This week, representatives from the Growth, Housing and Environment Department answered questions about proposals to introduce regular MOT-style checks.
According to a UK government technical notice on Brexit, if no deal is reached when Britain leaves the EU, Islanders taking their cars to France could have to apply for an international driving permit, under the Vienna Convention.
However, for journeys which involve driving in countries that have not signed up to the Vienna Convention, such as Spain, motorists would also need to apply for a separate international driving permit under the Geneva Convention.
Tristen Dodd, transport director for Growth, Housing and Environment, explained the changes.
He said: ‘Because France is a signatory to Vienna, you would drive under the Vienna Convention. But with regards to Spain, it is not signed up, so in theory, you would need to take a Geneva Convention permit with you for driving through Spain.’
Following Mr Dodd’s comments, Grouville Constable John Le Maistre, raised the issue that parish halls could face an extra administrative burden if they needed to process two types of driving licence following the Brexit deadline on 29 March.
In response, Mr Dodd said that it was unfortunately one of the ‘anomalies’ of Brexit, and that UK citizens faced the same problem.
He added that, if it was necessary, an agreement could be struck with the Spanish government to allow Jersey citizens to use their normal Vienna Convention licences in Spain.
‘Spain could sign up for the Vienna Convention tomorrow if it chose to but it does not need to,’ he said.
‘It is part of the Common European Transport Area. That means, in technicality, that you should have a Geneva Convention permit and that is what the UK is advising its citizens. We could potentially speak to Spain, and have some administrative arrangement where we would not need to do that, but that would not be an international treaty. That would be an administrative arrangement.’
The Republic of Ireland, Malta and Cyprus are also European Union countries which are not signed up to the Vienna Convention.
