EU licensing gone mad?
15th February 2007 by Simon Emeny
I was reading my BIKE magazine and came across a page about the proposed motorcycling licence changes. Not the ones about riding round cones at 30mph and then trying not to hit the hapless examiner as he shouts stop, while not falling off, demolishing the cone, or taking too long — no, the ones scheduled for 2012.
These ones are aimed at standardising test and licences across the EU. But why? The Treaty of Rome in 1957 was about free movement of people, finance, goods and services. Not about making riding a motorbike impossible unless you passed your test before the EU changed the rules (it’s difficult enough to ride a bike anyway).
This led me on to thinking about other kinds of EU Laws. It is now at the stage where it affects everyone who lives, visits, works, supplies or dies in Europe.
Surely “free” movement is about harmonising laws and reducing red tape?
Simon manages Product Conformity for both the