Tuesday 1 September will see the entry into force of the rules from the new Regulation on type-approval and market surveillance of motor vehicles, adopted in the wake of the Dieselgate scandal which affected almost the entire European industry in the middle of the decade.
Thus, from tomorrow, the type approval system and market surveillance must in theory be substantially strengthened, in particular with random checks of vehicles in the vehicle fleet. Thus, 447 checks will have to be carried out on the 17.9 million vehicles sold in 2019 in the EU, the institution explains.
From tomorrow, the Commission will also have an important supervisory role. It will be able to evaluate national type approval systems on a regular basis. It will be able to inspect vehicles itself at the Joint Research Centre (JRC) and, if necessary, impose fines of up to €30,000 per vehicle on defaulting car manufacturers (see our article on the content of the agreement reached between the co-legislators at the end of 2017 - see EUROPE 11921/2).
Although Member States have had 30 months to comply, their levels of “readiness” are said to be “varying”, according to one source. However, the Commission has been working through the Forum for Exchange of Information on Enforcement, primarily with those Member States where type-approval activity is most intense. These include Germany, France, the Netherlands, Spain and Italy. The Commission hopes that all Member States will be ready “as soon as possible”.
The European Commission will draw up an assessment report in September 2026. Depending on the results collected at that point, the idea of creating a European Agency to help with implementation and compliance (see EUROPE 11669/27) could come back to the table, we are told. NGOs to wait and see. Julia Poliscanova, an expert on clean vehicle issues at Transport & Environment (T&E), welcomed the new rules, which will give real powers to the European Commission. It remains to be seen whether it will use them. “If tests are not carried on the road and decisive action against lawbreakers taken, the law will not be worth the paper it is written on”. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)