Manufacturers of vehicles demanding cutting of red tape

Brussels / Berlin. At the current General Meeting of the Trailer Industrie Verband TIV on 23 June, representatives of the 22 member companies raised demands for the simplification of German and EU-wide regulations in the areas of driving licence law and the admission of trailers. The TIV comprises companies from nine EU countries and in Germany represents the manufacturers of more than 70 per cent of the registered car trailers. On the occasion of the opening of the TIV branch in the Brussels ‘Haus der Wirtschaft’ (House of Business), the meeting took place in Brussels for the first time.

From the point of view of the association members, the current, unnecessarily complicated regulations jeopardise jobs and are at odds with a successful development of the industry. By way of an example, the association refers to rigid licensing regulations, according to which, for instance, the temporary equipment of a trailer with accessories leads to its licensing becoming invalid necessitating the recoding of the trailer into a new vehicle class - such accessories could include a high-bows with tarpaulin or a motorcycle transport rail. The association also calls for the uniform implementation of the registration procedure for trailers in all EU countries, in some cases country-specific bureaucratic regulations still apply here.

According to the association, the driving licence regulations do not comply with actual practice. Thus the validity of a driving licence for a certain trailer size could be nullified if a heavier car is used for the towing, although the safety of the attached trailer thereby actually tends to increase, according to the chairman of the association Michael Jursch.