Car emissions testing
(BRUSSELS) – New EU type-approval rules for cars, which came into force across Europe on 1 August, significantly overhaul and tighten the previous type approval and market surveillance system.
Adopted in May 2018, the new Regulation improves the quality and independence of vehicle type-approval and testing, increases checks of cars already on the EU market and strengthens the overall system with greater European oversight.
“From now on the Commission will be able to carry out checks on cars, trigger EU-wide recalls, and impose fines of up to 30,000 per car when the law is broken,” said the Commissioner for Internal Market Thierry Breton: “These reforms complement our work on cleaner and safer mobility, which in the challenging context of the crisis require even more future-oriented investments in infrastructure and innovation.”
The key elements of the new EU rules are:
- Independence and quality of testing before a car is placed on the market: Technical services performing testing and inspections of new car models will be independently audited on the basis of stringent criteria to obtain and keep their designation by Member States. National type approval authorities are now subject to peer reviews to ensure that the relevant rules are implemented and enforced rigorously across the EU.
- Checks on cars already on the market: The new framework also improves checks on the vehicles that are already circulating on the market and for sale at the dealerships. From now on, Member States are required to regularly test a minimum number of cars and are now able to take safeguard measures against non-compliant vehicles on their territory without waiting for the authority that issued the type approval to take action.
- European oversight: In addition, the Commission is now able to carry out compliance and conformity checks on vehicles in laboratories or on the road. In cases where manufacturers are in breach of type-approval legislation (e.g. defeat devices or fake declarations), the Commission can order EU-wide recalls and impose sanctions on those manufacturers of up to 30 000 per car. Until today, only national authorities that type approved the car could impose such measures.
Since adoption of the Regulation in 2018, car manufacturers, type approval agencies and other stakeholders have been working continuously to implement the new rules and adapt to the stricter requirements.
The Commission has provided additional resources for the Joint Research Centre (JRC) to take up this new role in market surveillance, funding necessary extra staff, operational costs and the construction of two new laboratories. The JRC avails of two new state-of-the-art laboratories to conduct checks.
The new EU type-approval rules for safer and cleaner cars - background guide
