THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
Having regard to Directive 2000/30/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 June 2000 on the technical roadside inspection of the roadworthiness of commercial vehicles circulating in the Community(1), and in particular the first paragraph of Article 8 thereof,
Whereas:
(1) In the interests of road safety, environmental protection and fair competition it is important to ensure that commercial vehicles in operation are properly maintained and inspected, in order to maintain their safe traffic performance when circulating within the European Union.
(2) Standards and methods laid down in Directive 2000/30/EC should be adapted in accordance with technical progress, resulting in improved technical roadside inspections in the European Union.
(3) With a view to minimising the costs and delays for drivers and operators, inspections should not exceed a reasonable length of time.
(4) To ensure the correlation between test results, defects and the specific characteristics of each vehicle inspected, a more detailed standardised inspection report as referred to in Article 5(1) should be issued.
(5) The technical requirements differ between vehicle categories as defined in the type-approval legislation(2). The inspection report should accordingly be amended to reflect these vehicle categories.
(6) In order to make vehicle identification more reliable, the inspection report should contain, in addition to the vehicle registration number, the vehicle identification number (VIN).
(7) In order to facilitate the recording of identified deficiencies by the inspectors, the inspection report should contain a complete list of items on its reverse side.
(8) In order to further improve roadside technical inspections in light of technical progress, inspection methods should be introduced in relation to each of the items listed in Annex II.
(9) In addition to the items related to safety, security and environmental protection, the inspection also needs to cover identification of the vehicle in order to ensure that the correct inspections and standards are applied, to enable the results of the inspection to be recorded and to enable enforcement of other legal requirements.
(10) The measures provided for in this Directive are in accordance with the opinion of the committee on the adaptation to technical progress of the Directive on roadworthiness tests for motor vehicles and their trailers instituted by Article 7 of Directive 2009/40/EC,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:
Annex II to Directive 2007/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 September 2007 establishing a framework for the approval of motor vehicles and their trailers, and of systems, components and separate technical units intended for such vehicles (OJ L 263, 9.10.2007, p. 1).