Driving licences and guarantees

Kurt Scerri writes: I am a Maltese citizen currently residing in Germany and I have the following questions for your column:

When I came to Germany, I transferred my Maltese driving licence in the German one. The German authorities gave me all the classes I had on my Maltese one. However upon inspecting both licences I noticed that there are some differences.

For instance, Class M was issued on the German licence although I did not have it on my Maltese licence. However Class A (motorcycles no restrictions) covers class M in the Maltese licence. The Maltese licence had a B1 class which is nonexistent in the German (EU) licence. Class B1 seems to be a Maltese invention as it does not exist on any other EU driving licences I have seen (Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg, Czech Republic, Slovakia).

I have therefore come to the conclusion that the Maltese driving classes are not issued according to EU standards.

Furthermore I have another question.

I recently bought a second-hand car in Germany and the car dealer told me that I have one year guarantee on parts as this is EU law. Telling my relatives back in Malta about this they were very surprised as recently a close Maltese friend of ours bought a second-hand car in Malta and never got anything repaired when he had problems with it.

Does the EU specify a guarantee on second-hand cars?

Although I am aware that there is an EU law on driving licences, I am not at all conversant with the technicalities of driving licences. I was under the impression that our driving licence was already compliant with EU standards.

I therefore referred your first question to the Transport Authority in Malta, the ADT, which replied very promptly and I am grateful for its assistance. The authority confirmed that Malta is fully compliant with EU law in this area. The law in question is EU Council Directive 91/439/EEC and it establishes which categories should be used in driving licences issued by EU member states.

Sub-category B1 is listed in EU law and it is not a "Maltese invention". If Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Germany do not use this category, it does not mean that this category is non-existent.

The authority also informed me that in the field of driving licences, Malta is much more technically compliant with EU law than most other EU countries. It added that a very high proportion of driving licences in Germany are still of the non-harmonised paper type (not the EU credit card model) containing many national categories which are not necessarily replicated in the EU harmonised licence.

So on this one, it appears that Malta is in line. It is Germany that may not necessarily be.

As to your second question, there is an EU law (Directive 1999/44) on "certain aspects of the sale of consumer goods and associated guarantees". 

This law provides that a seller must deliver goods to the consumer which are in conformity with the contract of sale. Consumer goods are presumed to be in conformity with the contract if they comply with the description given by the seller and possess the qualities of the goods which the seller has held out to the consumer as a sample or model. They must also be fit for any particular purpose for which the consumer requires them and which he made known to the seller at the time of conclusion of the contract and which the seller has accepted. And they must also be fit for the purposes for which goods of the same type are normally used.

The goods must also show the quality and performance which are normal in goods of the same type and which the consumer can reasonably expect, given the nature of the goods and taking into account any public statements on the specific characteristics of the goods made about them by the seller, the producer or his representative, particularly in advertising or on labelling.

The seller is liable to the consumer for any lack of conformity which exists at the time the goods were delivered. On the other hand, in cases of lack of conformity, the consumer would be entitled to a number of remedies depending on the gravity of the lack of conformity of the good in question. Thus, he may expect to have the goods brought into conformity free of charge by repair or replacement or have an appropriate reduction made in the price or have the contract rescinded with regard to those goods. 

This is the "guarantee" provided under EU law.

Note however - and this is a very important note - that this is not the "commercial guarantee" that we are used to. The guarantee provided for in EU law is often referred to as a "legal guarantee" but it is different from the normal "commercial guarantee" which applies separately and which often goes beyond the legal guarantee.

Unfortunately, there is often confusion between the two - at times also propagated by some traders who do not distinguish between the two.

Yet, it must be clear that EU law regulates the legal guarantee not the commercial guarantee. The rules I explained above relate to the legal guarantee. The commercial guarantee often goes beyond. But then it is not standard and may vary from one shop to another and from one product to another.

As a rule, the consumer has two years from the date of delivery of the goods within which to exercise his rights.

However, in the case of second-hand goods, member states are free to provide in their national laws that the seller and consumer may agree on a shorter time period. This time should not be less than one year. 

So although there is no EU law which deals specifically with guarantees on second-hand cars, the law referred to above covers all products. With limited exceptions.

This means that second-hand cars should be covered by at least the one-year legal guarantee provided for in EU law. Being an EU law, this law applies, of course, both in Germany as well as in Malta.

Readers who would like to raise issues or ask a question to Dr Busuttil are invited to send an e-mail, making reference to this column, to contact@simonbusuttil.com