The claim
The Commission is planning new regulations for dealing with end-of-life vehicles, which supposedly could force classic cars to be scrapped.
Our conclusion
The proposals are aimed at more effective environmental protection and resource conservation without affecting the property rights of classic car owners. Historic cars are expressly excluded from these regulations.
The alarm is being raised on social media. Classic car owners fear for their classic cars, as reports circulating speculate that classic cars would be affected by scrapping.
Background to the European Union initiative
In July 2023, the Commission presented proposals to revise the existing regulations for classic cars and their recyclability. This initiative is part of a broader effort to strengthen the circular economy in the Union, resulting in a reduction in CO₂ emissions, energy savings and a more independent supply of raw materials.
With more than six million cars scrapped each year, the proposals focus on improving the repairability and dismantability of cars. Car manufacturers should take more responsibility for recycling.
No forced scrapping for classic cars
Contrary to widespread fears, the Commission's proposals explicitly exclude classic cars, defined as classic cars that are at least 30 years old, no longer in production, preserved in their original condition and well maintained, from compulsory scrapping.
In Germany, where almost 800,000 classic cars will be registered at the beginning of 2023, the property rights and freedom of choice of the owners remain untouched. Cars can be recognized as classic vehicles through a report and given a special license plate.
Carsten Müller, member of the Bundestag, a statement on his website :
“The absurd reports currently circulating online about an impending order to scrap classic cars are simply false and inaccurate fake news. The opposite is the case in the draft to redesign the end-of-life vehicle directive. The intentionally gross distortion of the contents of the paper in the fake news articles is based on purely politically motivated scaremongering by the author, who is the husband of the deputy group leader of the AfD parliamentary group. The mood is deliberately created against the Union. Members of the AfD parliamentary group were present at the discussion on the topic in the Automobile Cultural Heritage parliamentary group in the German Bundestag, but did not take part in the content.
The fact is, the Union is acting in exactly the opposite way to the baseless claims in the posts. The authors of the draft regulation deliberately excluded classic cars from the scope of application by explicitly including classic cars in the exceptions in Chapter 1, Article 2, No. 2d. It is also true that the classic car scene is contributing constructively to the development of the proposal right from the start, because the definition of historic cars in the draft regulation is still too narrow.
Regulations on spare parts or the bureaucratic hurdles they contain also need to be revised. But we will continue to work on this together and coordinated at national and European level and as long as the debates on the proposal are ongoing in the committees. This will also be the case in the coming calendar year. Nobody has to fear that their collector’s car will be scrapped based on the regulations that are still to be finalized.”
Measures against abuse and promotion of the circular economy
A central aspect of the proposals is to prevent misuse by exporting unroadworthy vehicles as used cars. Such vehicles, which are effectively just scrap, should no longer be allowed to be exported in the future.
This is intended to ensure the environmentally friendly disposal of end-of-life vehicles and promote the circular economy. Manufacturers should also provide detailed dismantling instructions for vehicle parts to make recycling easier.
Conclusion
The Commission's new regulations are an important step towards greater environmental protection and resource efficiency without restricting the rights of classic car owners. These measures are an important contribution to promoting the circular economy.
This article was made possible by the combined strength of our community power in the Mimikama forum! A big thank you to all Mimikamas involved. You can see how we arrived at these findings here: Commission plans to expropriate climate-damaging cars
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Notes:
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