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At the time of writing [April 2019], there is no official
minimum salary or hourly wage in Italy. In some
parts of the Italian economy, in certain
sectors, unions have established (agreed)
minimum wages of around 7 Euro per hour. Outside
of this, wages are what they are, and vary from
region to region, sector to sector.
Jack, 26, is currently living and working in
Lecce, in the province of Lecce, Puglia, Italy.
He earns 4 EURO per hour and this is what he has
earned since starting work there in 2018. He
took agricultural/farm work initially in the
summer of 2018, then building restoration
labour, and finally – currently – hospitality
(specifically, waiting in a café).
As an unskilled worker, Jack decided to move to
Italy for a change and the possibility of
opportunity, and he can speak Italian.
Beforehand, he was living and working in Poole,
Dorset, UK. Originally from Australia, he is
used to migratory work and enjoying the European
experience. In Poole, his rent was 350 pounds
per month, for a room. In Italy, his rent is 150
euro per month, for a room. So the discrepancy
in hourly rates may balance out, considering the
cost of living.
But how does one get on their bike (quite
literally, in this instance) and go and look for
work, within the union that is the EU?
This is how Jack described the administrative
process of settling in for work:
“ It was not easy. One must first find a place
to reside, either renting private or through an
agent. The previous residence must be changed,
which involves going to an office called
‘Agenzia Entrate’. Here the contract is
confirmed, and then entered into the system.
Once this is complete, the citizen/resident has
access to the healthcare system and other
services. The address will be confirmed by a
Police visit within 3 weeks. ”
At this point, Jack’s bike was bearing a UK
number plate. In EC law, a migrant worker is
usually allowed 6 months on a foreign (EU)
number plate before the need arises to register
it locally. Recently, the Italian government
passed an emergency law changing this to 60
days.
Jack’s bike is a 2001 Royal Enfield Machismo
A350. A descendant of the British model, made in
India by
Royal Enfield India. It was registered in the UK
in February 2002.
European (EC) Law dictates that if a vehicle is
already registered within the EU (in an EU
member state) it should be easily registered by
the appropriate authority. Additionally, if it
has an EC Whole Vehicle type approval number, it
should be registered without [additional]
testing, by the member state. In theory, the
vehicle’s registration document would bear the
type approval number and this would be an
acceptable source of its compliance to EC road
laws.
This sounds OK, but in practice, these laws and
guidelines often don’t work so well. Jack’s bike
has a type approval number, and type approval
numbers are sometimes etched in to the vehicle
VIN plate. But not always. Jack has a British
V5C (registration document) for his bike. In
Jack’s case, the V5C does display the EC type
approval number (but sometimes the V5C does not
contain this, for various reasons). The VIN
plate does not display the type approval number
but, in any case, almost every registering
administrator in every office in every EU
country will say four words ‘Certificate of
Conformity please!’. At this point things start
to get a little tricky, since the manufacturer
is in India and the bike is 18 years old. In
Jack’s case, there was also a language problem,
so the V5C could not be understood by the
administrators.
This is how Jack described the administrative
process of applying for a local (Italian)
registration for the bike:
“ Not easy in my particular instance. It was a
long and complicated process at an office called
‘Motorizzazione’. The process is incredibly
old-fashioned, nothing online. Everything needs
photocopying 3 times.
After this is complete, it is necessary to go to
a separate office, ACI (Automobile Club
d’Italia) to pay governmental taxes.
There was a lot of confusion within the office
itself, English was not spoken, the English
registration certificate was difficult for them.
”
With the vehicle registration blocked on the COC
(Certificate Of Conformity) issue, Jack turned
to
Eurocert Vehicle Registration Services. We
provided an (ICOC) Independent Certificate Of
Conformity, bearing the UK DVLA-generated
vehicle information and VRN (Vehicle
Registration Number), as well as the EC Type
Approval Number. Additionally, the ICOC
references the EC laws pertaining to ease of
re-registration within the union, and where
possible state emissions information, and any
other facts the registering authorities may find
useful. To top it all, it can be provided in 6
different languages. Jack’s Italian version ICOC
could be read by the administrators and his
application was passed. The bike is now on an
Italian number plate.
Eurocert Vehicle Registration Services
can never guarantee any outcome or successful
procedure using an ICOC, but it is a service
which many many people fall back on when their
V5C does not contain the information needed,
and/or they are unable to get a COC from the
vehicle manufacturer. There could be many
reasons for the latter. For example,
manufacturer gone out of business (eg. SAAB,
etc.), brand changed hands (Chevrolet, etc.),
vehicle too old (the ECWVTA system only started
in the mid 90s), etc.etc.
Jack says he may ride back to the UK if Brexit
doesn’t happen and live and work here again. If
he does, as things stand now, he should find it
a lot easier. The UK DVLA also has an obsession
with manufacturer’s COCs (by the way, they won’t
accept a foreign registration document bearing a
type approval number as type approval evidence)
but they do waive it for vehicles over ten years
old. If a vehicle is ten years old it can be
registered in the UK with a simple MOT test pass
certificate and proof of the year of
manufacture. Even if it is left hand drive and
bearing a speedo reading KPH.
This article was based on a customer transaction
between
Eurocert Vehicle Registration Services
and the customer (Jack), with the kind
assistance of Jack - in answering a typed sheet
of questions about his experiences. Jack left us
a review as follows:
“ 02 Febraury 2019
The ICOC which I purchased for my UK reg'd
motorbike was successfully used to transfer the
registration to Italy, in the commune of Lecce.
You've saved my motorbike from the scrappers!
Many thanks,
Jack (Enfield Bullet Machismo registration in
Italy) ”
14 April 2019
By Data Management Team of VRS.
©
EUROCERT LIMITED 2019
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