Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the 'Proposal for a Council Directive on registration documents for motor vehicles and their trailers` () (98/C 19/05)

On 5 August 1997 the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, under Article 75 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the above-mentioned proposal.

The Section for Industry, Commerce, Crafts and Services, which was responsible for preparing the Committee's work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 8 October 1997. The rapporteur was Mr Kubenz.

At its 349th plenary session on 29-30 October 1997 (meeting of 29 October 1997), the Economic and Social Committee adopted the following opinion by 99 votes to one, with three abstentions.

1. Preamble

1.1. In 1996, a total of 164 553 000 private vehicles and 22 032 000 commercial vehicles were registered in the European Community, giving a total of:

- 186 585 000 vehicles () and 20 000 000 trailers ().

1.2. In Germany some 20 % of all motor vehicles and trailers on the road are re-registered every year. Tens of millions of re-registrations are carried out each year in the European Union.

1.3. Since 1 January 1993, the European Union has become an internal market without internal borders in which there is free movement of goods, people, services and capital. Since that date, the Member States have applied Council Directive 70/156/EEC of 6 February 1970 () on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the type-approval of motor vehicles and their trailers [last amended by Directive 97/27/EC ()]. Under this directive, existing type approval procedures in the Member States are to be progressively replaced by a Community type approval procedure. The directive allows new vehicles for which EC type approval has been granted to be registered, sold and put into service in any other Member State on presentation of a valid certificate of conformity (COC), regardless of any tax considerations.

1.4. Since 1 January 1993 it has been possible to apply the EC type approval system to class M1 vehicles, i.e. 'vehicles used for the carriage of passengers and comprising no more than eight seats in addition to the driver's seat` (); this system has been mandatory for new M1 vehicles since 1 January 1996.

1.5. A registration certificate is issued for new and re-registered vehicles when they have been registered on the basis of type approval and after allocation of the national registration plate.

1.6. The registration certificate enables the owner of the vehicle or the vendor to sell the vehicle on the internal market or re-register it in another country should their place of residence change ().

2. Introduction

2.1. The purpose of this proposal for a directive is to harmonize the presentation and content of registration certificates in the European Union.

2.2. The draft proposal sets out provisions on the basis of Article 75 of the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (common transport policy).

2.3. The directive aims to achieve the following objectives through harmonization:

- to make it easier for vehicles registered in one Member State to circulate in the territory of another Member State and facilitate inspection of the registration certificate by the competent national authorities;

- to keep a check on the application of Directive 91/439/EEC on driving licences ();

- to improve the efficiency of the internal market by making it easier to understand registration documents when a vehicle has been registered in another Member State;

- to improve the efficiency of the internal market by making it easier to identify a vehicle's owner or keeper when the vehicle has been registered in another Member State.

3. General comment

3.1. The Committee welcomes the Commission proposal on harmonizing registration certificates.

4. Specific comments

4.1. The Committee particularly welcomes the fact that the registration certificate is to be designed with reference to the Vienna Convention ().

4.2. However, the Committee points out that it is essential to at least incorporate the scope of the ECE () convention into European Union rules, since the ECE rules are currently accepted outside the EU, notably in the eastern European countries.

4.3. The Committee advocates the setting up of an electronic system throughout the European Union through which vehicle registration data could be accessed via the chassis number.

4.3.1. In certain Member States (Denmark, the United Kingdom and Sweden) drivers of vehicles are not required to carry the registration certificate with them when travelling in the country where the vehicle is registered. In these Member States the authorities have a system that gives them direct access during roadside checks to the national registration database, which contains all the information set out in the registration certificate.

4.3.2. The Commission is currently looking at the TADIA project on the Europe-wide exchange of the data from certificates of conformity issued under the EC type approval system. TADIA could form the basis for electronic vehicle checks.

4.3.3. Plastic cards with a computer chip have been recommended as an interim solution until electronic checks can be carried out on vehicles directly. These cards could be introduced immediately without first providing the data in paper form.

4.3.4. If the data are provided on paper, they should at least be electronically readable (e.g. by using a bar code).

4.4. The Committee agrees that a two-part registration certificate is absolutely necessary.

4.4.1. As a rule the second part of the registration document is not, and should not, be kept in the vehicle. This helps to prevent the sale of stolen vehicles, which cannot be purchased in good faith unless the second part of the registration document is presented. This system has proved useful in Germany and the Netherlands, and is also to be introduced in Belgium.

4.4.2. The issuing of a two-part registration document can also provide proof of ownership, as already provided by the ownership papers issued in some Member States.

4.5. Articles 6 and 7

4.5.1. The Committee agrees that the committee provided for in Directive 96/47/EC () amending Directive 91/439/EEC on driving licences should adapt the annexes to technical progress in accordance with the procedure described in Article 7 of the proposal.

4.6. Article 8

4.6.1. The deadlines for transposing the directive seem to be adequate and appropriate.

4.7. Annex I

4.7.1. With regard to standardizing the format of registration documents to a large extent, no maximum dimensions should be set, but a precise format should be laid down as in the directive on driving licences in the European Union. This will prevent differing national formats from undermining the standardization being sought and avoid problems with the desired electronic readability.

4.7.2. Data that is used solely for official vehicle checks could also be encoded in order to save space. This would also be quite feasible with a standardized format that was electronically readable.

4.7.3. As regards measures to increase anti-tampering protection, it is recommended that use of holograms be added in Annex I, part I, point II and Annex I, part II, point II of the directive.

4.7.4. It is proposed with respect to paper quality requirements that the standard should be at least as high as the European driving licence, in order to prolong the life of registration certificates and increase anti-tampering protection.

4.8. Annex I, part I, point VII and Annex I, part II, point VII

4.8.1. The wording should be changed to read as follows:

'The information may also be given on the registration certificate in the form of codes, if this is contained in the certificate of conformity (COC) issued by the manufacturer on the basis of the EC type approval or can be derived from it by simple calculation.`

4.9. Trailers

4.9.1. If a person owns several trailers, the registration office should draw up a list of the trailers registered in that person's name, which the owner should be able to carry around and present for inspection instead of a registration certificate.

4.10. The directive does not affect existing special national procedures, which remain unchanged. However, it would be advisable to allow use of the standard registration documents for vehicles that have not been granted EC type approval.

4.10.1. As things stand at the moment, this applies to all vehicle categories for which EC type approval is not yet possible, and to vehicles that can still be registered individually by national type approval procedures following the entry-into-force of EC type approval procedures for M1 vehicles and all other categories of vehicle.

Brussels, 29 October 1997.

The President of the Economic and Social Committee

Tom JENKINS

() OJ C 202, 2. 7. 1997, p. 13.

() Official data from DG III of the European Commission, broken down according to countries.

() Economic and Social Committee estimate.

() OJ L 42, 23. 2. 1970, p. 1 (Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee: OJ C 48, 16. 4. 1969, p. 14).

() OJ L 18, 21. 1. 1997, p. 7 (Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee: OJ C 49, 24. 2. 1992, p. 5).

() See Annex II of Directive 70/156/EEC.

() Cf. Commission interpretative communication on procedures for the type-approval and registration of vehicles previously registered in another Member State, OJ C 143, 15. 5. 1996, p. 4.

() OJ L 237, 24. 8. 1991, p. 1 (Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee: OJ C 301, 13. 11. 1995).

() Convention on road traffic, signed on 8. 11. 1968, including amendments taking effect on 3. 9. 1993. United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (ECE).

() ECE: United Nations Economic Commission for Europe.

() OJ L 235, 17. 9. 1996, p. 1.