EU Steps Up Action Over Used-Car Restrictions

The European Commission is stepping up legal action against five member states

of the European Union over their restrictions on the import of used vehicles.

Poland, Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary and Luxembourg have received formal warnings to remove trade barriers that the EC says violate the countries’ constitutional obligations to allow the free movement of goods and services across EU-member borders.

A key EC complaint is that motorists have to deal with less red tape if they are buying a used vehicle already registered in their home country, than if they are purchasing a previously owned car from another EU country.

One tenet of the EU Treaty is that doing business across national borders in the 25-member union should be as easy as transactions within a single EU country.

Vehicles should not be discriminated against if they were not originally purchased

in the member state concerned, EU Industry Commissioner Gunter Verheugen says. "The Commission had to act so that our consumers can reap the full benefits of the EU single market.”

Among the member states in violation, Luxembourg requires more paperwork for importing a used car than for one purchased locally. The other member countries require technical checks before an imported EU used car can be registered. Czech Republic actually bans the import of certain used-car models that are five or more years old from other countries, including EU nations.