Report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on the application by the Member States of Directive 2000/30/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 June 2000 on the Technical Roadside inspection of the Roadworthiness of commercial vehicles circulating in the Community
Date: 2007-05-23
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU Member State, application of EU law, commercial vehicle, intra-EU transport, report, road transport, roadworthiness tests

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 23.5.2007 
COM(2007) 270 final 

REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND 
THE COUNCIL 

ON THE APPLICATION BY THE MEMBER STATES  
OF DIRECTIVE 2000/30/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE 
COUNCIL OF 6 JUNE 2000 ON THE TECHNICAL ROADSIDE INSPECTION OF 
THE ROADWORTHINESS OF COMMERCIAL VEHICLES CIRCULATING IN 
THE COMMUNITY 

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TABLE OF CONTENTS 

1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

5. 

6. 

7. 

INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................ 3 

DIRECTIVE 2000/30/EC ............................................................................................ 4 

DATA COMMUNICATED BY THE MEMBER STATES ....................................... 5 

TYPES OF INFRINGEMENT .................................................................................... 5 

STATISTICAL DATA ................................................................................................ 6 

TYPES OF PENALTIES ........................................................................................... 12 

CONCLUSIONS........................................................................................................ 13 

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1. 

INTRODUCTION  

European  legislation  lays  down  a  set  of  measures  to  ensure  that  commercial  vehicles  on 
European roads are in good condition in the interest of road safety, environmental protection 
and fair competition: 

•  rules  on  admission  to  the  occupation  which  require  transport  operators  to  have 
sufficient  financial  capacity  to  ensure  the  proper  maintenance  of  vehicles 
(Directive 62/20051); 

•  periodic roadworthiness tests of vehicles carried out in the Member States at fixed 
intervals,  with  a  minimum  frequency  laid  down  at  European  level,  for  vehicles 
registered on their territory (Directive 96/96/EC2); 

•  technical roadside inspection, which is the subject of this report, ensuring that at 
any  time  commercial  vehicles  are  used  only  if  they  are  maintained  to  a  high 
degree of technical roadworthiness (Directive 2000/30/EC3). 

Under Directive 2000/30/EC, the Member States should bring into force laws, regulations and 
administrative provisions necessary to comply with the Directive by 10 August 2002. 

Article 6  of  Directive 2000/30/EC  provides  that  every  two  years  Member  States  should 
communicate  to  the  Commission  the  data  collected  relating  to  the  previous  two  years 
concerning  the  number  of  commercial  vehicles  checked,  classified  in  seven  categories  in 
accordance  with  the  Directive  and  by  country  of  registration,  and  the  items  checked  and 
deficiencies  discovered.  The  Directive  lists  12  points  that  may  be  checked  in  technical 
roadside  inspections.  Non-compliance  of  the  points  checked  and  any  ban  on  using  vehicles 
showing serious deficiencies should be mentioned in the inspection reports. Article 11 of the 
Directive provides that the Commission should submit a report to the Council, on the basis of 
the data received from the Member States, on the application of the Directive together with a 
summary of the results obtained. 

The present Commission report is the first report on the application of Directive 2000/30/EC 
in  the  Member  States;  it  covers  the  period  2003-2004.  The  data  collected  by  the  Member 
States relating to this period had to be communicated to the Commission by 31 March 2005 at 
the latest. 

1 

2 

3 

Council Directive 96/26/EC of 29 April 1996 on admission to the occupation of road haulage operator 
and  road  passenger  transport  operator  and  mutual  recognition  of  diplomas,  certificates  and  other 
evidence  of  formal  qualifications  intended  to  facilitate  for  these  operators  the  right  to  freedom  of 
establishment in national and international transport operations OJ L 124, 23.5.1996, p. 1–10. 
Council  Directive 96/96/EC  of  20 December 1996  on  the  approximation  of  the  laws  of  the  Member 
States relating to roadworthiness tests for motor vehicles and their trailers, OJ L 46, 17.2.1997, pp. 1-
19. 
Directive 2000/30/EC of  the European  Parliament  and of  the  Council of 6 June 2000 on  the  technical 
roadside  inspection  of  the  roadworthiness  of  commercial  vehicles  circulating  in  the  Community,  OJ 
L 203, 10.8.2000, pp. 1-8. 

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By  this  deadline  only  three  Member  States  had  supplied  information  concerning  technical 
roadside  inspection.  In  order  to  get  as  complete  a  picture  as  possible  in  this  area,  the 
Commission has since the end of March 2005 issued several reminders in order to obtain the 
maximum number of statistical data. By the end of 2005, nine Member States had transmitted 
information on the implementation of Directive 2000/30/EC. Following a final reminder sent 
at  the  beginning  of  April  2006,  this  number  rose  to  17  Member  States  by  the  end  of  June 
2006. 

In  the  Commission’s  opinion,  the  present  report,  based  on  information  furnished  by  17 
Member States, enables it to make a first overall analysis which justifies the length of time it 
took to obtain the information required to compile the report. 

2. 

DIRECTIVE 2000/30/EC 

Directive  2000/30/EC,  as  amended4,  lays  down  a  number  of  conditions  for  carrying  out 
technical roadside checks on commercial vehicles circulating in the Community. 

Technical roadside inspection means an inspection of a technical nature, not announced by the 
authorities and therefore unexpected, of a commercial vehicle circulating within the territory 
of  a  Member  State  carried  out  on  the  public  highway  by  the  authorities,  or  under  their 
supervision. 

Every  technical  roadside  inspection  should  be  carried  out  without  discrimination  on  the 
grounds of the nationality of the driver or of the country of registration or entry into service of 
the commercial vehicle, bearing in mind the need to minimise the costs and delays entailed 
for drivers and operators. 

A targeted approach may be adopted in selecting commercial vehicles for technical roadside 
inspection,  placing  special  importance  on  identifying  vehicles  that  seem  most  likely  to  be 
poorly maintained. 

If  the  condition  of  a  commercial  vehicle  may  represent  a  safety  risk  such  that  further 
examination is justified, the commercial vehicle may be subjected to a more elaborate test at a 
testing  centre  in  the  vicinity.  If  a  commercial  vehicle  with  serious  deficiencies  presents  a 
serious  risk  to  road  safety,  its  use  may  be  prohibited  until  the  dangerous  deficiencies 
discovered have been rectified. 

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technical  progress 
Commission  Directive  2003/26/EC  of  3  April  2003 
Directive 2000/30/EC  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  as  regards  speed  limiters  and 
exhaust emissions of commercial vehicles, OJ L 90, 8.4.2003, pp. 37-40. 

adapting 

to 

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3. 

DATA COMMUNICATED BY THE MEMBER STATES 

Below is an overview of the Member States that have and those that have not communicated 
data to the Commission for the period 2003-2004. 

Member States that have transmitted data 

Member  States  that  have  not  transmitted 
data 

1 Unusable data 

2 Derogation  

4. 

TYPES OF INFRINGEMENT 

Belgium, Czech Republic1, Denmark, Germany, 
Estonia, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, 
Hungary, Malta, Netherlands, Austria, 
Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland, Sweden, United 
Kingdom  
Spain, France, Ireland, Cyprus, Lithuania2, 
Poland, Portugal  

The  points  likely  to  be  checked  that  have  to  be  included  in  the  data  communicated  by  the 
Member  States  concern  at  least  the  aspects  indicated  in  point  10  of  the  specimen  report 
included in Annex I to the Directive: 

(1) 
(2) 
(3) 
(4) 
(5) 
(6) 
(7) 
(8) 
(9) 
(10) 
(11) 
(12) 

braking system and components; 
exhaust system; 
smoke opacity (diesel); 
gaseous emissions (petrol, natural gas or liquefied petroleum gas (LPG); 
steering linkages; 
lamps, lighting and signalling devices; 
wheels/tyres; 
suspension (visible defects); 
chassis (visible defects); 
tachograph (installation); 
speed limiting device (installation); 
evidence of fuel and/or oil spillage 

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5. 

STATISTICAL DATA 

Overall data 

Vehicles checked 

The  number  of  vehicles  registered  in  the  European  Union  that  were  checked  in  the  period 
2003-2004 varies considerably from one Member State to another (see Table 1 below). 

Table 1: Member States classified by descending number of technical roadside inspections 

Reporting 
Member 
State 

Number of vehicles registered in 
the EU that were checked 

Total 

of which buses 

Germany  

Hungary  

United 
Kingdom 
Belgium1 
Austria 

Sweden 

Finland 

Slovakia 

Italy 

Netherlands 

Estonia 

Denmark 

Slovenia 

Lithuania 

Greece 

Malta 

Luxembourg 

1 826 219 

670 225 

221 875 

104 621 

53 942 

41 903 

7 804 

4 853 

2 633 

1 730 

1 705 

1 485 

1 313 

458 

306 

137 

40 

78 873 

65 891 

34 255 

6 211 

4 814 

2 310 

21 

20 

1 082 

1 

144 

13 

182 

0 

n.a. 

13 

2 

Road traffic 
2003-20042 
(in million 
vehicles*km) 

1 379 363 

n.a.  

988 933 

187 634 

160 708 

148 459 

100 680 

n.a.  

n.a.  

269 980 

n.a.  

95 880 

29 625 

n.a.  

n.a.  

n.a.  

n.a.  

Checked 
vehicles/traffic 
ratio 
(x100) 

132 

n.a. 

22 

56 

34 

28 

8 

n.a. 

n.a. 

1 

n.a. 

2 

4 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

1 Belgium carries out a significant number of roadside checks, but these do not all include technical inspection, 
as explained below. 
2 Source: International Road Traffic and Accident Database of the OECD. 
n.a.: not available. 

The number of technical roadside inspections is commensurate with the volume of road traffic 
in each Member State, except for the Netherlands which is in third or fourth place in terms of 
traffic volume (Hungary’s road traffic volume is not available). Apart from the Netherlands, 
Finland, Denmark and Slovenia also carry out relatively few technical roadside inspections in 
proportion to the volume of their road traffic. Among the six Member States with the largest 

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number  of  technical  roadside  inspections,  the  inspection  intensity  in  relation  to  road  traffic 
volume varies by a factor of 1 to 6. 

The proportion of buses in relation to the overall number of vehicles checked in each Member 
State  is  generally  low.  It  exceeds  10%  of  vehicles  checked  only  in  Slovenia  (11.4%),  the 
United Kingdom (15.4%) and Italy (37.6%). Buses make up less than 1% of vehicles checked 
in Latvia, the Netherlands, Finland, Slovakia and Denmark. 

Registration of vehicles checked 

The proportion of vehicles checked that are registered in the Member State in relation to all 
vehicles  checked  in  technical  roadside  inspections  varies  considerably  from  one  Member 
State to another (see Table 2 below). 

Of  the  vehicles  checked  in  six  of  the  14  Member  States  for  which  all  the  information 
concerning the country of registration is available, more than 80% are registered in their own 
territory.  There  are  not enough  overall  statistical  data  to  make  it  possible  to  cross-reference 
this  information  with  the  road  traffic  recorded  by  each  Member  State  on  the  basis  of  the 
country where vehicles are registered. 

Table 2: Registration of vehicles checked 

Reporting 
Member State 

Registered in 
the Member 
State 

Registered in 
the EU 

Registered 
outside the 
EU 

7 358 

7 

Total 

111 979 

1 492 

1 414 943 

411 276 

226 046 

2 052 265 

Belgium 

Denmark 

Germany 

Estonia 

Greece 

Italy 

Latvia 

Luxembourg 

Hungary 

Malta 

Netherlands 

Austria 

Slovenia 

Slovakia 

Finland 

Sweden 

United 
Kingdom 

54 356 

1 398 

50 265 

87 

1 235 

299 

2 337 

349 

14 

470 

7 

296 

109 

26 

653 041 

17 184 

137 

1 607 

35 319 

1 140 

3 972 

6 993 

34 702 

211 822 

0 

123 

18 623 

11 701 

173 

881 

811 

7 201 

10 053 

285 

85 

2 234 

1 016 

n.a. 

n.a. 

286 

247 

99 

0 

n.a. 

0 

6 

% vehicles of 
the Member 
State 

48.54% 

93.70% 

68.95% 

n.a. 

50.51% 

81.15% 

62.66% 

35.00% 

n.a. 

100.00% 

92.57% 

53.80% 

71.34% 

80.44% 

69.67% 

80.85% 

n.a. 

n.a. 

592 

2 880 

557 

40 

n.a. 

137 

1 736 

65 643 

1 598 

4 938 

10 038 

42 919 

n.a. 

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Non-compliant vehicles 

The  information  communicated  to  the  Commission  by  the  Member  States  shows  that  the 
proportion  of  vehicles  regarded  as  not 
the  requirements  of 
Directive 2000/30/EC  in  relation  to  all  checked  vehicles  registered  in  the  European  Union 
varies considerably from one Member State to another, from the high proportion of 72.1% for 
Denmark to only 2.6% for Belgium (see Table 3 below). 

in  compliance  with 

Table 3: Proportion of non-compliant vehicles  
in relation to all vehicles checked 

Vehicles registered in the EU 
(including reporting MS) 

Vehicles registered in the 
reporting Member State 

Reporting 
Member 
State 

Denmark 

Malta 

Sweden 

United 
Kingdom 

Estonia  

Slovenia 

Hungary 

Vehicles 
checked 

1 485 

137 

41 903 

221 875 

1 705 

1 313 

670 225 

Germany 

1 826 219 

Luxembourg 

Latvia 

Belgium 

Austria 

Finland 

Slovakia 

Italy 

Netherlands 

Greece  
n.a.: not available 

40 

458 

104 621 

53 942 

7 804 

4 853 

2 633 

1 730 

306 

% non-
compliant 
vehicles 

72.1% 

65.0% 

46.9% 

36.9% 

11.9% 

11.0% 

10.4% 

10.3% 

10.0% 

8.5% 

2.6% 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

Vehicles 
checked 

1 398 

137 

34 702 

211 822 

1 235 

1 140 

653 041 

1 414 943 

14 

349 

54 356 

35 319 

6 993 

3 972 

2 337 

1 607 

299 

% non-
compliant 
vehicles 

73.0% 

65.0% 

47.6% 

35.5% 

n.a. 

9.8% 

10.6% 

10.1% 

n.a. 

10.6% 

4.9% 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

n.a. 

These  differences  may  reflect  the  relative  importance  which  each  Member  State  attaches  to 
technical  roadside  inspections  as  compared  with  other  checks  carried  out  along  the  road 
regarding other aspects of road transport. For instance, the ratio reported by Belgium does not 
exclusively  concern  technical  roadside  inspections  but  includes  all  roadside  checks.  The 
report  in  general  distinguishes  between  checks  on  compliance  with  social  legislation, 
exceptional  loads,  transport  of  dangerous  goods,  the  eurovignette,  and  other.  Technical 

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roadside inspections are in general not specifically indicated and the relevant information is 
not provided in detail. 

Of the 11 Member States which have supplied information on the number of non-compliant 
vehicles  and  the  total  number  of  checked  vehicles  registered  in  the  European  Union,  six 
record the level of non-compliance as between 8.5% and 11.9% (see Table 3). 

A  sizeable  proportion  of  non-compliant  vehicles  is  recorded  by  Denmark  (72.1%),  Malta 
(65.0%),  Sweden  (46.9%)  and  the  United  Kingdom  (36.9%).  While  Denmark  and  Malta 
check  a  relatively  small  number  of  vehicles,  the  statistics  on  technical  roadside  inspections 
transmitted  by  Sweden  and  the  United  Kingdom  cover  a  large  number  of  vehicles, 
respectively  41 903  and  221 875  checked  vehicles  registered  in  the  European  Union.  The 
relatively  high  proportion  of  vehicles  found  to  be  non-compliant  in  relation  to  all  vehicles 
checked  could  be  the  result  of  specific  targeting  of  vehicles  subject  to  roadside 
roadworthiness  inspections  in  these  two  Member  States.  For  instance,  the  United  Kingdom, 
aware  that  stopping  a  vehicle  on  the  road  for  roadworthiness  checks  may  have  major 
economic consequences because of the generalised use of the system of overall operation on a 
just-in-time basis adopts an approach based on an analysis of the risks presented by operators 
based on parameters reflecting their past performance. 

Data per Member State 

The data per Member State concerning technical roadside inspections carried out on vehicles 
registered  in  other  Member  States,  if  available,  in  general  concern  only  small  numbers  of 
vehicles  and  do  not  make  it  possible  to  draw  statistically  significant  conclusions  as  to  the 
average  physical  condition  of  vehicles  circulating  outside  their  country  of  registration.  The 
conclusions which could be drawn from certain of these data on national level seem indeed to 
contradict more recent in-depth studies 5, which conclude that vehicles circulating outside the 
country of registration present a less satisfactory technical state. 

Hungary,  Sweden  and  the  United  Kingdom  provide  statistics  per  Member  State  of 
registration for a relatively high number of vehicles. 

In  the  case  of  Hungary  (see  Table 4  below),  the  non-compliant/checked  vehicles  ratios  per 
Member  State  of  registration  are  in  general  lower  than  the  corresponding  ratio  for  vehicles 
registered in Hungary (10.6%). The number of checked EU vehicles not registered in Hungary 
(17 184),  however,  is  low  in  relation  to  all  technical  roadside  checks  reported  by  the 
Hungarian authorities (670 225). 

5 

South  East  International  Pilot  carried  out  by  the  Vehicle  and  Operator  Services  Agency  and  the 
Highway Agency in 2005 and 2006. The Pilot have shown that 30.60% of non GB HGV and 42.79% of 
non GB trailers are non compliant with roadworthiness rules while these rates are respectively 24.60% 
and 30.10% for GB HGV and trailers. 

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Table 4: Vehicles checked by Hungary 

State of registration 

Checked vehicles 

Non-compliant 
vehicles 

Ratio 
non-compliant 
vehicles/checked 
vehicles 

Belgium 

Czech Republic 

Denmark 

Germany 

Estonia 

Greece 

Spain 

France 

Ireland 

Italy 

Cyprus 

Latvia 

Lithuania 

Luxembourg 

Hungary 

Malta 

Netherlands 

Austria 

Poland 

Portugal 

Slovenia 

Slovakia 

Finland 

Sweden 

United Kingdom 

Total EU 
n.a.: not applicable 

34 

1 272 

167 

634 

317 

27 

41 

13 

0 

162 

0 

246 

225 

31 

653 041 

0 

1 202 

122 

2 010 

36 

4 565 

5 979 

21 

79 

1 

0 

13 

0 

4 

7 

1 

0 

0 

n.a. 

5 

n.a. 

6 

4 

0 

69 438 

n.a. 

7 

0 

13 

0 

13 

25 

0 

0 

0 

0.0% 

1.0% 

0.0% 

0.6% 

2.2% 

3.7% 

0% 

0% 

n.a. 

3.1% 

n.a. 

2.4% 

1.8% 

0% 

10.6% 

n.a. 

0.6% 

0.0% 

0.6% 

0.0% 

0.3% 

0.4% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

0.0% 

670 225 

69 536 

10.4% 

In the case of Sweden (see Table 5), the non-compliant vehicles/checked vehicles ratios per 
Member  State  vary  between  24.2%  for  vehicles  registered  in  Austria  (95  vehicles  checked) 
and 91.7% for Ireland (12 vehicles checked). The ratio for vehicles registered in Sweden is 
47.6%. However, the data per Member State of registration in general concern only a small 
number  of  vehicles  checked  and  do  not  provide  sufficient  data  to  draw  conclusions  of  any 
statistical value. However, attention should be drawn to the high proportion of vehicles found 
to  be  non-compliant  by  the  Swedish  authorities  for  vehicles  registered  in  Poland,  Latvia, 
Estonia and Lithuania, involving a relatively high number of vehicles checked. 

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Table 5: Vehicles checked by Sweden 

State of registration 

Checked vehicles 

Non-compliant 
vehicles 

Ratio 
non-compliant 
vehicles/checked 
vehicles 

Belgium 

Czech Republic 

Denmark 

Germany 

Estonia 

Greece 

Spain 

France 

Ireland 

Italy 

Cyprus 

Latvia 

Lithuania 

Luxembourg 

Hungary 

Malta 

Netherlands 

Austria 

Poland 

Portugal 

Slovenia 

Slovakia 

Finland 

Sweden 

United Kingdom 

Total EU 
n.a.: not applicable 

94 

55 

1 536 

587 

285 

6 

50 

26 

12 

28 

0 

186 

373 

1 

34 

0 

558 

95 

1 281 

16 

38 

18 

1 865 

34 702 

57 

41 903 

48 

17 

536 

208 

159 

2 

22 

7 

11 

15 

n.a. 

106 

203 

0 

14 

n.a. 

230 

23 

766 

4 

25 

13 

700 

16 514 

31 

19 654 

51.1% 

30.9% 

34.9% 

35.4% 

55.8% 

33.3% 

44.0% 

26.9% 

91.7% 

53.6% 

n.a. 

57.0% 

54.4% 

0.0% 

41.2% 

n.a. 

41.2% 

24.2% 

59.8% 

25.0% 

65.8% 

72.2% 

37.5% 

47.6% 

54.4% 

46.9% 

For all the vehicles checked in the United Kingdom registered in another Member State (see 
Table  6),  the  ratios  relating  to  non-compliant  vehicles  and  vehicles  banned  still  exceed  the 
corresponding  ratios  for  vehicles  registered  in  the  United  Kingdom,  which  are  35.5%  and 
27.5% respectively. In particular, this is the case – with a relatively high number of vehicles 
checked  in  the  United  Kingdom  –  for  vehicles  registered  in  Portugal,  Spain,  Ireland,  Italy, 
Belgium, the Czech Republic, Poland and France. 

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Table 6: Vehicles checked by the United Kingdom 

State of 
registration 

Checked 
vehicles 

Non-compli
ant vehicles

Belgium 

Czech Republic 

Denmark 

Germany 

Estonia 

Greece 

Spain 

France 

Ireland 

Italy 

Cyprus 

Latvia 

Lithuania 

Luxembourg 

Hungary 

Malta 

Netherlands 

Austria 

Poland 

Portugal 

Slovenia 

Slovakia 

Finland 

Sweden 

699 

181 

60 

797 

26 

34 

476 

885 

3.480 

448 

2 

18 

87 

75 

134 

6 

1.750 

172 

397 

193 

51 

65 

0 

17 

521 

128 

23 

324 

16 

29 

405 

446 

2.894 

355 

2 

11 

59 

32 

51 

6 

891 

70 

258 

172 

30 

40 

n.a. 

11 

United Kingdom 

Total EU 
n.a.: not applicable 

211.822 

221.875 

75.151 

81.925 

6. 

TYPES OF PENALTIES 

Ratio non-
compliant 
vehicles/ 
checked 
vehicles 
74,5 % 

70,7 % 

38,3 % 

40,7 % 

61,5 % 

85,3 % 

85,1 % 

50,4 % 

83,2 

79,2 % 

100.0 % 

61,1 % 

67,8 % 

42,7 % 

38,1 % 

100.0 % 

50,9 % 

40,7 % 

65,0 % 

89,1 % 

58,8 % 

61,5 % 

n.a. 

64,7 % 

35,5 % 

36,9 % 

Banned 
vehicles 

428 

105 

22 

287 

10 

24 

341 

398 

2.250 

301 

2 

10 

46 

29 

46 

6 

712 

64 

210 

132 

25 

33 

n.a. 

6 

58.229 

63.716 

Ratio 
banned 
vehicles/ 
checked 
vehicles 
61,2 % 

58,0 % 

36,7 % 

36,0 % 

38,5 % 

70,6 % 

71,6 % 

45,0 % 

64,7 % 

67,2 % 

100,0 % 

55,6 % 

52,9 % 

38,7 % 

34,3 % 

100,0 % 

40,7 % 

37,2 % 

52,9 % 

68,4 % 

49,0 % 

50,8 % 

n.a. % 

35,3 % 

27,5 % 

28,7 % 

The Directive does not lay down a system of penalties for violations discovered. Penalties are 
laid down by the Member States without discrimination on grounds of the nationality of the 
driver or of the country of registration or entry into service of the commercial vehicle. 

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Directive 2000/30/EC empowers the authority or inspector carrying out the technical roadside 
inspection  to  prohibit  the  use  of  a  vehicle  until  the  dangerous  deficiencies  discovered  have 
been  rectified  if  it  becomes  clear  that  a  commercial  vehicle  presents  a  serious  risk  to  its 
occupants or other road users. 

Any  serious  deficiencies  found  in  a  commercial  vehicle  belonging  to  a  non-resident,  in 
particular those leading to the banning of its use, must be notified to the competent authorities 
of the Member State where it is registered. 

The competent authorities of the Member State where a serious deficiency has been found in a 
commercial  vehicle  belonging  to  a  non-resident  may  ask  the  competent  authorities  of  the 
Member State where it is registered to take appropriate measures with regard to the offender, 
for example subjecting the vehicle to a further roadworthiness inspection. 

7. 

CONCLUSIONS 

1. There is poor compliance by most Member States with the obligation to provide statistics 
and information under Directive 2000/30/EC: 

•  the data are not communicated by all the Member States; 

•  where  data  are  communicated,  this  is  not  done  in  proper  detail,  preventing 
adequate  evaluation  of  the  effectiveness  of  Community  policies  on  road  safety 
and environmental protection. 

The  Commission  is  initiating  infringement  procedures  for  failure  to  meet  the  obligations 
imposed  by  Directive 2000/30/EC  against  the  Member  States  that  have  not  or  have 
incompletely communicated the data required by the said Directive (Infringements 2007-2041 
to 2007-2045). 

2. The Directive lays down the model for individual roadworthiness reports. It appears from 
experience gained with this form that in its present shape it is not easy to use for electronic 
transmission of all the relevant statistical data to the Commission. As the Directive does not 
specify any  format for the transmission of statistical data, Member States communicate this 
information by very different methods, making it difficult to collate the results. 

It would be better if in future the data were communicated in a computer-processable format. 
It is necessary, therefore, to specify a common exchange format. On the basis of experience 
gained  in  this  first  exercise,  the  Commission  could  propose  a  common  format  for  the 
electronic transmission of statistical data to the Commission. 

Even  though  the  Directive  requires  the  transmission  of  data  with  a  particular  level  of  detail 
(vehicles classified by category and by country of registration, details of items checked and 
deficiencies  encountered  on  the  basis  of  Annex I  to  Directive 2000/30/EC),  the  requisite 
information  is  often  transmitted  in  a  highly  aggregate  form,  rendering  detailed  analysis 
impossible. 

The  Commission  could  consider  convening  the  Committee  on  the  adaptation  to  technical 
progress responsible for providing assistance in the implementation of Directive 2000/30/EC 
to find solutions to the difficulties encountered by the Member States in collecting, compiling 
and  transmitting  statistical  data  concerning  technical  roadside  inspections,  including  any 
amendments  to  the  specimen  technical  roadside  inspection  report  laid  down  in  Annex I  to 
Directive 2000/30/EC.  The  major  variations  in  non-compliance  levels  noted  between  the 

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Member  States  are  inexplicable  from  the  analysis  of  the  information  transmitted.  An 
explanation will be sought in consultation with the Member States. 

3. Many Member States mainly check vehicles registered in their territory. The proportion of 
vehicles  not  registered  in  their  territory  in  relation  to  all  vehicles  checked  by  the  Member 
States varies greatly (see Table 2). The attention of the Member States should be drawn to the 
fact that verification of vehicles not registered in their territory helps to spread best practice. 
Consequently, this proportion ought to be as high as possible in relation to road traffic flows. 

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