The European Parliament and European Council have reached a provisional agreement that will exempt motorsport from the new EU Motor Insurance Directive, which had the potential to impose unsustainable costs on racing activities. As far as motorsport activities are concerned, the scope of the Motor Insurance Directive has now been clarified: vehicles intended exclusively for motorsport are excluded. Dita Charanzová, a European Parliament rapporteur, noted, “With this political agreement we have additionally managed to curb absurd overregulation of motorsports.”
Jean Todt, FIA president, expressed relief on behalf of event organizers and national governing bodies across the continent. “The FIA welcomes the revision of the Motor Insurance Directive approved yesterday. Through the exemption granted for motorsport activities, the EU institutions have ended a long period of legal uncertainty following the Vnuk jurisprudence in 2014 and allowed motorsport activities to maintain their specific insurance schemes, without jeopardizing the protection of the competitors and those involved in competitions.”
The provisional agreement between the European Parliament and the European Council will now have to be formally approved by both institutions before its publication in the EU Official Journal. The new rules will start to apply 24 months after this point, leaving time for member states to transpose the new directive at national level.
