In the interests of road-safety, environmental protection and fair competition it is important to ensure that vehicles in operation are properly maintained and tested, in order to maintain their performance as guaranteed by type-approval, without excessive degradation, throughout their life-time.

Standards and methods, as referred to in Art. 6 (1) of Directive 2009/40/EC, should be further defined and adapted to reflect technical progress, in order to improve motor vehicle roadworthiness testing in the European Union in a cost-effective manner.

The current state of vehicle technology requires modern electronic systems to be included in the list of items to be tested.

In order to achieve further harmonisation of roadworthiness testing, testing methods should be introduced for each of the test items.

To facilitate further harmonisation and for reasons of consistency of standards, a non-exhaustive list of the main reasons for failure, as already exists for braking systems, should now be included for all test items.

Roadworthiness tests should cover all items relevant to the specific design, construction and equipment of the tested vehicle. Therefore, where necessary, specific requirements for particular vehicle categories should be added.

Member States have extended the periodic test requirement pursuant to Article 5(e) of Directive 2009/40/EC to other categories of vehicles. For the purpose of further harmonised testing, methods and standards for those categories of vehicles should be included. The tests should be carried out using techniques and equipment currently available, and without the use of tools to dismantle or remove any part of the vehicle.

In addition to the items related to safety, security and environmental protection, the test also needs to cover identification of the vehicle in order to ensure that the correct tests and standards are applied, to enable the results of the test to be recorded and to enable enforcement of other legal requirements.

To facilitate the functioning of the internal market, and to improve methods of roadworthiness testing, the results of a test should be set out in a roadworthiness certificate covering certain core elements.

Further work needs to be done in the field of developing alternative test procedures to check the maintenance condition of diesel driven vehicles, particularly concerning NO_x and particulates taking into account new emission after-treatment systems.

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,