No C 48/4 Official Journal of the European Communities 25.2.87 
II 
(Preparatory Acts) 
COMMISSION 
Proposal for a Council Directive amending Directive 70/156/EEC on the approximation of the 
laws of the Member States relating to the type-approval of motor vehicles and their trailers 
COM(87) 26 final 
(Submitted by the Commission to the Council on 6 February 1987) 
(87/C 48/05) 
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, 
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European 
Economic Community, and in particular Article 100 
thereof, 
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, 
Having regard to the opinion of the European Parlia­
ment, 
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and 
Social Committee, 
Whereas Council Directive 70/156/EEC ('), as last 
amended by the Act of Accession of Spain und Portugal, 
laid down the EEC type-approval procedure for vehicles 
built in compliance with the technical requirements set 
out in specific Directives and also the list of vehicle parts 
and characteristics covered by those Directives; 
Whereas, in order to eliminate the possibility of 
ministerpretation arising from the wording of certain 
Articles of that Directive it is necessary that minor 
corrections be made; 
Whereas, in order that the said type-approval procedure 
may by comprehensive in its application it is necessary 
that it cover components as well as separate technical 
units and that each concept should be accurately 
defined; 
Whereas, in order to apply the said type-approval 
procedure correctly, control of the conformity of 
production should include verification of the 
arrangements which have been made by the manu-
O OJ No L 42, 23. 2. 1970, p. 1. facturer to ensure that vehicles, separate technical units 
or components in production conform to the approved 
type; 
Whereas, to reduce the amount of documentation now 
in circulation between Member States, the type-approval 
certificate, either in accordance with the relevant 
separate Directive or the partially-completed type-
approval certificate as annexed to Directive 70/156/EEC, 
should satisfy the normal information requirements of 
Member States, which have the option of requesting a 
more complete body of technical information; 
Whereas the administrative procedures governing the 
relationships between Member States, where one 
Member State demonstrates to the type-approving 
Member State that a number of vehicles do not conform 
to the approved type and that there is therefore reason to 
believe that production conformity has not been 
adequately ensured, need to be clarified; 
Whereas, in cases where the separate Directives provide 
that a separate technical unit must bear the type-approval 
number, it should not be mandatory that each unit be 
accompanied by a certificate of conformity; whereas a 
manufacturer of a separate technical unit should in any 
case be required to provide information concerning any 
restrictions on its use and conditions relating to the 
fitting of the unit; 
Whereas the separate Directives provided for by 
Directive 70/156/EEC form part of the measures 
intended to complete the internal market; whereas, it is 
therefore necessary, in order to ensure the speed and 
efficiency of the decision-making process, that the 
necessary measures be taken by the Commission so that 
the provisions of the separate Directives may be adapted 
to technical progress in accordance with the advisory 
committee procedure; 
25. 2. 87 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 48/5 
HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE: 
Article 1 
Directive 70/156/EEC is hereby amended as follows: 
1. Articles 1 and 2 are replaced by the following: 
'Article 1 
For the purposes of this Directive: 
— "vehicle" means any motor vehicle intended for 
use on the road, with or without bodywork, 
having at least four wheels and a maximum design 
speed exceeding 25 km/h, and its trailers, with the 
exception of vehicles which run on rails and of 
agricultural tractors and machinery; 
— "separate technical unit" means a device intended 
to be part of a vehicle which may be type-
approved separately but only in relation to one or 
more specified type's of vehicles subject to the 
requirements of a separate Directive; 
— "component" means a device intended to be part 
of a vehicle which may be type-approved 
independently of a vehicle subject to the 
requirements of a separate Directive. 
Article 2 
For the purposes of this Directive: 
(a) "national type approval" means the administrative 
procedure known as: 
— "agreation par type"/"typegoedkeuring" in 
Belgian law; 
— "standardtypegodkendelse" in Danish law; 
— "allgemeine Betriebserlaubnis" in German 
law; 
— "6yKpiOT| timou" in Greek law; 
— "homologacion de tipo" in Spanish law; 
— "reception par type" or "homologation" in 
French law; 
— "type approval" in Irish law; 
— "omologazione del tipo" in Italian law; 
— "agreation" in Luxembourg law; 
— "typegoedkeuring" in Netherlands law; 
— "aprovacao de marca e modelo" in 
Portuguese law; 
— "type approval" in United Kingdom law. 
(b) "EEC type-approval" means the procedure 
whereby a Member State certifies that a vehicle 
type, separate technical unit or component 
satisfies the technical requirements of the separate 
directives and the checks listed in the EEC type-approval certificate, the model of which is given 
in Annex II, and, where applicable, completed by 
the annex to the type-approval certificate as 
contained in the appropriate separate Directives.' 
2. Articles 4 and 5 are replaced by the following: 
'Article 4 
1. A Member State shall approve all vehicle types 
which satisfy the following conditions: 
(a) the vehicle type must conform to the particulars in 
. the information document; 
(b) the vehicle type must satisfy the checks listed in 
the model, referred to in Article 2 (b), of type-
approval certificate. 
2. A Member State granting type-approval shall 
take the necessary measures to verify, in so far as is 
necessary and if need be in cooperation with the 
competent authorities of the other Member States, 
that adequate arrangements have been made to ensure 
that vehicles in production conform to the approved 
type. 
3. A Member State which has granted type-
approval shall take the necessary measures to verify, 
in so far as is necessary and if need be in cooperation 
with the competent authorities of the other Member 
States, that the arrangements referred to in paragraph 
2 continue to be adequate and that production models 
conform to the approved type. Verification that 
production models conform to the approved type shall 
be limited to spot checks. 
4. Each Member State shall complete all the 
sections of a type-approval certificate for each vehicle 
type which it approves. 
Article 5 
1. The competent authorities of each Member State 
shall send within one month to the competent auth­
orities of the other Member States a copy of the type-
approval certificate for each vehicle type which they 
approve or refuse to approve. 
2. Member States may, however, request from a 
Member State which has granted the type-approval or 
the manufacturer or his authorized representative, 
further information contained in the technical 
documents listed in the type-approval certificate. 
3. The manufacturer or his authorized represen­
tative in the country of registration shall complete a 
certificate of conformity, the model of which is given 
in Annex III, for each vehicle manufactured in 
conformity with the approved type. 
^od^BD Official journal of the European Communities ^^^ 
^. member states may, however, for purposes of 
ta^ationof avehicleorcompletionof itsre^istration 
documents, ask for particulars not mentioned in 
Anne^ IN to be ^iven on the certificate of conformity, 
providedthatsuchparticulars are explicitly statedon 
the typeapproval certificate or can be derived 
therefrom byastrai^htforwardcalculationB 
3. The following is deleted from ArticleD^^ 
5.. and shall send the competent authorities of the 
other member states, in periodic batches, copies of 
amendments to information documents which have 
already been distributedB 
^. Article^t^is replaced by the following 
^. nevertheless, this certificate shall not preventa 
member ^tate from taking such measures in respect 
of vehicles which do not conform to the approved 
type 
There shall be failure to conform to the approved 
type where deviations from the particulars in the type 
approval certificate are found to e^ist and where these 
deviations have not been authorised under Article D 
^ or ^ by the Iviember ^tate which granted the 
type^approval. A vehicle shall not be considered to 
deviatefromthe approved type where tolerances are 
permittedbyseparatefoirectivesand thesetolerances 
arerespectedB 
^. Article^is replaced by the followin^^ 
t Ifalviember^tate which has granted EEC type 
approval finds thatanumber of vehicles accompanied 
by acertificateof conformitydo not conform to the 
type which it has approved, it shall take the necessary 
measures to ensure that production models conform 
to the approved type. The competent authorities of 
that ^tate shall advise those of the other member 
states of the measures taken, which may, where 
necessary, extend to withdrawal of EEC type 
approval. 
^. If a member ^tate demonstrates that a number 
of vehicles accompanied byacertificate of conformity 
donotconformtotheapprovedtypeit may request 
the member ^tate which granted the EEC type 
approval to verify that production models conform to 
the approved tvpe.The^dember^tate responsible for 
the^rantin^of theEEC typeapprovalshallconduct 
therequestedconformityofproductioncheck,within 
aperiodofsi^ months from the date of request,with, 
if it is considered necessary, the cooperation of the 
member ^tate which requested that such acheckbe 
conducted. Whereafailure toconformhasbeenestablished the 
authority of the Aiember ^tate which wanted type 
approval shall take the measures outlined in 
para^raphP 
^. The competent authorities of the member states 
shall inform each other within one month of any 
withdrawal of EEC^typeapproval, and of the reasons 
for such measure. 
^. If the Aiember ^tate which^rantedEEC type 
approval disputes the failure to conform notified to it, 
the member states concerned shall endeavour to 
settle the dispute. 
The commission shall be kept informed and shall, 
where necessary, hold appropriate consultations for 
the purpose of reachin^asettlementB 
D. Article ^a is replaced by the following 
P Where the separte directives make express 
provisionfor so doin^,EEC typeapprovalmay also 
be granted to types of systems or parts of vehicles 
which form a separate technical unit and to 
components in accordance with the provisions of 
Articles^to^andt^. 
^. Where the separate technical unit to be approved 
fulfilsitsfunction oroffersaspecificfeatureonlyin 
conjunction with other components of the vehicle and 
for this reason compliance with one or more 
requirements can be verified only when the separate 
technicalunittobeapprovedoperatesinconiunction 
with other vehicle components, whether real or 
simulated,the scope of theEECtypeapproval of the 
separate technicalunit must be restricted accordingly. 
The EEC typeapproval certificate for a separate 
technical unit shall then include any restrictions on its 
use and shall indicate any conditions for fitting it. 
(Observance of these restrictions and conditions shall 
be verified atthe time of EEC^ typeapproval of the 
vehicle. 
^ However, the holder of EEC typeapproval fora 
separate technical unit granted in accordance with this 
Article shall complete the certificate provided for in 
Article ^^ and affi^ to each unit manufactured in 
conformity withthe approved type the trade name or 
mark, the type and, if the separate Mirective so 
provides,the type approval number. Inthelatter case 
there shall be no obligation to complete the certificate 
provided for in Article ^^ 
^. Theholderof anEEC^typeapprovalcertificate 
which, in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 
^, includes restrictions on its use, shall deliver with 
eachunit manufactured detailed information on these 
restrictions and shall indicate any conditions for 
fitting itB 
25.2.87 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 48/7 
7. Article 10 (1), 
following: third indent, is replaced by the 
on application by a manufacturer or his auth­
orized representative and on submission of the 
information required by the separate Directive, 
the Member State concerned shall complete the 
type-approval certificate in accordance with the 
relevant separate Directive. A copy of this certi­
ficate shall be issued to the applicant. With 
respect to vehicles of the same type, other 
Member States shall accept this copy as proof 
that the requisite tests have been carried out.' 
8. Article 11 is replaced by the following: 
'Article 11 
Any changes which are necessary in order to adapt: 
— Annexes I, II and III to this Directive, or 
— the provision contained in the separate Directives 
referred to in Annex II and specified in each of 
those Directives, 
to take account of technical progress shall be adopted 
by the Commission in accordance with the procedure 
laid down in Article 13. 
This procedure shall also apply for the purpose of 
introducing provisions relating to EEC type-approval 
for separate technical units into the separate 
Directives.' 9. Article 13 is replaced by the following: 
'Article 13 
When the procedure laid down in this Article is 
followed, the Committee shall discuss matters on 
which the Commission has requested an opinion. 
When seeking the opinion of the Committee, the 
Commission may set a time-limit within which such 
opinion shall be given. 
No vote shall be taken. 
However, any member of the Committee may 
demand that his views be set down in the minutes.' 
Article 2 
The documents listed in the Annex are considered to be 
equivalent to the type-approval certificate to which 
reference is made in Article 10 (1), third indent, of 
Directive 70/156/EEC. 
Article 3 
1. Member States shall bring into force the laws, regu­
lations and administrative provisions necessary to comply 
with this Directive by 1 October 1988. They shall 
forthwith inform the Commission thereof. 
2. As soon as this Directive has been notified, 
Member States shall ensure that the Commission is 
informed, in sufficient time for it to submit its comments, 
of any draft laws, regulations or administrative 
provisions which they intend to adopt in the field 
covered by this Directive. 
Article 4 
This Directive is addressed to the Member States. 
ANNEX 
Either one of the following: 
— EEC type-approval certificate in respect of a separate technical unit; 
— EEC type-approval certificate for a technical unit; 
— EEC type-approval certificate of a separate technical unit; 
— Model EEC component type-approval certificate; 
— Model EEC type-approval certificate; 
— Annex to the EEC vehicle type-approval certificate . . .; 
— Annex to the EEC type-approval certificate . . .; 
— Communication concerning the type-approval . . .; 
— Communication concerning the approval . . .; 
or, the partially filled in type-approval certificate for a motor vehicle, the model of which is given in Annex 
II of Directive 70/156/EEC.