EU legislation on passenger car type approval and emissions standards

Brussels, eight December 2016

Frequently asked questions

Defeat devices are explicitly prohibited in EU legislation. Member States have a standing obligation to police and enforce the ban. Defeat devices were very first banned by Directive 98/Sixty nine/EC and later by the presently applicable Regulation (EC) No 715/2007 which sets the Euro five and Euro six emissions standards. The Regulation defines a defeat device as “any element of design which senses temperature, vehicle speed, engine speed (RPM), transmission gear, manifold vacuum or any other parameter for the purpose of activating, modulating, delaying or deactivating the operation of any part of the emission control system, that reduces the effectiveness of the emission control system under conditions which may reasonably be expected to be encountered in normal vehicle operation and use”. The use of such devices is exempted from the ban when it is necessary for the protection of the engine from severe harm and/or for safety related issues.

Two. How does the current type approval system work?

Type approval describes the process applied by national authorities to certify that a model of a vehicle meets all EU safety, environmental and conformity of production requirements before authorising it to be placed on the EU market.

The manufacturer makes available about a dozen or more pre-production cars that are equal to the final product. These prototypes are used to test compliance with EU environmental rules, such as noise levels and tailpipe emissions as well as EU safety rules, such as the installation of lights, braking spectacle, stability control and crash tests with dummies, in addition to various other safety requirements of individual parts, such as seats, head rests, safety belts and steering wheel airbags. If all relevant requirements are met, the national authority supplies an EU vehicle type approval to the manufacturer authorising the sale of the vehicle type in the EU. The system is based on the mutual recognition of approvals granted by Member States (certified once, accepted everywhere in the EU).

Every vehicle produced is then accompanied by a certificate of conformity, which is like the car’s birth certificate, in which the manufacturer certifies that the vehicle corresponds to the approved type. On the basis of this document, the vehicle can be registered anywhere in Europe.

Three. Who checks car manufacturers’ compliance?

• Type approval authorities (e.g. KBA in Germany, VCA in the United Kingdom, RDW in the Netherlands) are national public authorities in charge of approving vehicle types before they can be put on the EU market. The decision to approve a fresh vehicle type is based on compliance tests that are carried out by testing bods and laboratories (‘technical services’) that are specifically designated by the type approval authorities. In some cases the type approval authority has an in-house designated technical service (e.g. VCA in the United Kingdom and RDW in the Netherlands). In some Member States where neither the TAA nor the Technical Services (TS) has their own laboratories, the TAA can determine that the compliance checks are carried out at the vehicle manufacturer’s premises, under the control of TAA/TS representatives.
• Technical services (e.g. TUV, UTAC, IDIADA, etc.) are the test bods and laboratories that are specifically designated by the Member States’ type approval authorities to carry out the type approval tests in accordance with EU legislation. Most technical services are for-profit organisations and businesses. Most type approval authorities designate such outward technical services, but there are also type approval authorities that have them in-house (e.g. VCA in the United Kingdom, RDW in the Netherlands).
• Market surveillance authorities are national public authorities in charge of market surveillance. They check that the products already available on the market are safe and not harmful to the environment and that products requiring explicit approval before they are permitted on the market, are exactly the same as the samples suggested for initial testing and approval. These authorities are usually also in charge of general product safety (e.g. Consumer Rights Protection in Latvia or customs office in Italy).

Four. Can the Commission impose penalties if the rules regarding type approval are violated?

Under the current system, only the Member State that has type approved a vehicle can impose penalties for breach of the type approval procedure. The general obligation on Member States to make the penalties effective, proportionate and dissuasive complements the general civil and criminal law of Member States that may be applicable if allegations of fraud are confirmed.

More specifically, Article 30(1) of Directive 2007/46/EC states that if a Member State which has granted an EC type approval finds that fresh vehicles do not conform to the type it has approved, it should take the necessary measures, including, where necessary, the withdrawal of the type approval, to ensure that the production of vehicles is brought into conformity with the approved type. Article forty six of the same Directive requires Member States to determine the penalties and to take all necessary measures for their implementation. Under Article thirteen of Regulation (EC) 715/2007 Member States have to set out penalties applicable in case of breaches by manufacturers of the provisions of the said Regulation.

Five. Can consumers get compensation if car manufacturers have violated the rules?

The legal assessment of consumer compensation is always a matter for national courts, on a case-by-case basis.

In general, under the Consumer Sales and Assures Directive (Directive 1999/44/EC) the seller is liable for any lack of conformity with the sales contract that exists at the time the product was delivered. In the case of a car, if the seller repairs it by ensuring that the emissions are diminished to the correct level, then the overall spectacle of the car must remain in conformity with the contract. If this is not the case the consumer may ask for a price reduction or to get his/her money back. The Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (Directive 2005/29/EC) stipulates that traders may not provide consumers with misleading information likely to cause them to conclude transaction they would not have concluded otherwise, including in relation to the marketing of cars.

6. What is the Commission doing to strengthen the type-approval system?

On twenty seven January 2016, the Commission proposed a Regulation on the approval and market surveillance of motor vehicles to substitute the current Framework Directive.

This reform is intended to:

• Reinforce the independence and quality of testing before a car can be placed on the market: The majority of Member States designate technical services, which are paid directly by car manufacturers, for the testing and inspection of the vehicle’s compliance with EU type approval requirements. The Commission proposes to modify the remuneration system to avoid financial links inbetween technical services and manufacturers, which could lead to conflicts of interest and compromise the independence of testing. The proposal also foresees more stringent spectacle criteria for these technical services, which should be regularly and independently audited to obtain and maintain their designation. National technical services would be subject to peer reviews to ensure that the relevant rules are implemented and enforced rigorously across the EU.
• Introduce an effective market surveillance system to control the conformity of cars already on the market: The current type approval rules put more emphasis on ex-ante controls, with market surveillance being regulated in separate EU legislation. In the future, the Commission has proposed that Member States and the Commission would both carry out checks, on vehicles that have been made available on the market, in a coordinated manner, as part of the freshly proposed treatment for ex-post controls. This would make it lighter to detect non-compliance at an early stage, and ensures that instantaneous and sturdy remedial act is taken against vehicles that are found to be non-compliant and/or to present a serious safety risk or harm to the environment. Furthermore, all Member States would be able to take safeguard measures against non-compliant vehicles on their territory without waiting for the authority that issued the type approval to take activity. Member States would also have to review regularly the functioning of their market surveillance activities and make the results publicly available.
• Reinforce the type approval system with greater European oversight: In agreement with Member States, the Commission would have the power to suspend, restrict or withdraw the designation of technical services that are underperforming and too lax in applying the rules. In the future the Commission would be able to carry out ex-post verification testing (through its laboratories in the Joint Research Centre) and, if needed, initiate recalls. By permitting also the Commission to impose financial penalties, the proposal aims at deterring manufacturers and technical services from permitting non-compliant vehicles onto the market. The Commission would also chair an Enforcement Forum which would develop common compliance verification strategies with Member States.

For more information see the press release and the frequently asked questions about the proposal.

7. What has been done to tighten NOx emissions thresholds of diesel vehicles and improve the testing?

The Commission has significantly tightened the actual nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions thresholds for diesel vehicles (from five hundred mg/km in two thousand to eighty mg/km in 2014) and introduced more sturdy and realistic testing methods for measuring whether cars respect those NOx emissions boundaries on the road.

Presently, a diesel car is only required to pass a laboratory test to measure its air pollution emissions. But these emissions are on average 400% higher (sometimes more!) if measured in real driving conditions.

To correct the shortcoming, the Commission proposed, already before the revelations of the Volkswagen case, to measure emissions in real driving conditions. The RDE test procedure (RDE Act 1) was voted positively by the Member States in the Technical Committee of Motor Vehicles (TCMV) in May two thousand fifteen and entered into force in two thousand sixteen (OJ L 82, 31.Trio.2016). In the RDE procedure, pollutant emissions will be measured by portable emission measuring systems (PEMS) that will be fastened to the car while driving in real conditions on the road. This means that the car will be driven on outside public roads according to random variations of parameters such as acceleration, deceleration, ambient temperature, payloads, etc. As the driving conditions are real-time and unpredictable, this will permit tofurther tighten the screws as the tests will much better reflect actual emissions in real driving conditions and to a fine extent limit the risk of cheating with a defeat device.

8. Will the RDE testing be mandatory?

In the initial phase which commenced in early 2016, the RDE testing is only done for monitoring purposes, without an influence on the actual type approval which will proceed to be delivered on the basis of the laboratory measurements.

From one September 2017, the fresh RDE tests will be compulsory to determine whether a fresh car model is permitted to be put on the market. This goes after the RDE Act Two, which was necessary for the RDE tests to have an actual influence on type approvals issued by national authorities.

As the portable emissions measurement technology improves, we proceed tightening the screws. For manufacturers, this means they need to anticipate and already embark designing vehicles for total compliance with the legal emissions limit when measured in real driving conditions.

9. How will RDE tests be further strengthened?

To proceed tightening NOx emissions from next vehicle generation, the Commission has recently proposed a fresh regulatory act – RDE Act three which will further tighten and fine-tune the testing provisions. The proposal is scheduled to be introduced and voted at the meeting of the Technical Committee of Motor Vehicles on twenty December 2016.

The Commission proposes to extend RDE testing to cover particle number (PN) emissions. Emission of particles used to be an issue linked only to diesel engines, clearly visible in the soot of diesel harass fumes. Emitted particles have however become smaller and smaller and ‘invisible’ to the eye. Such puny but still cancerous particles identically exist for common diesel cars as well as for petrol cars with direct injection technology. Albeit the Commission does not prescribe the technology to be used by car manufacturers to meet the boundaries, in practice, petrol direct injection vehicles which would not be able to reach the particle thresholds in real driving tests will have to introduce Gasoline Particle Filters (GPF). GPF is a very effective means of limiting particles, very similar to the Diesel Particle Filters, which were already introduced on modern diesel vehicles.

Under RDE Act Three, the Commission will also fine-tune the testing methods to take into account that brief city trips commencing with a cold engine generate the most city pollution.

It also plans to mandate that the real-world emission spectacle of a car is clearly stated by the manufacturer in the certificate of conformity of each vehicle, i.e. that it is see-through and available for all citizens.

Moreover, the Commission plans to include further provisions on checks for cars already in circulation as well as on strengthening the independence of testing in the RDE Act four proposal that should go after in 2017.

Ten. What about CO2 emissions testing?

The Commission has also introduced a fresh, more realistic, test procedure for measuring CO2 emissions and fuel consumption of cars and vans, by introducing the fresh World Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure (WLTP). The WLTP is a globally harmonised test procedure developed within the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) with the support of the EU Commission.

The current old laboratory test procedure, still called the Fresh European Drive Cycle (NEDC), no longer reflects today’s driving conditions or vehicle technologies. It has also become evident that flexibilities in the NEDC type approval procedure are exploited to artificially reduce the CO2 emissions during the test even more. These are the two most significant causes for the enlargening divergence seen today inbetween real world and laboratory emission values.

On fourteen June 2016, the Technical Committee of Motor Vehicles voted in favour of the Commission’s draft proposal to make the fresh WLTP test mandatory for all fresh vehicle types from September two thousand seventeen and for all fresh vehicles from September 2018. The WLTP will provide stricter test conditions and more realistic CO2/fuel consumption values to the benefit of consumers and regulators both at EU and national levels. It will be a strong incentive for the deployment of low-carbon mobility technologies.

The future CO2 emission standards can now be defined on the basis of the WLTP, with the expectation that the fresh test procedure will suggest a more sturdy basis for defining the reductions expected and for ensuring that they will actually be delivered.

11. What else is the Commission doing to improve Air Quality?

EU rules do not only limit emissions by cars but also establish objectives for air quality which are permanently monitored and enforced. The Commission adopted a Clean Air Policy Package in December 2013, consisting of:

• fresh air quality objectives for the period up to 2030;
• a revised National Emission Ceilings Directive with stricter national emission ceilings for the six main pollutants (Sulphur dioxide (SO2), NOx, non-methane Volatile Organic Compounds VOCs, NH3, Particulate Matter (PM2.Five) and methane (CH4);
• a proposal for a fresh Directive to reduce pollution from medium-sized combustion installations.

The local air quality thresholds which may not be exceeded are set under the Ambient Air Quality Directives.

The Directives address three main pollutants, particulate matter (PM10) originating from emissions from industry, traffic and domestic heating, sulphur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2). Infringement procedures in this area are about the exceedances of the limit values which are measured at the monitoring stations in each Member State and adequate measures to conform with these limit values. Member States are required to adopt and implement air quality plans that set adequate measures so that the exceedance period of these harmful pollutants can be kept as brief as possible.

On thirty June 2016, the European Parliament and the Council reached a provisional very first reading agreement on the proposed revision of the National Emission Ceilings Directive. The agreement reached will cut the annual 400.000 premature deaths caused by air pollution in the EU by about half by 2030.

The final agreement sets stricter emission reduction commitments for the periods from two thousand twenty to 2029, and from two thousand thirty onwards for five significant pollutants: sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, volatile organic compounds, fine particles, and ammonia. Contrary to the Commission’s original proposal, methane has not been maintained in the final agreement.

The agreement will increase the involvement of local and regional authorities in designing and implementing national air pollution policy, thus enabling citizens to have a say on an issue as significant for their health as air pollution.

The revised NEC Directive will also reinforce the role of Member States in ensuring that EU emission control legislation produces the intended emission reductions by active monitoring and reporting of any discrepancies inbetween real-world emissions and test emissions to avoid future cases where real emissions overshoot many times the legal requirements. The Commission will work to support all Member States on solid implementation, also involving the local and regional authorities, to produce on the benefits from today until 2030.

Air quality is also one of the objectives of the Clean Power for Transport Package, adopted in 2013, which promotes the market of alternative-fuel vehicles in order to reduce transport’s oil dependence and, at the same time, transport’s environmental influence. This package includes the directive 2014/94/EU which mandates Members States to deploy infrastructures for alternative-fuel vehicles, such as electrified vehicles recharging points and natural gas and hydrogen refuelling stations. Additionally, the European Commission adopted the Urban Mobility Package in two thousand thirteen which encourages cities to set up Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans, particularly to reduce traffic congestion and improve the air quality in urban areas.

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