Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/195 of 11 February 2022 amending and correcting Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/683 as regards the information document, the vehicle approval certificates, the test result sheet and the certificates of conformity in paper format (Text with EEA relevance)

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

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

Having regard to Regulation (EU) 2018/858 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2018 on the approval and market surveillance of motor vehicles and their trailers, and of systems, components and separate technical units intended for such vehicles, amending Regulations (EC) No 715/2007 and (EC) No 595/2009 and repealing Directive 2007/46/EC⁽¹⁾, and in particular Articles 24(4), 28(3) and 36(4) thereof,

Whereas:

1. Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/683⁽²⁾ provides for a standardised format of the documents used for type-approval of motor vehicles and their trailers, and of systems, components and separate technical units intended for such vehicles by laying down the templates for the information document, approval certificates, the test result sheet and the certificate of conformity in paper format.

2. Since 1 January 2021, compliance with the CO2 emission targets is determined on the basis of Worldwide harmonised Light-duty vehicles Test Procedures (WLTP) CO2 emissions only. It is therefore necessary to amend the templates for the information document, the test result sheet and the certificate of conformity in paper format by removing references to the New European Driving Cycle.

3. With the entry into force of Commission Regulation (EU) 2017/2400⁽³⁾, new entries for CO2 emissions and fuel consumption of heavy- duty vehicles, such as heavy buses and medium lorries as well as individually approved heavy-duty vehicles, were added to the certificates of conformity of heavy-duty lorries. It is therefore necessary to add the relevant entries to the templates for the certificate of conformity in paper format of the corresponding vehicle categories as well as to the EU and national individual vehicle approval certificate.

4. Taking into account the diversity of heavy-duty vehicles in terms of their design and driving pattern, annual mileage, payload and trailer configuration, Regulation (EU) 2017/2400 and Regulation (EU) 2019/1242 of the European Parliament and of the Council⁽⁴⁾ have introduced a classification of vehicle groups and sub-groups that reflect the vehicles’ typical usage pattern and specific technical characteristics. In order to accommodate also national CO2 abating initiatives and to have a correct interpretation of the CO2 emissions and fuel consumption, it is essential to know to which vehicle group or sub-group a vehicle belongs. It is therefore necessary to add the relevant vehicle group or sub-group to the templates for the certificate of conformity in paper format as well as to the EU individual vehicle approval certificate.

5. Taking into account the increasing deployment in the Union of plug-in hybrids (OVC-HEVs), it is important to ensure that national authorities and consumers are provided with harmonised and coherent information on their environmental performance. Consequently, it is appropriate to clarify that in the case of OVC-HEVs, the values to be reported in the certificate of conformity are the phase specific CO2 emissions and fuel consumption values using the CO2 mass emission and fuel consumption values for charge-sustaining conditions as well as the phase specific electric energy consumption of such vehicles. It is therefore necessary to add the relevant entries to the templates for the certificate of conformity.

6. Following the publication of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/683, certain errors have been detected in the explanatory notes for the information document, the templates for approval certificates and the certificates of conformity in paper format. The errors detected in the explanatory notes for the information document and in the templates for approval certificates consist of incorrect references to certain explanatory notes. There are also errors in the unit referred to for the pressure in feed line for trailer braking system which should refer to kilopascal (kPa) and not bar.

7. As regards the certificates of conformity in paper format, some clarifications are made to accommodate in-service conformity testing. Additionally, it is necessary to update the reference to the test procedure applicable to complete and completed vehicles of vehicle category M3 and incomplete vehicles of vehicle category M2 since they currently make a reference to the test procedure applicable to light-duty vehicles and not to heavy-duty vehicles that is applicable to those categories of vehicles. It is necessary to clarify that the entry on the certificate of conformity in paper format regarding the height of the vehicle is only applicable to certain complete and completed vehicles of vehicle category N3. It is also necessary to specify that point 49 on the entries for ‘CO2 emissions/fuel consumption/electric energy consumption’ for vehicle category N2 is applicable to light passenger and commercial vehicles (Euro 5 and Euro 6) and to heavy-duty vehicles (Euro VI) and that point 49 of vehicle category N3 is not applicable to light passenger and commercial vehicles (Euro 5 and Euro 6) but only in case of heavy duty vehicles (Euro VI). An error in the numbering for the point on the entry for the ‘drive axle(s) fitted with air suspension or equivalent’ should be corrected to be in line with the numbering provided in the other parts of the Annexes to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/683. The explanatory note for entry 47.1.3.2 should be removed as this was an incorrect reference to a superscript and not a base script value part of the formula for that entry. For the sake of legal certainty, those errors need to be corrected.

8. Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/683 should therefore be amended and corrected accordingly.

9. In accordance with Article 3(5) of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/133⁽⁵⁾, the approval authorities, market surveillance authorities, registration authorities of the Member States and the manufacturers are allowed up to a period of 12 months after the publication date in the Official Journal of the European Union of the amendments to the certificate of conformity in paper format to implement any necessary amendments thereto in their respective systems. Therefore, the date of application of the amendments to the certificate of conformity in paper format should be deferred.

10. In order to provide approval authorities, market surveillance authorities and registration authorities of the Member States and the manufacturers with sufficient time to implement the corrections that are laid down in this Regulation, the date of application of Annex II should be deferred.

11. The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Technical Committee – Motor Vehicles,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: