Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/68Show full title

Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/68

of 15 October 2014

supplementing Regulation (EU) No 167/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to vehicle braking requirements for the approval of agricultural and forestry vehicles

(Text with EEA relevance)

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to Regulation (EU) No 167/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 February 2013 on the approval and market surveillance of agricultural and forestry vehicles(1), and in particular Article 17(5),

Whereas:

(1) The internal market comprises an area without internal frontiers in which the free movement of goods, persons, services and capital is ensured. To that end, a comprehensive EU type-approval system and a strengthened market surveillance system for agricultural and forestry vehicles and their systems, components and separate technical units as defined by Regulation (EU) No 167/2013 apply.

(2) The term ‘agricultural and forestry vehicles’ covers a wide range of different vehicle types with one or more axles and two, four or more wheels or track-laying vehicles, e.g. wheeled tractors, track-laying tractors, trailers and towed equipment, used for a wide variety of agricultural and forestry purposes, including special purpose works.

(3) While the requirements of this Regulation are based on existing legislation last amended in 1997, technical progress requires in particular the adaptation of the test rules in detail, as well as the introduction of specific provisions for energy reservoirs, vehicles with hydrostatic drive, vehicles with inertia braking systems, vehicles with complex electronic control systems, anti-lock braking systems and electronically controlled braking systems.

(4) This Regulation also includes stricter requirements on brake control of towed vehicles and brake coupling between the tractor and towed vehicles than Council Directive 76/432/EEC(2), repealed by Regulation (EU) No 167/2013.

(5) By Council Decision 97/836/EC(3), the Union acceded to United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Regulation No 13. The substantive requirements laid down in Annex 18 to that Regulation on safety aspects of complex electronic vehicle control systems should be taken over into this Regulation, as they reflect the latest state of technology.

(6) While anti-lock braking systems are wide-spread for vehicles with a maximum design speed of above 60 km/h and could thus be considered as appropriate and made compulsory as of its application by this Regulation, such systems are not yet widely available for vehicles with a design speed between 40 km/h and 60 km/h. For those vehicles, the introduction of anti-lock braking systems should thus be confirmed after a final assessment by the Commission of the availability of such systems. To this effect, the Commission should assess, at the latest by 31 December 2016, the availability of anti-lock braking systems for agricultural and forestry vehicles with a maximum design speed between 40 km/h and 60 km/h. Should this assessment not confirm that such technology is available or applicable, the Commission should amend this Regulation in order to provide that these requirements will not become applicable to vehicles with a design speed between 40 km/h and 60 km/h.

(7) Where manufacturers may choose to apply for national type approval in accordance with Article 2 of Regulation (EU) No 167/2013, Member States should, for all subjects covered in this Regulation be free to set requirements for the purposes of national type approval which are different from the requirements of this Regulation. Member States should not, for the purposes of national type-approval, refuse, on ground relating to the functional safety with respect to braking performance, to approve vehicles, systems, components and separate technical units which are compliant with the requirements provided for in this Regulation, with the exception of requirements applying to hydraulic connections of the single-line type. This Regulation should introduce harmonised requirements for hydraulic connections of the single-line type under which such connections could be accepted for the purposes of EU-type approval for a limited period of time. However, as some Member States used to have stricter requirements at national level, Member States should be allowed to refuse granting national type-approvals to vehicle types equipped with hydraulic connections of the single-line type already as from the application date of this Regulation, if they consider this to be in line with their safety requirements at national level.

(8) In order to allow for a harmonised application date of all new type-approval rules, this Regulation should apply from the same date of application as Regulation (EU) No 167/2013,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

(1)

OJ L 60, 2.3.2013, p. 1.

(2)

Council Directive 76/432/EEC of 6 April 1976 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the braking devices of wheeled agricultural or forestry tractors (OJ L 122, 8.5.1976, p. 1).

(3)

Council Decision 97/836/EC of 27 November 1997 with a view to accession by the European Community to the Agreement of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe concerning the adoption of uniform technical prescriptions for wheeled vehicles, equipment and parts which can be fitted to and/or be used on wheeled vehicles and the conditions for reciprocal recognition of approvals granted on the basis of these prescriptions (Revised 1958 Agreement) (OJ L 346, 17.12.1997, p. 78).