EU Finally Sees Sense on Motorsport Insurance Rules

The EU Commission recently announced they would exclude all vehicles intended exclusively for motorsport from new Motor Insurance rules, known by some as the VNUK law. For seven years a European Court of Justice ruling threatened the entire sport and business of motorsport in the UK and Europe. This positive result comes after years of pro-active lobbying by the FIA, the Motorsport Industry Association (MIA) and others, including the UK government.

Dita Charanzova, MEP, Vice President of the European Parliament said “I’m glad we were able to find a good solution for Motor Sports in Europe… and managed to curb absurd overregulation of motorsport.”

“The proposed legislation would have closed down all UK and EU two and four wheeled sport” said Chris Aylett, Chief Executive of the Motorsport Industry Association (MIA). “The UK’s Motorsport Valley^® alone has over 4,000 companies and 40,000 people employed in this £10bn industry. Not only would millions of fans have lost access to their sport, but those employed in engineering, hospitality, media, logistics, insurance, law, travel and many more, would have lost their jobs.”

The original proposal for new EU Motor Insurance rules reflected the VNUK case meaning motorsport collisions, minor or major, would need the same insurance cover as regular road traffic incidents. Estimates for insurance premiums were over £500m each year.

Grant Shapps, Transport Secretary, in February said the UK government had “always disagreed with this over-the-top law” and had no intention of implementing it. The UK’s Department for Transport continually pressed the EU to exclude motorsport and were supported, in Brussels, by the world governing body for motorsport, the FIA.

“The MIA’s campaign was supported by hundreds of our motorsport business partners across UK and Europe. We had to fight the ill-advised ruling from the highest court in the EU – a real David and Goliath battle” continued Chris Aylett “It’s been a long time coming but great to say ‘VNUK legislation is no longer a threat, so let’s get racing!’”