The Motor Vehicles (EC Type Approval) (Amendment) Regulations 2008

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations implement, for the purposes of the EC type approval of light passenger vehicles, three EC Directives and two EC Regulations. Commission Directive 2007/34/EC (OJ No. L155, 15.6.2007, p.49) aligns the technical requirements relating to noise with those applicable under regulation 51 of the type approval system established by the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). Commission Directive 2007/35/EC (OJ No. L157, 19.6.2007, p.14) aligns the technical requirements concerning lighting and light signalling devices with those applicable under UNECE regulation 48. Directive 2007/37/EC amends Directive 70/156/EEC (OJ No. L 42, 23.2.1970, p. 1), the Framework Directive for the EC type approval system, to update the information documents required, following the publication of Directive 2006/40/EC (OJ No. L161, 14.6.2006, p.12) on air conditioning. Regulation (EC) 706/2007 (OJ No. L161, 22.6.2007, p.33) lays down the administrative provisions for the implementation of that Directive, and a harmonised leakage test to measure compliance of air conditioning systems with its requirements. Regulation (EC) No. 715/2007 makes various provisions on emissions and access to repair and maintenance information; in particular, it provides for the emission limits, dates of application and other requirements for the “Euro 5” and “Euro 6 ” emissions programmes, and will repeal earlier EC instruments concerning emissions.

To those ends, these Regulations amend the Motor Vehicles (EC Type Approval) Regulations 1998 (“the principal Regulations”), which set out the procedure and technical requirements for the type approval of “light passenger vehicles”, within the meaning of Part II of the Road Traffic Act 1988 (1988 c. 52; see section 85(1) of that Act, as amended by S.I. 1992/3107, regulation 16 and Schedule 2, paragraph 5. There are other amendments to that Act, not relevant to these Regulations). Generally speaking, these are passenger vehicles with fewer than 8 seats not including the driver’s seat, regardless of their maximum laden weight.

Regulation 2 substitutes a new definition of “the Framework Directive” in regulation 3(1) of the principal Regulations, to implement all the amendments made to the Framework Directive up until Regulation (EC) No 715/2007. These include the amendments made by Directive 2007/37/EC. In addition, some Community instruments have made provisions which, although they do not textually amend the Framework Directive, have an effect on its interpretation; one of them was Article 10 of Directive 2005/55/EC, which provides for references to earlier instruments to be read as a reference to that latter Directive. Regulation 2 makes provision for such provisions to have effect.

In addition to separate Directives, Community Regulations are now used to specify the separate technical requirements and their dates of application. Regulation 3 accordingly updates the principal Regulations.

The table in Schedule 1 to the principal Regulations lists separate Community instruments under the Framework Directive, which specify technical requirements, and their dates of application, for vehicle components or features of construction. By inserting references to the four Community instruments referred to above that are separate Community instruments or modify some of these (which do not include Directive 2007/37/EC) at the appropriate places in that table, regulation 4(2) to (6) require a type of light passenger vehicle to comply with the requirements of those instruments in order to receive EC type approval. In addition, regulation 4(7) will implement the repeal of a number of instruments by Article 17(1) of Regulation (EC) No 715/2007. However, in accordance with Article 17(4), this repeal will only take place from 2nd January 2013: see regulation 1(3).

In line with the principal Regulations, the use of the symbol † denotes that the instrument specified was made by the European Parliament and the Council, while the use of the symbol * denotes that it was made by the Commission.

Full impact assessments of the effect that the implementation of Directive 2007/34/EC and Regulation (EC) No 715/2007 will have on the costs of business or the voluntary sector are available from Mohammed Farooq, of the Vehicle Certification Agency of the Department for Transport, 1 Eastgate Office Centre, Eastgate Road, Bristol BS5 6XX (Tel: [phone], e-mail: [e-mail]), and are annexed to the Explanatory Memorandum available alongside the instrument on the OPSI website (www.opsi.gov.uk). Impact assessments have not been produced in respect of the transposition of Directives 2007/35/EC and 2007/37/EC and Regulation (EC) 706/2007 as no impact on the private or voluntary sectors from these instruments is foreseen.

Except with respect to Regulation (EC) No 715/2007, this Explanatory Note incorporates the Transposition Note that would otherwise be required. The Transposition Note in respect of Regulation (EC) No 715/2007 is available from the same sources as the impact assessments referred to in the previous paragraph.