EU draft regulation on irreparable cars misrepresented online

"The European Union Is Considering A Ban On Repairs For All Vehicles Over 15 Years Old," claimed a post shared on Facebook on February 27, 2024.

It featured a clip from an online show called "The David Knight Show" whose host was previously fact-checked by AFP for spreading anti-vaccine misinformation. In the clip, Knight is shown reading parts of an article from the online news outlet WinePress that also made the misleading claim.

The article identified the measure as a draft proposal seeking to amend the European Union's regulation on ELVs.

The Facebook post added the proposal was intended to keep populations captive through "15-minute cities" initiatives. These urban-planning initiatives -- aimed in part to reduce traffic emissions -- are the subject of misinformation repeatedly debunked by AFP.

"They want you driving electric cars that they can switch on and off if you go outside your 15 minute district," the post said.

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Screenshot of the misleading post, taken March 15, 2024

Similar claims were shared over 5,000 times by social media users in the United States, Australia and New Zealand, as well as in posts written in French, Greek and Romanian.

Misrepresented draft

However, a review of the proposed regulation uploaded in the EU website here found no provision about banning vehicles over 15 years old (archived link).

"This 15-year period does not exist in the text," Emma Babin, an environmental and energy lawyer with Gossement Avocats in France, told AFP on January 25 (archived link).

European Commission spokesman Adalbert Jahnz similarly told AFP on January 22: "We have not proposed anything in this text specifically relating to cars over 15 years old."

According to the text of the proposal, one of its aims was "reducing the negative environmental impacts linked to the design, production, service life and end-of-life treatment of vehicles".

Over six million vehicles in Europe reach the end of their life and are treated as waste every year, the EU said in a note on its website. These ELVs can cause environmental problems when not properly managed (archived link).

"You can always repair your car if you want to, even if it is not cost-effective," a representative for the European Commission in Romania told AFP in response to similar claims circulating in the country.

"But if you own a broken car that is beyond repair, the proposed regulation would specify that you must dispose of it responsibly by sending it to a treatment plant for scrapping rather than, for example, leaving it to rust in the countryside or even in your garage, where it can leak toxic substances and waste precious resources," the representative added.

Preventing fraud

The bill also aimed to define what would count as "technically irreparable" vehicles.

Among the criteria include whether the vehicle was "in pieces or undressed", "welded" or "completely burnt". A vehicle was also considered technically irreparable if "its repair requires the replacement of the engine, gearbox, bodywork or chassis, resulting in the loss of the vehicle's original identity".

The purpose of these definitions was to "put an end to a particular type of fraud," the European Commission representative in Romania told AFP, explaining that many vehicles from the EU are being illegally exported and sold as "second-hand cars" when they are no longer usable.

"According to our study assessing the current legislation, lack of clarity on what constitutes a 'scrap' car is one of the biggest loopholes used by unscrupulous operators to circumvent EU legislation."

As of March 19, the proposal had not been passed.

"This draft regulation may be amended extensively by the European Council. It is possible that this text will require some clarifications to exclude certain categories of vehicles," Babin from Gossement Avocats said.

AFP previously debunked posts in December 2023 claiming the same proposal granted governments the power to "seize" and "scrap" older cars.