A measure aimed at ensuring and monitoring compliance for the automotive industry
After multiples scandals involving the automotive industry and its manufacturers, especially with the so-called ‘defeat devices’ (systems used to alter vehicles performance during testing) and the Volkswagen case, the EU decided to intervene and transform the EU type-approval Directive 2007/46/EC for motor vehicles into a Regulation, directly applicable in all EU Member States from the 1st of September 2020.
Regulation 2018/858/EU on the approval and market surveillance of motor vehicles and their trailers was designed to address two important elements of the automotive industry by:
- laying down administrative provisions and technical requirements for the type-approval and placing on the market of all new vehicles, systems, components and separate technical units.
- setting out the requirements for the market surveillance of these vehicles and related systems, components, separate technical units, parts and equipment.
The categories of motor vehicles interested by the new requirements are M, N and O, namely:
- motor vehicles used for the carriage of passengers with at least 4 wheels,
- motor vehicles intended for the transportation of goods with at least 4 wheels and trailers.
The main objectives of the Regulation are to increase the quality and independence of vehicle type-approval Authorities and to improve the oversight of the EU on the matter.
Examples of measures intended to achieve the above mentioned objectives are the following:
1. EU Commission will be able to audit the national type-approval Authorities and oversee whether the rules are implemented and enforced appropriately in all EU Member States;
2. EU Commission and the other Member states will be able to challenge the authorization provided to technical service sand these will be subject to regular audits
3. Member states will be required to perform systematic checks on vehicles already on the market and to publish the results accordingly;
4. EU Commission will be able to impose administrative penalties on manufacturers and technical services of up to 30.000 € per non-compliant car.
Alessandro Polimeno,
Research & Development (R&D) Department
October 23, 2019
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