The European Court of Justice this week struck out a 2010 law designed to make it easier to track down and punish European Union motorists who commit traffic offences in a member state where they are not resident. The high court found that the directive was adopted on the wrong legal basis, relying on the EU’s competence in the field of police co-operation.

The law set up a procedure for the exchange of information about eight road traffic offences: speeding, non-use of a seat-belt, failing to stop at a traffic light, drug-influenced and drink-driving, failing to wear a helmet, use of a forbidden lane and illegally using a mobile phone. Through the legislation, member states are given access to national data on vehicle registration to determine the person liable for the offence.

Change of status

Although the European Commission had proposed the directive using the EU’s competence for transport policy, member states changed the legal basis during negotiations to place it under the Schengen agreement’s third pillar on the sharing of policing data. This gave member states greater control over the law and allowed the UK, Ireland and Denmark to opt out. The European Commission challenged the change to the legal basis of the law shortly after it was adopted.

The court found that these measures do not concern ‘prevention of crime’ as defined under the police co-operation rules, but rather road safety, which is a transport issue. “The directive is a measure to improve transport safety and should therefore have been adopted on that basis,” the court found.

“The directive is not directly linked to the objectives of police co-operation, in so far as they cover, first, the framing of a common policy on asylum, immigration and external border control and, second, the prevention of crime, racism and xenophobia.”

However, the court granted a one-year transition period, meaning the rules will remain in effect until May 2015. They have only been in force for a few months. A European Commission spokesperson said a new proposal will be put forward in the coming months that will change the legal basis to be under EU transport policy. The goal is to get the new proposal approved before the one-year reprieve runs out next May.