New rules underway: many owners may be forced to scrap their cars
A new law may hit many car owners in Sweden hard.
The new law is currently a proposal that is part of a larger package of new EU legislation that is planned to be introduced in Sweden within a few years.
In short, the proposal involves new rules for when car owners must scrap their vehicles.
– Vehicles that are possible to use would all of a sudden be considered waste, says Jan Tägt, expert at the Swedish Motor History Association, MHRF, to SR Ekot.
Scrap against their will
The purpose of the legal package is that larger amounts of material in end-of-life cars will be recycled in the future.
And that now worries thousands of Swedish car owners, and hundreds of thousands of motor enthusiasts in the country, who in that case may be forced to scrap their vehicles against their will, the radio emphasizes.
If the EU’s bill goes through, the new rules would supersede the Swedish legislation that governs when a vehicle must be taken to the scrapyard.
“Individual rights should weigh more heavily”
The MHRF is just one of several bodies that reacted to the proposal when it was sent out for consultation by the government last autumn.
– The individual’s right to their property should weigh more heavily than the intended social benefit, the association emphasizes in its consultation response and adds:
– The EU Commission’s proposal also means that historic vehicles that are undergoing renovation or are parts of a renovation can be considered obsolete, this is the consequence when the owner’s intention with his vehicle ownership was not taken into account by the Commission in the proposal.
“All suspensions a risk”
Above all, vintage cars are at risk of being affected by the new rules. But it is far from the only category of cars.
The National Association of Swedish Vehicle Builders, SFRO, has also opposed the bill.
– As soon as a number of criteria are met in the car register, you will receive a letter stating that your car must be recycled. And that’s one of the risks with the criteria that are set for when a vehicle can be considered waste, for example if you haven’t had a control inspection done within two years, which makes all types of shutdowns a risk, says Gustaf Ulander who is technical responsible and environmental officer at SFRO to Teknikens Värld.
Authority questions
The Environmental Protection Agency has been positive about parts of the new EU package, but the authority also questions whether it is in line with the EU Commission to collect end-of-life vehicles against the owner’s will as the EU proposes.
In one or two years, the EU is expected to make a decision on the matter.
Photo: D. Edelstein
Text: The editors
