These Regulations amend the Motor Vehicles (Compulsory Insurance) (No. 2) Regulations 1973 (which make provision for the extension of compulsory motor vehicle insurance cover under Part VI of the Road Traffic Act 1972 to include liabilities arising out of the use of a motor vehicle or trailer which are compulsorily insurable in the territories of member states of the European Communities). The effect of the principal amendments is:—

(a) that vehicles normally based in any of the countries specified in Regulation 2 (which are not member states of the Communities) are exempted from the need to produce evidence of insurance when entering Great Britain (Regulation 4);

(b) that certain vehicles which, not having proper insurance on entering Great Britain, have been detained for that reason, may be released where the detaining authority is satisfied that the vehicle in question is to be taken out of Great Britain to a place not in one of the countries referred to above (Regulation 5); and

(c) that the requirements of the 1972 Act that insurance policies must be issued by authorised insurers and that they are of no effect unless certificates are issued shall not apply in respect of policies issued elsewhere than in the United Kingdom for vehicles normally based in any of the said countries (Regulation 6).