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No matter what your political views, there’s no escaping the fact that, for the time being at least, the UK is a member of the European Union. That means we are obliged to abide by rules and regulations set by a group of bureaucrats in Brussels. The latest of their rulings, which may well affect all of us, is their directive on Roadworthiness Testing legislation. The good part is that this is a directive and not a regulation. That means it can be adapted by member states for incorporation into existing legislation. It can therefore be tweaked to suit – assuming the relevant governing body can be arsed that is. The bad news is the directive’s definition of a vehicle of historic interest. Basically, this is defined as a vehicle manufactured or first registered at least 30 years ago, and of a specific type that is no longer manufactured. The crucial bit to us, however, reads: “…it is historically preserved and maintained in its original state and has not sustained substantial changes in the technical characteristics of its main components.” If the vehicle conforms to these criteria, it will not be required to undertake any form of roadworthiness testing. If it doesn’t, it will be subject to testing. Quite what that will mean to us in the long term is anyone’s guess, especially as we already have pre- 1960 MoT exemption. Formal adoption of this new directive is scheduled for April 2014 (yup, next month), with member states then having up to 48 months to incorporate it into their legislation. Don’t think for one minute that means you’ve nothing to concern yourself about until April 2018 though, as that is the maximum permitted time frame. Any member state could incorporate the legislation by the end of this year if they so wish. The Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs is committed to campaign for the interests of their 550 member clubs to be taken into account as the UK adoption of the directive moves forward. We’ll let you know how they get on.