more eu messing

Before everyone goes off alarming, these FIVA guidelines are a good thing, and that is why they are supported by the British Federation.

It has been crystallised, as said above, by the NEED to react to impending emissions regulations in 2010, which would effectively outlaw ALL classic vehicles and have them taken off the road.

In order to protect classic vehicles, the old car bodies all over Europe have for once come together to produce a workable set of proposals (note the word 'proposals').Obviously, as a starting point they had to define a classic car, hence the definition they have come up with, which is broad enough to roll in just about everybody. The "daily use" bit is smoke and mirrors and as Julian says, would be impossible to police. It is there to calm certain European countries whose complex insurance legislation makes it impossible to insure a classic unless you have regular use of another vehicle.

The 30 year date was used because it is already the accepted marker in almost all other European countries except the UK.

It is intended to be a rolling marker, and the 1980 date mentioned is, as far as I am aware, just an alternative suggestion that was proposed at one point.

None of this has sod all to do with car tax - that as now, will remain at the discretion of individual governments.

Before we jumped off of the precipice into recession, the All Party Working Group of MP's had just about got the Treasury to accept the return of the rolling car tax exemption, albeit at a 30 year cut off instead of the old 25 year bringing the UK into line with a number of Euro countries. However to pay for it there was going to be an "adminstrative" charge at a flat rate of £10 each time you renewed. The adminstrative charge was going to be able to reviewed 5 yearly only, and only then in line with inflation to prevent government stealthily jacking it back up. Also in line with European nations, the UK government was to introduce a cash incentive to scrap vehicles between 18 and 30 years old (18 years are the last vehicles sold before catalysts became a legal requirement). This was going to be the sterling equivalent of Euro1000 per vehicle (that's gone up a bit!).


I am in fairly regular contact with the principle politicians behind the scenes on this, and they have been chipping away at it for over 5 years. Given the present circumstances, when or if this happens is a good question.

FIVA and the British Federation deserve our support here. There are a surprisingly large number of people who would gladly have all old cars taken off the roads and confined to museums; indeed such a proposal has a weighty following in Brussels. The work FIVA are doing will guarantee old cars a place on Europe's roads for at least twenty years, and then the debate will start again.