WRITTEN QUESTION E-2469/03 by Catherine Stihler (PSE) to the Commission. Digital tachographs: revised introduction timescales.
Date: 2003-07-24
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Community certification, application of EU law, electronic device, information storage, road transport, speed control

C 70 E/104

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

20.3.2004

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(29 September 2003)

On 26 June 2003 at a meeting of the CATP (Tachograph Committee) the Commission proposed a number
of corrections to the text of Annex 1B (1). The Committee unanimously agreed to these corrections.

Copies of the agreed corrections were then sent to the members of the Committee, to industry and to
other stakeholders, in order to prepare for type approval of the recording equipment and the tachograph
cards.

Meanwhile, the Commission will prepare the adoption and publication of the corrections. Publication in
the Official Journal is expected in October/November 2003.

interoperability certificates and the
It should be noted that between the delivery of first provisional
definitive interoperability certificates, a period of at
four months should intervene. Only if a
manufacturer holds a definitive interoperability certificate (plus a security certificate and a functional
certificate) can he apply for a type approval certificate. The first interoperability tests are expected to start
soon now and as soon as they have been completed, the manufacturers can apply for the type approval
certificate. Therefore, Member State authorities will be able to issue type approval certificates on the basis
of the text of the Annex 1B, including the corrections, as officially published in the Official Journal of the
European Union.

least

(1) 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, OJ L 207,
5.8.2002.

(2004/C 70 E/105)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2469/03

by Catherine Stihler (PSE) to the Commission

(24 July 2003)

Subject: Digital tachographs: revised introduction timescales

Regulation (EC) 2135/98 (1), Article 2, paragraph 3 states:

In the event that 12 months after the date of publication of the act referred to in paragraph 1,
EC type-approval has not been granted to any item of recording equipment which conforms to the
requirements of Annex IB to Regulation (EEC) No 3821/85, the Commission shall submit a proposal
to the Council for an extension of the deadline laid down in paragraphs 1 and 2.

Assuming confirmation as requested in Question E-2468/03, ‘the act referred to in paragraph 1’ refers to
Regulation (EC) 1360/2002 (2). ’12 months after the publication of the act referred to in paragraph 1’ is
then 5 August 2003.

According to Annex 1B requirement 291, a minimum period of at least four months is required between
issue of a provisional interoperability certificate and subsequent issue of a definitive certificate. If (as was
originally intended) the interoperability certificate needed according to Requirement 271 of Annex 1B is a
definitive certificate (Requirement 292), then such a certificate could only be issued by 5 August 2003 if a
provisional certificate had been issued prior to 5 April 2003. It is very clear that such a provisional
interoperability certificate had not been issued prior to 5 July 2003, let alone prior to 5 April.

is to maintain legal records of the
The primary purpose of tachographs, be they digital or analogue,
activities of drivers. It is surely inconceivable that the legal standing of the records made by digital
tachographs would be jeopardised by failure to follow the correct
legal processes leading to their
introduction.

the Commission please confirm that

they will comply with the requirements of Regulation
Will
(EC) 2135/98, Article 2, paragraph 3? Will they please state when they will
‘submit a proposal to the
Council for an extension of the deadline laid down in paragraphs 1 and 2 [of Regulation (EC) 2135/98]’?

(1) OJ L 274, 9.10.1998, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 207, 5.8.2002, p. 1.

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.