Proposal for a REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL amending Regulation (EU) No 168/2013 as regards specific measures on L-category end-of-series vehicles in response to the COVID-19 outbreak
Date: 2020-09-07
Institutions: Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, European Commission
Subjects: European standard, approval, cycle and motorcycle industry, environmental standard, epidemic, infectious disease, market approval, technical standard, two-wheeled vehicle

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   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 7.9.2020  COM(2020) 491 final 2020/0251 (COD)  Proposal for a REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL amending Regulation (EU) No 168/2013 as regards specific measures on L-category end-of-series vehicles in response to the COVID-19 outbreak (Text with EEA relevance)  
 
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

1. 

• 

CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL 

Reasons for and objectives of the proposal 

The  COVID-19  pandemic  is  causing  major  disruption  which  is  impacting  the  motorcycle 
industry  in  the  form  of  multiple  shocks  with  on  the  one  hand  immediate  disruption  of 
production  sites  and  of  international  value  chains  and  on  the  other  hand  a  sizeable  drop  in 
demand  and  increase  of  vehicles  in  stock.  This  has  affected  manufacturers’  ability  to  meet 
some of the deadlines imposed by Regulation (EU) No 168/2013 of the European Parliament 
and of the Council of 15 January 2013. 

According  to  that  Regulation,  the  pollutant  emissions  Euro  5  step  will  apply  on  1  January 
2021, which means that as of that date only vehicles meeting the Euro 5 requirements can be 
placed on the Union market.  

However,  due  to  the  COVID-19  outbreak,  motorcycles  sales  have  been  highly  impacted. 
Usually, up to 60% of sales take place between March and July. Because of Member States 
authorities’  lockdowns,  sales  could  not  take  place  during  the  peak  season.  According  to 
industry sources, it is estimated that around 553.700 Euro 4 vehicles were in stock in March 
2020. During the lockdowns, sales went down by 98% and remained sluggish since then. It is 
therefore likely that not all Euro 4 vehicles currently in stock will be sold by the end of the 
year. 

If  Regulation  (EU)  168/2013  provides  for  the  possibility  for  manufacturers  to  sell  so-called 
end-of series vehicles (i.e. ‘old stock’ vehicles that do not meet the latest requirements), this is 
limited in each Member State to maximum 10% of the average number of vehicles sold the 
two preceding years or 100 vehicles. The number of vehicles that can be registered as end-of-
series is at the discretion of the Member States. 

In  the  light  of  this  disruption  and  given  the  number  of  vehicles  in  stock  and  the  almost 
complete stop of sales at the peak of the 2020 season, the existing provisions on end-of-series 
do  not  constitute  an  appropriate  mechanism  to  address  this  situation.  The  end-of-series 
provisions should therefore be adapted to allow dealers to sell higher amounts of their stock of 
Euro 4 vehicles in 2021 only.  

This proposal will not increase pollutant emissions as the flexibility will be limited to already 
produced  vehicles  at  the  time  of  the  lockdown.  In  addition,  it  also  avoids  the  need  to 
unnecessarily scrap vehicles that would have been otherwise placed on the market in absence 
of the crisis.   This proposal will not postpone the entry into force of the Euro 5 step for all 
newly produced vehicles on 1 January 2021. 

2. 

• 

LEGAL BASIS, SUBSIDIARITY AND PROPORTIONALITY 

Legal basis 

Article 114 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union 

• 

Subsidiarity (for non-exclusive competence)  

The  subsidiarity  principle  applies  since  the  proposal  does  not  fall  under  the  exclusive 
competence of the Union. 

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As the proposal involves amendments to existing EU legislation, only the EU can effectively 
address  the  issues.  Furthermore,  the  policy  objectives  cannot  be  sufficiently  achieved  by 
actions of the Member States. 

In order to allow for an EU vehicle type approval system, the technical requirements for the 
type-approval  of  motor  vehicles  with  regard  to  safety  and  environmental  elements  must  be 
harmonised  at  Union  level.  Action  by  Member  States  alone  would  undermine  the  whole 
vehicle  type-approval  system.  European  Union  action  is  necessary  because  of  the  need  to 
avoid the emergence of barriers to the single market. 

The proposal therefore complies with the subsidiarity principle. 

• 

Proportionality 

The proposal complies with the proportionality principle because it does not go beyond what 
is  necessary  in  order  to  achieve  the  objectives  of  ensuring  the  proper  functioning  of  the 
internal  market  while  at  the  same  time  providing  for  a  high  level  of  public  safety  and 
environmental protection. 

• 

Choice of the instrument 

Regulation amending a Regulation 

3. 

RESULTS 
CONSULTATIONS AND IMPACT ASSESSMENTS 

EX-POST 

EVALUATIONS, 

OF 

STAKEHOLDER 

This proposal is not accompanied by a separate impact assessment, as an impact assessment 
for Regulation (EU) No 168/2013 has already been undertaken. This proposal does not alter 
that Regulation on substance and does not impose new obligations on the concerned parties. It 
primarily aims at providing, for exceptional reasons in the context of the current COVID-19 
outbreak, special end-of-series provisions applicable for the sole year 2021. 

4. 

BUDGETARY IMPLICATIONS 

The proposal does not have a budgetary impact for the EU institutions.  

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2020/0251 (COD) 

Proposal for a 

REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL 

amending Regulation (EU) No 168/2013 as regards specific measures on L-category end-
of-series vehicles in response to the COVID-19 outbreak 

(Text with EEA relevance) 

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

Having  regard  to  the  Treaty  on  the  Functioning  of  the  European  Union,  and  in  particular 
Article 114 thereof, 

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission, 

After transmission of the draft legislative act to the national parliaments, 
After consulting the European Economic and Social Committee1, 

Acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure, 

Whereas: 

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

(4) 

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2 

The COVID-19 outbreak has caused a disruption of the supply chain of critical parts 
and  components  for  L-category  vehicles  and  a  sizeable  drop  in  demand  for  those 
vehicles,  which  has  led  to  important  delays  for  manufacturers  to  clear  their  stock  of 
Euro 4 vehicles that, according to Annex IV to  Regulation  (EU) No 168/2013 of the 
European Parliament and of the Council2, need to be registered before the application 
of the environmental Euro 5 step on 1 January 2021. 

The  end-of-series  provisions  set  out  in  Regulation  (EU)  No 168/2013  allow 
manufacturers  to  continue  to    make  available  on  the  market,  register  or  enter  into 
service  a  limited  part  of  a  stock  of  L-category  vehicles  which  cannot  be  made 
available on the market or can no longer be made available on the market, owing to the 
entry into force of new technical requirements against which those vehicles have not 
been approved. 

Considering the disruption caused by the COVID-19 outbreak, it is apparent that the 
provisions  on  end-of-series  in  Regulation  (EU)  No 168/2013  do  not  constitute  an 
appropriate  mechanism  to  address  the  amount  of  Euro  4  L-category  vehicles  that 
manufacturers will have in stock following the application of the environmental Euro 
5 step. 

Given the exceptional circumstances caused by the COVID-19 outbreak and to avoid 
potential  market  disruption,  it  is  necessary  to  amend  the  rules  on  end-of-series  of 
Regulation (EU) No 168/2013. 

OJ C , , p. . 
Regulation (EU) No 168/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 January 2013 on the 
approval and market surveillance of two- or three-wheel vehicles and quadricycles (OJ L 060, 2.3.2013, 
p. 52). 

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(5) 

(6) 

In order to ensure that the application of these measures is  restricted to vehicles that 
were  in  stock  at  the  moment  of  the  national  lockdowns,  the  amount  of  vehicles 
benefiting from these specific end-of-series measures should not exceed the number of 
Euro 4 L-category vehicles that were in stock on 15 March 2020. 

In  view  of  the  urgency  entailed  by  the  exceptional  circumstances  caused  by  the 
COVID-19 outbreak, it was considered to be appropriate to provide for an exception to 
the eight-week period referred to in Article 4 of Protocol No 1 on the role of national 
Parliaments  in  the  European  Union,  annexed  to  the  TEU,  to  the  Treaty  on  the 
Functioning  of  the  European  Union  and  to  the  Treaty  establishing  the  European 
Atomic Energy Community. 

(7) 

Given that these measures are urgently needed, this Regulation should enter into force 
on  the  day  following  that  of  its  publication  in  the  Official  Journal  of  the  European 
Union. 

(8) 

Regulation (EU) No 168/2013 should therefore be amended accordingly, 

HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: 

In Regulation (EU) No 168/2013, the following Article 44a is inserted: 

Article 1 

‘Article 44a 

Specific measures on end-of-series vehicles in response to the outbreak of COVID-19 

By way of derogation from Article 44, vehicles conforming to a type of vehicle the EU 
1. 
type-approval  of  which  has  become  invalid  on  1  January  2021  pursuant  to  Article  37(2), 
point (a), may be made available on the market, registered or entered into service as end-of-
series vehicles until 31 December 2021, subject to paragraphs 2, 3 and 4 of this Article. 

The  number  of  end-of-series  vehicles  referred  to  in  paragraph 1  shall  not  exceed  the 
2. 
number of vehicles with an EU type-approval that became invalid on 1 January 2021 pursuant 
to Article 37(2), point (a), and that were in stock on 15 March 2020.  

3.  A  manufacturer  who  wishes  to  benefit  from  the  derogation  referred  to  in  paragraph 1 
shall submit a request  to  the national  authority of each Member State where the vehicles in 
question are to be made available on the market, registered or entered into service, indicating 
the  number  of  end-of-series  vehicles  for  which  the  derogation  referred  to  in  paragraph 1  is 
requested. 

The  national  authority  concerned  shall  decide,  within  a  month  of  receiving  the  request, 
whether  to  permit  the  registration  of  those  end-of-series  vehicles  within  its  territory  and  in 
what number. 

4. 
The  manufacturer  shall  make  a  special  entry  on  the  certificate  of  conformity  of  the 
vehicles  put  into  service  under  paragraph  1,  qualifying  those  vehicles  as  ‘2021  -  end-of-
series’. 

5. Member States shall inform the Commission on the number of vehicles for which end-of-
series status has been granted under this Article by no later than 1 July 2021.’. 

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This  Regulation  shall  enter  into  force  on  the  day  following  that  of  its  publication  in  the 
Official Journal of the European Union. 

Article 2 

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States. 

Done at Brussels, 

For the European Parliament 
The President 

For the Council 
The President 

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