Annual inspections after ten years? No new blanket requirement for older cars
The Commission proposed yearly checks for older vehicles, but Council and Parliament took a different position. Ordinary private passenger cars in Germany retain the existing inspection schedule.
Driving a car that is ten, fifteen or twenty years old does not suddenly require its owner to attend Germany’s main roadworthiness inspection every year. Annual checks for older cars were proposed by the European Commission. They have not become a new blanket obligation for ordinary private passenger cars in Germany.
Checked as of 9 October 2026: the Council rejected the proposed shorter intervals in its position of 4 December 2025. The European Parliament’s negotiating position likewise does not provide for a general annual inspection after ten years. Parliament confirmed its negotiating mandate on 21 May 2026. These are important legislative steps, not a completed new EU directive.
Where the proposal came from
On 24 April 2025, the Commission presented a package revising vehicle inspection rules. One controversial element would have moved passenger cars and light commercial vehicles to annual testing after ten years.
An extra inspection would mean another appointment, a fee and time spent arranging and attending it. Some owners might also need a workshop visit. A universal annual cost estimate would nevertheless be misleading: fees and individual circumstances vary. The proposal cannot responsibly be translated into one fixed additional bill for every driver.
Political positions are not the final law
The Council did not adopt annual checks solely because a vehicle exceeds ten years of age. That requirement also failed to enter Parliament’s negotiating position. This places a substantial obstacle in the way of the Commission’s original approach.
It would still be too strong to describe the idea as permanently impossible. Negotiating mandates and institutional positions are stages in the legislative process. The official procedure file continues to describe an unfinished first reading. For motorists today, existing German rules remain the relevant starting point.
Germany’s current timetable
Annex VIII of Germany’s StVZO specifies a first main inspection after 36 months for ordinary passenger cars, followed by inspections every 24 months. Passing the ten-year mark does not automatically shorten that interval.
This description concerns ordinary private passenger cars. Special uses and vehicle categories can have different intervals; commercial passenger transport is separately regulated, for example. Owners should therefore check the relevant category when a vehicle has a special use.
An inspection interval is not a maintenance schedule. Brakes, tyres, lights, steering and corrosion still need attention between tests. A future inspection date does not justify continuing to drive with a known safety defect.
The wider reform remains relevant
The EU package also addresses testing methods, emissions checks, vehicle information and odometer fraud. Rejection of annual inspections does not mean the entire package has disappeared. Equally, proposals in those other areas are not automatically new obligations already applying to every owner.
The practical message is to follow the existing inspection deadline. An ordinary private car in Germany does not currently acquire an additional annual appointment merely by becoming more than ten years old. Any future change must be assessed against the final adopted text and its actual application dates.
Quellen / Izvori / Sources
EU-Rat: Position vom 4. Dezember 2025
Europäisches Parlament: Verfahrensdossier 2025/0097(COD))
Geltendes deutsches Recht: StVZO, Anlage VIII
Image credit: Sven Teschke / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0 DE.