SMOTO:n kirje FEMA:lle

Federation of European Motorcyclists Associations
(FEMA Headquarters, Brussels)

Dear Colleagues!

As you all know, one of the main principles of European Union is the principle of "Free Trade". This means there should be no national limitations in any member state, e.q. when a private person buys a second-hand motorvehicle from another EU member state.

"Commission interpretative communication on procedures for the type-approval and registration of vehicles previously registered in another Member State (96/C 143/04)" very clearly says that the registration methods should be equal in all cases.

In Finland, if you buy a used bike from a Finnish dealer (or a private person) you need 3 documets:
- Declaration of ownership
- Certificate of insurance
- Registration form

When buying the bike from another EU country, you need the same documents PLUS:
- The Custom Offices decision of taxation for this vehicle
- Receipt of payment of taxes
- Certificate of conformity (CoC)
- Certificate of technical inspections
- Certificate of speedometer's tolerance
- Certificate of steering lock

We think this is strongly inconsistent with Commission's letter. It causes lots of problems and lots of costs to those who are buying a bike from another member state. And because it's illegal to use the bike during the registration procedure (which sometimes takes several weeks) it is very unfair. (Personally I think this system is built to protect the benefits of the "official" importers in Finland…)

We have written a complaint letter to the Finnish Vehicle Administration and I think they are taking this seriously. However I'm afraid that they want to delay in this…

SMOTO'S PROPOSAL:

As I told you in Antwerp, we think that "EU-bike Is EU-bike". FEMA should contact the Commission, and make them a question:

-" Is the Commission aware of the fact, that in some member states there exist major problems when a citizen is trying to register a second-hand motorcycle which is bought from another member state?" Finland can be mentioned as an example.

As we see in SMOTO, the status of FEMA could be valuable in this.

Kekku
SMOTO