Council Directive No 92/53/EEC of 18 June 1992 amending Directive 70/156/EEC on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the type-approval of motor vehicles and their trailers

• Published date: 10 August 1992
• Official Gazette Publication: Official Journal of the European Communities, L 225, 10 August 1992

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►B COUNCIL DIRECTIVE No 92/53/EEC

of 18 June 1992

amending Directive 70/156/EEC on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to

the type-approval of motor vehicles and their trailers

(OJ L 225, 10.8.1992, p. 1)

Corrected by:

►C1 Corrigendum, OJ L 145, 15.5.1998, p. 63 (92/53/EEC)

▼B

COUNCIL DIRECTIVE No 92/53/EEC

of 18 June 1992

amending Directive 70/156/EEC on the approximation of the laws of

the Member States relating to the type-approval of motor vehicles

and their trailers

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic

Community, and in particular Article 100a thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (1),

In cooperation with the European Parliament (2),

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee (3),

Whereas it is important to adopt measures with the aim of progressively

establishing the internal market over a period expiring on 31 December

1992; whereas the internal market shall comprise an area without

internal frontiers in which the free movement of goods, persons, services

and capital is ensured;

Whereas Directive 70/156/EEC (4) laid down the Community type-

approval procedure for vehicles, components and separate technical

units built in compliance with the technical requirements set out in

separate Directives and also the complete list of vehicle systems,

components and separate technical units covered by these Directives;

Whereas in the interest of the establishment and operation of the internal

market of the Community it appears appropriate to replace the existing

type-approval systems of the Member States by the Community type-

approval procedure;

Whereas, in order that the said type-approval procedure may achieve its

objective in the most effective manner it appears necessary to make its

administrative provisions more precise and comprehensive; whereas this

implies, inter alia, that these provisions allow for the type-approval of a

whole vehicle to be established by compilation of approvals of its

constituent systems, components and separate technical units, if the

manufacturer so desires, and in the case of vehicles built in several

stages involving several manufacturers, by compilation of the approvals

of the different stages of completion;

Whereas a vehicle may comply with the provisions of this Directive but

nevertheless have certain features which demonstrably present a

potential risk for road safety; whereas it is therefore desirable to allow

the Member States to refuse to approve such vehicle types as well as to

prohibit the sale and entry into service and refuse registration of the said

vehicles; whereas for the latter case appropriate conditions are

established;

Whereas the mandatory nature of the Community type-approval

procedure makes it necessary to allow for exemptions and lay down

alternative procedures for vehicles either designed for special purposes

or built in small series or incorporating new technologies not yet

covered by the provisions of the separate Directives;

Whereas in order to facilitate the access to the markets of countries

outside the Community it appears appropriate to allow, under certain

conditions, for the acceptance of system, component and separate

technical unit approvals based on equivalent international and third-

country regulations; whereas equivalence of such regulations is to be

established in application of the relevant provisions of the Treaty;

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(1) OJ No C 301, 21. 11. 1991, p. 1.

(2) OJ No C 67, 16. 3. 1992, p. 44 and OJ No 176, 13. 7. 1992.

(3) OJ No C 79, 30. 3. 1992, p. 4.

(4) OJ No L 42, 23. 2. 1970, p. 1. Last amended by Directive 87/403/EEC (OJ No

L 220, 8. 8. 1987, p. 44).

▼B

Whereas in order to ensure the necessary transparancy of the

Community type-approval procedures it is necessary to lay down

provisions according to which the Member States shall notify each other

and the Commission of their approval authorities and technical services

as well as provisions on the quality criteria with which the latter have to

comply;

Whereas since the Annexes to the present Directive are complete only

for vehicles of category M1, the Directive applies only to the type-

approval of such vehicles; whereas it appears advisable that pending the

completion of the Annexes by provisions relating to vehicles of all other

categories, Member States should be allowed to continue to operate their

national approval systems in relation to such vehicles in accordance with

Article 10 of Directive 70/156/EEC;

Whereas, in order to allow for an adequate transition, both from the

technical and administrative points of view, from the present optional

regime of Community requirements to the mandatory type-approval

procedure established by the present Directive, it appears appropriate to

leave the manufacturers the option between the application of the

procedure of the present Directive and that provided for in Article 10 of

Directive 70/156/EEC for a period of three years; whereas approvals

granted in application of the latter procedure should remain valid until

31 December 1997;

Whereas the aforementioned transitional provisions are not intended to

allow the Member States to derogate from the provisions of separate

Directives which are based on total harmonization,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:

Article 1

Directive 70/156/EEC is hereby amended as follows:

1. Articles 1 to 16 are replaced by the following Articles:

‘Article 1

Scope

This Directive applies to the type-approval of motor vehicles and

their trailers built in one or more stages, of systems, components and

separate technical units intended for use on such vehicles and trailers.

It does not apply to:

— the approval of single vehicles except that Member States

granting such approvals shall accept any valid system, compo-

nent, separate technical unit or incomplete vehicle approval

granted under this Directive instead of the relevant national

requirement,

►C1 — “quadricycles” within the meaning of Article 1(3) of

Council Directive 92/61/EEC relating to the type-approval of

two- or three-wheel motor vehicles (*).

(*) OJ L 225, 10.8.1992, p. 72. ◄

Article 2

Definitions

For the purpose of this Directive:

—type-approval means the procedure whereby a Member State

certifies that a type of vehicle, system, component or separate

technical unit satisfies the relevant technical requirements of this

Directive or a separate Directive contained in the exhaustive list

set out in Annex IV or XI,

—multi-stage type-approval means the procedure whereby one or

more Member States certify that, depending on the state of

completion, an incomplete or completed vehicle type satisfies the

relevant technical requirements of this Directive,

—vehicle means any motor vehicle intended for use on the road,

being complete or incomplete, having at least four wheels and a

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