EN Official Journal of the European Union CE 70/105

(2004/C 70 E/106)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2470/03

by Catherine Stihler (PSE) to the Commission

(24 July 2003)

Subject: Digital tachographs: type approval

The requirements for type approval of equipment are laid out in Chapter VIII of Annex 1B to Regulation (EEC) 3821/85 (1) as amended by Regulation (EC) 1360/2002 (2) — Type approval of Recording Equipment and Tachograph Cards'.

Within this chapter, Requirement 271 states:

Member States type approval authorities will not grant a type approval certificate in accordance with article 5 of this Regulation, as long as they do not hold: — a security certificate, — a functional certificate, — and an interoperability certificate, for the recording equipment or the tachograph card, subject of the request for type approval.

Section 6 of this chapter specifies in Requirements 291 and 292 an ‘Exceptional procedure: first interoperability certificate’. This states that:

Until four months after a first couple of recording equipment and tachograph cards … have been certified as interoperable, any interoperability certificate delivered … shall be considered provisional. If at the end of this [four month] period, all products concerned are mutually interoperable, all corresponding interoperability certificates shall become definitive.

Will the Commission please confirm that, in the case of the first the interoperability certificate to be granted, the interoperability certificate referred to in Requirement 271 is the definitive certificate defined in Requirement 292 and not the provisional certificate from Requirement 291?

If the Commission is not able to confirm that a definitive interoperability certificate is needed prior to issue of the first type approval certificate(s), then would they please explain how this ‘exceptional procedure’ is to be interpreted?

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(24 September 2003)

According to paragraph 1.1 of Appendix 9 of Annex 1B to Commission Regulation (EC) No 1360/2002 of 13 June 2002 adapting for the seventh time to technical progress Council Regulation (EEC) No 3821/85 on recording equipment in road transport, EEC type approval for recording equipment or tachograph cards is based on a security certification, a functional certification and an interoperability certification.

Chapter VIII of Annex 1B describes the interoperability certification process. The aim of this chapter is to ensure full interoperability of all registered recording equipment and cards and to ensure fair competition between manufacturers. Full interoperability cannot be ensured until definitive interoperability certificates have been delivered.

According to the interoperability procedure, tests will start as soon as requests for the first recording equipment and tachograph cards have been registered at the laboratory in charge. Up until four months after the first couple has been certified to be interoperable, any interoperability certificates delivered, including the first ones, shall be considered provisional. If at the end of this period all products are mutually interoperable, all provisional interoperability certificates shall become definitive. If, however, interoperability faults are found during this period the laboratory shall invite the manufacturers to make modifications. The search for solutions shall last for a maximum of two months.

According to the provisions of Chapter VIII of Annex 1B, modifications can be imposed on manufacturers as long as the interoperability certification process has not been completed. During this period all interoperability certificates are considered provisional. Obviously, given the fact that during this period modifications can be imposed and thus full interoperability cannot be ensured, no products shall be brought on the market. Type approval shall therefore only be granted on the basis of a definitive interoperability certificate.

(1) OJ L 370, 31.12.1985, p. 8.

(2) OJ L 207, 5.8.2002, p. 1.