WRITTEN QUESTION E-2470/03 by Catherine Stihler (PSE) to the Commission. Digital tachographs: type approval.
Date: 2003-07-24
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Community certification, electronic device, information storage, road transport, speed control, technical regulations

20.3.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 70 E/105

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(26 September 2003)

Recent accidents with buses and trucks have demonstrated that in an increasingly competitive road
transport market, there is an urgent need for reliable and tamperproof equipment to check driving times
and rest periods in road transport. Therefore,
the Commission attaches great value to the quick
introduction of the digital tachograph.

Although there were no type approved digital tachographs and smart cards before 5 August 2003, the first
type approvals are expected later this year (2003).

Given a delay of the type approvals by only a few months, the submission by the Commission of a
proposal for an extension of the implementation deadlines through the co-decision procedure, would in all
likelihood considerably delay the introduction of
in the light of
widespread abuses of the current analogue tachograph with its negative consequences for road safety, the
digital tachograph should be introduced as soon as possible. Therefore, the Commission intends to assess
the situation later this year (2003), when the first type approval is expected to be granted.

tachograph. However,

the digital

Meanwhile, the current implementation deadlines for taking the necessary measures to ensure the issuing
of tachograph cards and for fitting new trucks and buses with the digital tachograph, as described in
Council Regulation (EC) No 2135/98 (1), shall remain unchanged.

(1) Council Regulation (EC) No 2135/98 of 24 September 1998 amending Regulation 3821/85 on recording
equipment in road transport and Directive 88/599/EEC concerning the application of Regulations (EEC) No 3820/85
and (EEC) No 3821/85.

(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) (cid:1) ‘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:

(cid:1) a security certificate,

(cid:1) a functional certificate,

(cid:1) and an interoperability certificate,

for the recording equipment or the tachograph card, subject of the request for type approval.

Section 6 of
interoperability certificate’. This states that:

this chapter specifies in Requirements 291 and 292 an ‘Exceptional procedure:

first

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.

C 70 E/106

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

20.3.2004

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?

(1) OJ L 370, 31.12.1985, p. 8.
(2) OJ L 207, 5.8.2002, p. 1.

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
interoperability certificates shall become definitive. If, however,
mutually interoperable, all provisional
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.

(2004/C 70 E/107)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2472/03

by Marie Isler Béguin (Verts/ALE), Charles Tannock (PPE-DE),
Alima Boumediene-Thiery (Verts/ALE), Patsy Sörensen (Verts/ALE)
and Miquel Mayol i Raynal (Verts/ALE) to the Council

Subject: Regions adjacent to the enlarged Union’s external borders

(24 July 2003)

The current process of enlargement towards the east will,
in the near future, alter the EU’s political,
economic and social makeup, as harmonisation, protection and transitional aid measures are applied in the
applicant central European and Baltic countries.

Given their particular sensitivity to this process of economic alignment, during the successive enlargements
of the EU the eastern border regions of the Member States (1) and, subsequently, the applicant countries,
have benefited from special programmes and aid intended to guard against and mitigate imbalances and
socio-economic repercussions within their borders. The western border regions of the European countries