French blind spot stickers creating an impossible situation in road transport
23.2.2021
Question for written answer E-001070/2021
to the Commission
Rule 138
Tom Berendsen (PPE), Annie Schreijer-Pierik (PPE)
As of 1 January 2021 France has made blind spot stickers mandatory[1] for all lorries travelling on French roads. All lorries and buses must be fitted with three stickers 30 centimetres in size, one at the rear and one on each side of the vehicle. At present, foreign hauliers can still benefit from a grace period but as of 1 April they too must comply with the sticker requirement. Carriers in the sector[2] are expressing serious concerns as to whether the French measure is workable and, indeed, lawful, especially where container lorries, car transporters and lorries with wide or oversize loads are concerned as the stickers may not be placed on the vehicle’s load.
- 1.What is the Commission’s assessment of the workability and added value of this rule France has introduced, independently of other Member States, that makes use of blind spot stickers mandatory for all types of lorries and buses as from 1 January 2021?
- 2.What is the Commission’s assessment of the lawfulness of the French measure viewed in light of current EU legislation and rules, and in particular EU regulations concerning EU vehicle type approval[3], which already include strict requirements about improvements to the field of vision and driver turning assistance systems?
- 3.What measures is the Commission planning to take to ensure that individual measures by Member States do not jeopardise the principle of free movement of goods and services in Europe and that entrepreneurs who serve the EU market are not unduly burdened?