish registration plates would be more in keeping with the letter and the spirit of the Treaty?

(1) OJ L 299, 10.11.1998, p. 1.

Joint answer to Written Questions E-1211/01 and E-1224/01 given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(21 June 2001)

The specifications of vehicle registration plates fall mainly under the competence of Member States, which apply their own legislation within the framework of the Vienna Convention of 1968 on road traffic, concluded under the auspices of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe. This Convention provides that every motor vehicle in international traffic shall display at the rear, in addition to its registration number, a distinguishing sign of the Member State in which it is registered. (e.g.: E for Spain).

In the light of the principle of subsidiarity, the Community only intervenes in the field of registration plates when it is necessary in order to ensure the free movement of goods and persons within the Community.

In recent years several Member States have introduced a model registration plate which, on the extreme left, displays a blue zone containing 12 yellow stars representing the European flag plus the distinguishing sign of the Member State of registration, the so called Euro Plate.

Because some Member States did not recognise the distinguishing sign on the Euro plate Council Regulation (EC) No 2411/98 of 3 November 1998 on the recognition in intra-Community traffic of the distinguishing sign of the Member State in which motor vehicles and their trailers are registered(1) was adopted. The purpose of the Regulation is to give equal status, in intra-Community traffic, to the distinguishing signs contained within the Euro plates and the distinguishing signs required by the Vienna Convention.

This is the only Community legislation on the subject of registration plates. Given the success of the Vienna Convention, the Commission has no plans to propose legislation harmonising national registration plates, and therefore to consider the question of regional or any other signs being included in them.

(1) OJ L 299, 10.11.1998.