Galway: The roadworthiness package moved forward in a trilogue on 20 October 2026, when Parliament, Council and Commission negotiators settled several technical points but left odometer readings and post-accident structural damage unresolved.

The package covers two directives, one on periodic roadworthiness tests and one on vehicle registration documents. The Irish Council Presidency described several technical-level compromises as yellow lines and proposed further adjustments to some of them. The existing framework had not been revised for more than ten years when the Commission put forward the roadworthiness package.

Negotiators confirmed or agreed mutual recognition of roadworthiness certificates between EU countries, testing obligations for vehicles used for private hire services, the languages used on certificates, reporting obligations and most of the annex on test content and methods. Those points would make the roadworthiness package easier to apply across borders, because a certificate issued in one member state would carry weight in another.

Two issues remain open. On odometer readings, Parliament and Council asked the Commission to draft a compromise, with Parliament wanting mileage recording to apply only to passenger cars in category M1 and light commercial vehicles in category N1. On structural damage after an accident, Parliament has proposed an assessment, and technical work will continue.

The Commission’s original proposal, described by HGV Ireland in May 2025, covers periodic testing, technical roadside checks and registration documents. It includes checks for electric vehicles and driver-assistance systems, annual inspections for older vehicles, electronic certificates, cross-border data exchange and measures against odometer fraud. The unresolved odometer question therefore goes to the heart of the roadworthiness package.

Ireland’s presidency has framed the remaining issues as technical, and the 2 December trilogue is meant to be conclusive. Odometer rules show why the remaining work may still be contested: limiting mileage recording to passenger cars and light vans, as Parliament proposes, would leave heavier vehicles outside the scheme, while the Commission’s original text pairs odometer checks with measures against odometer fraud. The compromise the Commission now drafts will show how far governments want mileage data to travel. Drivers of electric vehicles and older cars are also covered by the Commission’s text, through checks for electric vehicles and driver-assistance systems and annual inspections for older vehicles.

Technical work will continue over the coming weeks. The Irish Presidency said the next trilogue, on 2 December 2026, should be conclusive, with a final political agreement expected then. Formal adoption by Parliament and Council would still follow, so drivers and vehicle owners will not see new testing rules immediately after the roadworthiness package deal.