WRITTEN QUESTION E-0620/03 by Carles-Alfred Gasòliba i Böhm (ELDR) to the Commission. Freedom of establishment and the securing of authorisation to carry out roadworthiness tests on vehicles in Germany.
Date: 2003-03-03
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Germany, application of EU law, freedom to provide services, general mechanical engineering, restriction on competition, right of establishment, roadworthiness tests

18.9.2003

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 222 E/221

The answer to the questions put is therefore:

(cid:1) The Commission cannot propose an exemption from payment of the levy, either for Portugal or for
any other Member State. To do so would open the way to a price collapse and distort competition
with producers who have complied with their quota.

(cid:1) The reform currently under discussion does not in principle change the conditions in this respect:
quotas will still not be able to circulate from one Member State to another, and their allocation among
regions and producers will remain a national responsibility based on general criteria established in the
Community rules.

(2003/C 222 E/250)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0620/03

by Carles-Alfred Gasòliba i Böhm (ELDR) to the Commission

(3 March 2003)

Subject: Freedom of establishment and the securing of authorisation to carry out roadworthiness tests on

vehicles in Germany

Restrictions on the freedom of nationals from one Member State to establish themselves within the
territory of another Member State are prohibited under Article 43 of the EC Treaty, save where they are
justified in the public interest. Those restrictions have been interpreted by the Court of Justice as including
rules or provisions which apply both to nationals and to non-nationals alike but which in practice make it
problematic or less advantageous for nationals from one Member State to establish themselves in another.

Annex VIIIb of the 28 September 1988 Strassenverkehrs-Zulassungs-Ordnung (StVZO)
lays down the
requirements which bodies wishing to carry out roadworthiness tests in Germany must fulfil in order to
secure the necessary authorisation from each federal state. One such requirement is that of submitting a
series of documents and demonstrating that certain conditions of a practical nature have been met,
including one to the effect
the body seeking authorisation must comprise a minimum of 60
independent experts and that a minimum number of those experts must be based within the country in
which recognition is being sought.

that

Does the Commission not think that insisting that those requirements be met before authorisation can be
granted restricts freedom of establishment, since it calls for business investment
to be made and
entrepreneurial risks to be taken in advance? In practice, this makes it less attractive for a national from
some other Member State to set up a vehicle roadworthiness testing business in Germany.

the Commission not consider

Does
laid down under German law place
disproportionate restrictions on the freedom of establishment, even if such restrictions may be justified in
the public interest?

the requirements

that

Does the Commission not consider the German law in question to be incompatible with the general
principles underlying Council Directive 96/96/EC (1) of 20 December 1996 on the approximation of the
laws of the Member States relating to roadworthiness tests for motor vehicles and their trailers?

(1) OJ L 46, 17.2.1997, p. 1.

Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(10 April 2003)

The Commission has taken note of the circumstances described by the Honourable Member.

It does not have detailed knowledge of the legislation in question and will lose no time in investigating the
matter.

The Commission will naturally inform the Honourable Member of the results of its enquiries.