Amid the increasing presence of electric vehicles and new technologies on the roads, the European Commission is proposing a “comprehensive overhaul of the EU’s road safety and vehicle registration rules,” according to a press release. The changes, if passed, will introduce a new inspection regime that entails “periodic technical inspections for electric vehicles and advanced driver assistance systems”, as well as stricter checks on older vehicles, not only for roadworthiness but also noise and emissions.
🚧Every death on our roads is one too many.
— EU Transport (@Transport_EU) May 12, 2025
This UN Global #RoadSafety Week, we raise awareness of the unacceptable number of lives lost on our roads – 19,800 on EU roads last year alone.
Safe roads are everyone’s right. Let’s make it a reality.#UNGRSWhttps://t.co/wO4J28nfdT pic.twitter.com/wL6mYKQyE5
7,000 lives could be saved
As part of the Commissions “Vision Zero” strategy to reduce road deaths and serious injuries to close to zero by 2050, the proposals target unsafe and highly-polluting vehicles, which the EU says “contribute to crashes, fatalities and injuries”.
The plan is intended to “reflect the EU’s commitment to safe and sustainable mobility while ensuring the free movement of people and goods,” the press statement said. The Commission claims that between 2026 and 2050, the new rules “will save around 7,000 lives and prevent around 65,000 serious injuries.”
In a statement, the Commissioner for Sustainable Transport and Tourism, Apostolos Tzitzikostas, said “The EU is firmly committed to cutting road fatalities and serious injuries by 50% by 2030. Today’s initiative marks a major step forward in making our roads safer, our air cleaner and making citizen’s life easier. By modernising our roadworthiness rules we are harnessing the latest technology, strengthening enforcement, and ensuring they keep pace with the evolving realities of mobility.”
In the EU, we’re taking action across multiple fronts. Our latest initiative:
— EU Transport (@Transport_EU) May 12, 2025
⚠️Improved testing methods, to better detect unsafe vehicles – saving up to 7,000 lives & avoid ca. 65,000 serious injuries by 2050. ⚠️
Learn more: https://t.co/aG0hSb99AB
Annual checks and cross-border sharing
In addition to new technical inspections, annual checks for older cars and vans, and advanced emission testing methods aimed at bringing down fine particle pollution, a new registration and certification framework will be created. That means digital vehicles will need to be registered and undergo regular testing.
Cross-border information sharing is to be simplified, a move designed to “protect citizens against fraudulent activities such as odometer tampering.” For those residing temporarily in another EU country, a mutual recognition scheme means that arranging a periodic technical inspection will be made easier and digitalisation will make the current paper-based system still in use in many countries more efficient.
🚘 Cleaner cars = cleaner air.
— EU Transport (@Transport_EU) April 25, 2025
Not only will newly proposed roadworthiness testing procedures improve #RoadSafety, but they aim to enhance air quality too.
Proposed emissions tests would reduce fine particle & NOx emissions in road transport by 20%.
🔗 https://t.co/aG0hSb99AB pic.twitter.com/V5joalUJQl
While road accident fatalities are slowly coming down across Europe’s roads, according to preliminary 2024 report, progress has been deemed “too slow”. In ongoing work, the EU continues to put into place a “Safe System Approach” to driving in the bloc. This Safe System requires safe driving, safer vehicles, safer infrastructure, lower speeds and better post-crash care.
