As announced at his hearing before the European Parliament last October (see EUROPE 13510/15), Apóstolos Tzitzikóstas, European Commissioner for Sustainable Transport and Tourism, has announced the updating of three European Directives applicable to vehicle inspections, vehicle registration and roadside inspections on commercial vehicles.
This comprehensive overhaul of the EU’s road safety and vehicle registration rules, which was the subject of a 2022 consultation (see EUROPE 12987/30), is intended to “replace current outdated rules that are no longer sufficient to keep pace with rapid advances in vehicle technology, growing concerns about pollution and persistent road safety problems”, according to the Commission. These changes are expected to have a significant impact on road safety, preventing around 65,000 serious injuries and saving around 7,000 lives over the next 25 years, says the Commission.
Extended scope for periodic technical inspections (PTI) of vehicles. It will be adapted to electric vehicles and will include new test items for electronic safety systems, thanks to wider use of the vehicle’s electronic interface. The software integrity of safety and emissions systems will also be tested. The text includes new emission control methods for ultrafine particles and nitrogen oxides (NOx, which includes nitrogen monoxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2)) to take account of high-emission vehicles, including those that have been tampered with. NOx particles and noise will be measured by remote sensing during roadside inspections of all vehicles.
Annual roadworthiness tests will become compulsory for cars and vans over 10 years old. Motorbikes over 125cm3 or 11kW will also be subject to roadworthiness testing. Emissions from light commercial vehicles, i.e. vans, will have to be checked annually.
In addition, to simplify cross-border data sharing, roadworthiness certificates and vehicle registration certificates will be digitised. Odometer readings will be recorded in national databases and made available to other Member States in the event of re-registration. As a result, national vehicle registers will be interconnected and will contain a harmonised set of vehicle data, such as country of first registration, registration status and information on significant modifications to the vehicle. This will make it easier to recognise and verify certificates from one country to another.
The Member State of registration will be obliged to recognise a roadworthiness certificate issued by another Member State for passenger cars for a period of six months, and will be able to recognise roadworthiness tests carried out in other EU Member States for any category of vehicle indefinitely.
Read the draft revision of the Directive on periodic roadworthiness tests and roadside inspections for commercial vehicles: https://aeur.eu/f/gis
Read the draft revision of the Directive on registration documents for vehicles: https://aeur.eu/f/git (Orignal version in French by Anne Damiani)