STATEMENT FROM NATIONAL CARAVAN COUNCIL ON ADOPTION OF EU DIRECTIVE ON DRIVING LICENCES

The trade body for the UK caravan industry, the National Caravan Council (NCC), has broadly welcomed the final proposals just agreed in Brussels for new rules on towing touring caravans, as part of the EU Directive on driving licences. The changes will allow caravanners to tow a caravan up to 3,500kgs on an ordinary (category B) licence, and those with heavier outfits between 3,500 and 4250kgs to be able to tow after either training or testing.

Director General of the NCC, Graham Beacom explained: ‘This newly adopted Directive is largely supported by the British and EU caravan industry. With caravan manufacture worth in excess of £1 billion in the UK, the industry lobbied hard against the introduction of testing at a lower weight – which had previously been mooted – as this might have been an impediment to new entrants into caravanning. The increase in the towing threshold to 4,250kgs reflects the heavier combinations of caravans that are increasingly common.’

‘The situation regarding motorhomes is not as we would ideally have liked, as the Directive retains the status quo which requires those driving vehicles over 3,500kgs to undergo additional testing - this encompasses a significant proportion (around 15 per cent) of the 120,000 vehicles in use in the UK. Increases in safety equipment and interior specifications mean that many now exceed this weight and retaining testing may limit growth in this sector.‘

Over 90% of touring caravans on British roads are manufactured in the UK, while three out of four motorhomes are British-built.

‘These are important manufacturing businesses for Britain and there has been significant investment in plant, R&D and training recently – Swift, for example, are opening a new factory in Hull tomorrow’ Beacom said. ‘Caravanning brings wealth to rural economies and pleasure to many. The UK’s five hundred thousand owners of touring caravans are likely to have several years to become accustomed to the changes, which will not be introduced immediately, but need to be implemented by 2012’.

Date : 09-02-2007