In its White Paper of 28 March 2011 entitled ‘Roadmap to a Single European Transport Area — Towards a competitive and resource efficient transport system’, the Commission set out a ‘zero-vision’ objective whereby the Union should move close to zero fatalities in road transport by 2050. With a view to attaining that objective, vehicle technology is expected to contribute greatly to the improvement of the safety record of road transport.
(2)
In its Communication entitled ‘Towards a European road safety area: policy orientations on road safety 2011-2020’, the Commission proposed a further halving of the overall number of road fatalities in the Union by 2020, starting from 2010. With a view to attaining that goal, the Commission set out seven strategic objectives, and identified actions for safer vehicles, a strategy to reduce the number of injuries and measures to improve the safety of vulnerable road users, in particular motorcyclists.
(3)
Roadworthiness testing is a part of a wider regime designed to ensure that vehicles are kept in a safe and environmentally acceptable condition during their use. That regime should cover periodic roadworthiness testing of vehicles and technical roadside inspection of vehicles used for commercial road transport activities, as well as providing for a vehicle registration procedure allowing for the suspension of a vehicle’s authorisation to be used in road traffic where the vehicle constitutes an immediate risk to road safety. Periodic testing should be the main tool to ensure roadworthiness. Roadside inspections of commercial vehicles should merely be complementary to periodic testing.
(4)
A number of technical standards and requirements in respect of vehicle safety and environmental characteristics have been adopted within the Union. It is necessary to ensure, through a regime of unexpected technical roadside inspections, that vehicles remain roadworthy.
(5)
Technical roadside inspections are a crucial element for the achievement of a continuous high level of roadworthiness of commercial vehicles throughout their use. Such inspections contribute not only to road safety and a reduction of vehicle emissions but also to avoiding unfair competition in road transport due to acceptance of different inspection levels as between the Member States.
(6)
Regulation (EC) No 1071/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council (3) established the European Register of Road Transport Undertakings (ERRU). ERRU allows national electronic registers of transport undertakings to be interconnected throughout the Union, in compliance with the Union rules on the protection of personal data. The use of that system, operated by the competent authority of each Member State, facilitates cooperation among Member States.
(7)
This Directive should apply to certain commercial vehicles with a design speed exceeding 25 km/h of the categories defined in Directive 2007/46/EC of the European Parliament and the Council (4). It should not, however, prevent the Member States from carrying out technical roadside inspections on vehicles not covered by this Directive or checking other aspects of road transport, in particular those relating to driving and resting time or the transport of dangerous goods.
(8)
Wheeled tractors with a maximum design speed exceeding 40 km/h are increasingly used to replace trucks in local transport activities and for commercial road haulage purposes. Their risk potential is comparable to that of trucks, and vehicles in that category, which are used mainly on public roads, should therefore be treated in the same way as trucks when it comes to technical roadside inspections.
(9)
Reports on the implementation of Directive 2000/30/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (5) clearly show the importance of technical roadside inspections. During the period from 2009 to 2010, more than 350 000 vehicles subject to technical roadside inspections throughout the Union were reported to be in a condition requiring their immobilisation. Those reports also show very significant differences between the results of inspections carried out in different Member States. During the period from 2009 to 2010, the rate of detection for certain deficiencies ranged from 2,1 % of all vehicles inspected in one Member State to 48,3 % in another. Finally, those reports show the significant differences in the number of technical roadside inspections performed as between Member States. In order to arrive at a more balanced approach, Member States should commit to carrying out an appropriate number of inspections, proportionate to the number of commercial vehicles registered and/or operating on their territory.
(10)
Vans, such as N1 vehicles, and their trailers are not subject to the same road safety requirements at Union level as heavy duty vehicles such as those relating to driving time, training for professional drivers or the installation of speed limitation devices. Although N1 vehicles do not fall within the scope of this Directive, Member States should take such vehicles into account in their overall road safety and roadside inspection strategies.
(11)
In order to avoid unnecessary administrative burdens and costs, and to improve the efficiency of inspections, it should be possible for competent national authorities to select, as a priority, vehicles operated by undertakings not complying with road safety and environmental standards, while vehicles which are operated by responsible and safety-minded operators and properly maintained should be rewarded with less frequent inspections. The selection of vehicles for roadside inspection based on the risk profile of their operators could prove to be a useful tool for the purposes of checking high-risk undertakings more closely and more often.
(12)
Roadside inspections should be supported by the use of a risk rating system. Regulation (EC) No 1071/2009 requires Member States to extend the risk classification system established under Directive 2006/22/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (6), as regards implementation of the rules on driving time and resting-periods, to cover other specified areas relating to road transport, including the roadworthiness of commercial vehicles. Consequently, the information concerning the number and severity of deficiencies found in vehicles should be introduced into the risk rating system established under Article 9 of Directive 2006/22/EC. It should be possible for Member States to decide on the appropriate technical and administrative arrangements for the operation of risk rating systems. The effectiveness and harmonisation of risk rating systems throughout the Union should be further analysed.
(13)
The holder of the registration certificate and, where applicable, the operator of the vehicle should be responsible for keeping the vehicle in a roadworthy condition.
(14)
Inspectors, when performing technical roadside inspections, should act independently, and their judgement should not be affected by conflicts of interest, including those of an economic or personal nature, in particular as regards the driver, the operator or the holder of the registration certificate, that could have any influence on the impartiality and objectivity of their decisions. There should therefore be no direct correlation between the reward of inspectors and the results of technical roadside inspections. This should not prevent a Member State from authorising private bodies to perform both more detailed technical roadside inspections and vehicle repairs, even on the same vehicle.
(15)
Technical roadside inspections should consist of initial and, where necessary, more detailed inspections. In both cases they should cover relevant parts and systems of vehicles. In order to achieve harmonisation of more detailed inspections at Union level, recommended test methods and examples of deficiencies and their categorisation according to their severity should be introduced for each test item.
(16)
Securing of cargo is crucial for road safety. Cargo should therefore be secured in such a way as to cope with accelerations occurring during the use of the vehicle on road. For the sake of practicality, the mass-forces resulting from such accelerations should be used as limit values based on European standards. Personnel involved in checking whether cargo is adequately secured should be appropriately trained.
(17)
All parties involved in the logistics process, including packers, loaders, transport companies, operators and drivers, have a role to play in ensuring that cargo is properly packed and loaded on a suitable vehicle.
(18)
In several Member States, reports of technical roadside inspections are drawn up by electronic means. In such cases, a copy of the inspection report should be provided to the driver. All the data and information gathered during technical roadside inspections should be transferred to a common database of the Member State concerned, so that the data can be easily processed and the relevant information can be transferred without any additional administrative burden.
(19)
In order to reduce the administrative burden on inspection authorities, reports of initial technical roadside inspections, including on vehicles registered in third countries, should contain only essential information recording that a check took place on a particular vehicle and the outcome of that check. A detailed report should be required only where a more detailed inspection takes place following an initial inspection.
(20)
The Commission should examine the possibility of combining the report form contained in Annex IV with other reports.
(21)
The use of mobile inspection units reduces the delay and costs for operators as more detailed inspections can be performed directly at the roadside. The closest practicable testing centres and designated roadside inspection facilities may also be used to carry out more detailed inspections.
(22)
Personnel conducting technical roadside inspections should be appropriately trained or qualified, including for the purpose of carrying out visual inspections in an efficient manner. Inspectors performing more detailed technical roadside inspections should have at least the same skills and fulfil the same requirements as those performing roadworthiness tests in accordance with Directive 2014/45/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council (7). Member States should require inspectors carrying out inspections in designated roadside inspection facilities or using mobile inspection units to fulfil these or equivalent requirements approved by the competent authority.
(23)
In order to mitigate the costs arising from the use of technical equipment for a more detailed roadside inspection, Member States should be able to require a payment where deficiencies have been found. The amount of that payment should be reasonable and proportionate.
(24)
Cooperation and exchange of best practices between Member States is crucial in order to achieve a more harmonised system of technical roadside inspections throughout the Union. Consequently, Member States should work more closely together, also during operational activities, where possible. Such cooperation should include the periodical organisation of concerted technical roadside inspections.
(25)
In order to ensure the efficient exchange of information between Member States, there should be, within each Member State, a contact point for liaising with other relevant competent authorities. That contact point should also compile relevant statistics. Furthermore, Member States should apply a coherent national enforcement strategy on their territory and should be able to designate a body to coordinate its implementation. The competent authorities in each Member State should designate procedures setting out time limits and the contents of the information to be forwarded.
(26)
When designating contact points, constitutional provisions and the resulting level of competencies should be respected.
(27)
In order to allow the roadside inspection regime implemented in the Union to be monitored, Member States should communicate to the Commission, before 31 March 2021 and before 31 March every two years thereafter, the results of the technical roadside inspections performed. The Commission should report the data collected to the European Parliament and to the Council.
(28)
In order to minimise the time loss for undertakings and drivers and to increase the overall efficiency of roadside checks, the performance of technical roadside inspections, along with inspections to check compliance with social legislation in the field of road transport, in particular Regulation (EC) No 561/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council (8), Directive 2006/22/EC and Council Regulation (EEC) No 3821/85 (9), should be encouraged.
(29)
Member States should lay down rules on penalties applicable to infringements of the provisions of this Directive and should ensure that they are implemented. Those penalties should be effective, proportionate, dissuasive and non-discriminatory. Member States should, in particular, include appropriate measures to address a failure by a driver or operator to cooperate with the inspector and for the unauthorised use of a vehicle with dangerous deficiencies.
(30)
In order to ensure uniform conditions for the implementation of this Directive, implementing powers should be conferred on the Commission. Those powers should be exercised in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council (10).
(31)
The Commission should not adopt implementing acts concerning the procedures for the notification of vehicles with major or dangerous deficiencies to the contact points of the Member States of registration, as well as those laying down the data format for the communication to the Commission of the information collected by the Member States concerning vehicles inspected, where the Committee established pursuant to this Directive delivers no opinion on the draft implementing act presented by the Commission.
(32)
In order to update Article 2(1) and Annex IV point 6 as appropriate, without affecting the scope of this Directive, to update point 2 of Annex II in respect of methods, and to adapt point 2 of Annex II in respect of the list of test items, methods, reasons for failure and assessment of deficiencies, the power to adopt acts in accordance with Article 290 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union should be delegated to the Commission. It is of particular importance that the Commission carry out appropriate consultations during its preparatory work, including at expert level. The Commission, when preparing and drawing up delegated acts, should ensure simultaneous, timely and appropriate transmission of relevant documents to the European Parliament and to the Council.
(33)
Since the objective of this Directive, namely to improve road safety by laying down minimum common requirements and harmonised rules concerning technical roadside inspections of vehicles circulating within the Union, cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States but can rather, by reason of the scale of the action, be better achieved at Union level, the Union may adopt measures, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty on European Union. In accordance with the principle of proportionality, as set out in that Article, this Directive does not go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve that objective.
(34)
This Directive respects fundamental rights and observes the principles recognised by the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union as referred to in Article 6 of the Treaty on European Union.
(35)
This Directive develops the existing regime of technical roadside inspections, updates the technical requirements of Directive 2000/30/EC and integrates the rules contained in Commission Recommendation 2010/379/EU (11). As a result, Directive 2000/30/EC should be repealed,
