Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the 'Proposal for a Council Directive on the roadside inspection of the roadworthiness condition of commercial vehicles that circulate on the roads of the European Community` (98/C 407/20)

On 8 June 1998 the Council, acting in pursuance of Article 75(1)(c) and (d) of the EC Treaty, asked the Economic and Social Committee for an Opinion on the above-mentioned proposal.

The Committee instructed its Section for Transport and Communications to prepare the opinion. The section adopted its opinion on 15 July 1998 (rapporteur : Mr Kubenz).

The Committee adopted the following opinion at its 357th plenary session on 9 and 10 September 1998 (meeting of 9 September) with 111 in favour and one abstention:

1. Introduction

1.1. Under Directive 96/96/EC () heavy commercial vehicles are required to undergo an annual roadworthiness inspection at an official testing centre.

1.2. Under Regulation (EEC) No 4060/89 (), as amended by Regulation (EEC) No 3356/91 (), Member States already have to carry out specific checks in connection with the implementation of EU directives and international agreements on technical and other requirements in respect of road vehicles within their territory; under the abovementioned regulations, these checks, which are to be carried out on a non-discriminatory basis, are no longer to be made at national frontiers.

2. The draft directive

2.1. The Commission takes the view that an annual roadworthiness inspection is not enough to ensure that commercial vehicles in service are adequately maintained throughout the whole year.

2.2. The proposal requires the Member States to supplement the annual roadworthiness test with random checks every year of a representative sample of the commercial vehicle fleet on the roads each year.

2.3. These inspections can be carried out at the roadside, at ports, at other locations where vehicles are parked or, more frequently in the case of Public Service Vehicles (PSVs), at operators' premises.

2.4. This proposal prescribes a three-stage approach for roadside inspection:

1) The first stage involves a visual inspection by a trained vehicle-examiner of the maintenance condition of the vehicle passing on the road.

2) The second stage involves a cursory inspection of the stationary vehicle, including a check on roadworthiness documentation (i.e. proof that the vehicle has gone through its statutory roadworthiness test).

3) The vehicle is examined at the roadside for obvious maintenance defects such as: excessive exhaust smoke, bald or damaged tyres, defective lights and signalling devices, speed-limiter malfunction and, as far as is practical, inadequate braking.

2.5. If, following the roadworthiness inspection, the vehicle does not comply with roadworthiness standards, and is thus considered to constitute a serious risk to its occupants or other road users, the vehicle must be taken off the road forthwith.

3. General comments

3.1. The Committee has frequently drawn attention to the importance of road safety and environmental protection.

3.2. The Committee takes the view that the draft directive needs to be more in tune with practical reality if it is to contribute towards these goals. Moreover, it would point out that the Member States already have other measures at their disposal to enable them to improve the situation as regards the state of maintenance and roadworthiness of commercial vehicles; these measures include additional, regular, age-related checks on heavy commercial vehicles which are linked to their likely state of wear and tear.

4. Specific comments

4.1. Article 3

4.1.1. The Committee believes that to carry out inspections under Annex II (the third stage of the inspection) at the roadside would require considerable time and technical equipment.

The Committee proposes the following stage-by-stage approach, in order to make the inspections as effective and as easy to implement as possible:

'Article 3

Roadside inspections shall be based on the following three-stage approach:

1) A trained vehicle examiner shall first undertake a visual assessment of the appearance of a statistical sample of commercial vehicles as they pass by.

2) If this visual assessment indicates that a commercial vehicle has not been adequately maintained, it shall be subjected to a brief audio-visual inspection, carried out whilst the vehicle is stationary; this inspection shall cover: the exhaust and noise reduction system; the fuel system; the braking system; tyres; lights and mirrors; load-safety, together with the necessary equipment. The inspection certificates shall also be examined; such certificates shall include, in particular: a certificate showing that the vehicle has undergone the obligatory roadworthiness test prescribed in Article 2 of Directive 96/96/EC, or a certificate showing that the vehicle has recently undergone another form of roadside inspection, in compliance with Article 3(1). If the documents produced do not provide adequate evidence that the vehicle has been well maintained, or if the examiner continues to suspect that the vehicle is not roadworthy, the third stage of the inspection shall then be carried out.

3) If the defects observed in the brief audio-visual inspection cannot be corrected forthwith, the vehicle shall, when it has been repaired, be presented at a vehicle-testing centre, as defined in Directive 96/96/EC, within a period of ... days; the vehicle-testing centre shall issue a certificate testifying that the defects have been remedied.`

4.2. Article 5

4.2.1. The check-list defined in Annex I is too extensive; the indication of the names of the driver, consignor and consignee, in particular, could be dropped. The following points relating to the audio-visual inspection should, however, be added:

'13. Reason for failure

- Failure to produce roadworthiness certificate in accordance with Directive 96/96/EC

- Failure to produce test certificate in respect of smoke opacity/gaseous emissions

- Conspicuous defects:

exhaust and noise reduction;

fuel system;

braking system;

tyres;

lights/mirrors;

load safety;

equipment.`

The heading 'Result of inspection` is too detailed. It should be confined to the following points:

'16. Result of inspection

- pass;

- fail;

- immediate prohibition.`

4.2.2. Where evidence can be provided that commercial vehicles are serviced at more frequent intervals and undergo regular inspections, either by virtue of a voluntary decision on the part of the operator or by virtue of national regulations, such vehicles should be exempted from additional roadside inspections.

4.2.3. Article 5(2)

Article 5(2) may be deleted as the matter in question is now dealt with in Article 3(3).

4.3. Annex II

This annex should be deleted.

5. Summary and conclusions

5.1. Provided that it is applied on a non-discriminatory basis, the draft directive constitutes a step in improving the roadworthiness and environmental-compatibility of heavy commercial vehicles.

Brussels, 9 September 1998.

The President of the Economic and Social Committee

Tom JENKINS

() OJ L 46, 17.2.1997, p. 1 (ESC Opinion: OJ C 34, 12.2.1996, p. 24).

() OJ L 390, 30.12.1989, p. 18 (ESC Opinion: OJ C 194, 31.7.1989, p. 24).

() OJ L 318, 20.11.1991, p. 1 (ESC Opinion: OJ C 269, 14.10.1991, p. 34).

APPENDIX to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee

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