Vehicles concerned, entry into force, price... What you need to know about the future technical inspection of two wheels

Repeatedly postponed, the technical control of two-wheelers (CT2R) will finally see the light of day in the course of next year. Transport Minister Clément Beaune clarified the outlines of the device in an interview with Brut on Saturday and during the RTL-Le Figaro -LCI Grand Jury on Sunday. Le Figaro answers your questions.

In 2014, the European Commission imposed the obligation for all countries of the Union to institute a technical inspection of two-wheelers, with application from January 1, 2022 at the latest. The French government ended up publishing an implementing decree in 2021, a decree immediately suspended by Emmanuel Macron. "Now is not the time to bother the French," allegedly argued the President of the Republic.

This presidential volte-face had aroused the ire of environmental associations, which then hastened to seize the Council of State. The court's decision, handed down in early June, gave the government two months to issue a decree establishing the CT2R.

The examination of two wheels will be simpler than that of cars. The three control priorities will be safety, the reduction of polluting emissions and noise pollution. "(...) The CT2R will focus on safety, reduction of noise pollution and emission control (...), we propose to divide by four the number of checkpoints compared to the technical checks of cars", explained the Ministry of Transport on Saturday.

Owners of two-wheelers will have to comply with the CT2R “every five years for the first time, and then every three years”, specified Clément Beaune.

This point had been debated. The minister ended up deciding: "all two-wheelers are concerned", whether they are models of less or more than 125 cm3, he clarified on Saturday. The only exception is “motorcycles for sports use” which do not “travel on public roads” and “obviously do not present the same challenges as other vehicles”. Scooters will be subject to it, insofar as they present “a high accident rate and can also be the source of significant air or noise pollution in the city”.

While the French have been struggling for several months with inflation, the executive wants the control bill to be as painless as possible for owners of two-wheelers. Clément Beaune hopes that his price will be reduced to "about fifty euros". “It is in discussion with the technical centers to put pressure and lower the price as much as possible”, indicated the minister.

Clément Beaune has also announced that he wants to support “those who have an old two-wheeled vehicle (…) with a conversion bonus”. “There will be up to 6,000 euros in aid from the start of 2024 to switch to an electric or not very polluting vehicle,” promised the minister.

The Minister Delegate for Transport announced this Saturday on Brut that technical control would become compulsory from “early 2024” for “the oldest vehicles, that is to say those registered before January 1, 2017”.

The ministry also distilled some information regarding the schedule. “In view of the incompressible deadlines necessary for the CT2R to take place in good conditions, the text submitted for public consultation provides for entry into force between January 15, 2024 and March 15, 2024,” communicated the administration. The exact date of entry into force will be specified according to the feedback from the public consultation, launched at the request of the Council of State until July 21, 2023 and posted online this Monday on the ministry's website.

The entry into force “will be progressive according to the age of the vehicles and staggered until January 1, 2027”, and this, explains the entourage of the minister “in order not to create a bottleneck by bringing into a times nearly four million vehicles in the system”.