A specialised centre for technical vehicle checks and emissions test (STK) in Martin, central Slovakia. (source: TASR - Erika Ďurčová)
Drivers in Slovakia will have to start getting their cars checked again after the summer.
The three month automatic extension to the validity of periodic regular technical inspection and emissions testing will end on August 31 of this year following a recent legislative change to Slovak law on road traffic.
Under normal circumstances, cars in Slovakia have to be checked every two years. If a car is registered in Slovakia for the first time, the technical inspection and the emissions test have to be carried out four years after registration.
The extension was introduced due to the pandemic emergency in 2020.
Extension is invalid abroad
If a driver is thus obliged to have their car - registered in Slovakia - checked before the end of the summer, the three-month extension will continue to apply to their cars. However, if the validity of their last technical vehicle inspection or emissions test expires on September 1 or later, drivers cannot rely on the extension anymore.
Periodic technical inspections postponed by the pandemic will have to be carried out by the end of November.
“In the current holiday season, I want to warn drivers that the extension of the validity of the inspections by three months only applies to Slovakia,” Transport Minister Andrej Doležal (Sme Rodina nom.) said.
Abroad, drivers may face a fine if the validity of mandatory inspections of their vehicle have expired. This is because the postponement of periodic checks enabled by Slovak pandemic legislation known as lex corona has never been accepted in other EU countries.
EU to update rules next year
Slovakia did not sign any bilateral agreements with other countries to accept the extended validity of already expired checks, nor did it adopt an EU regulation from February 2021 in its entirety. The regulation introduced temporary transport-related measures in light of the pandemic, like the postponement of certain certificates and periodic inspections. Slovakia, for example, opted out in the case of postponed vehicle inspection since it included a similar measure in its lex corona, albeit applicable only to the territory of Slovakia.
Under EU law, periodic inspections are mandatory and on-the-spot roadside checks can also be carried out across the EU.
The European Commission is reviewing current roadworthiness rules, which were adopted in 2014, as vehicles have become technically more complex over the years.
Ukraine-registered cars
Recent updates to Slovak law on road traffic also claim that vehicles registered in Ukraine can undergo technical and emission car inspection at specialised Slovak centres (STK) from August 1. This will be possible during the emergency that was declared in relation to the influx of refugees.
The Testek company, which provides information on vehicle inspection in Slovakia, has published a document for Ukrainians in Slovakia with more details.
