Technical roadside inspection of the roadworthiness of commercial vehicles circulating in the Community

The present Commission report is the first report on the application of Directive 2000/30/EC on the technical roadside worthiness of commercial vehicles circulating in the Community. It covers the period 2003-2004. The data collected by the Member States relating to this period had to be communicated to the Commission by 31 March 2005 at the latest.

By this deadline only three Member States had supplied information concerning technical roadside inspection. In order to get as complete a picture as possible in this area, the Commission has since the end of March 2005 issued several reminders in order to obtain the maximum number of statistical data. By the end of 2005, nine Member States had transmitted information on the implementation of Directive 2000/30/EC. Following a final reminder sent at the beginning of April 2006, this number rose to 17 Member States by the end of June 2006.

In the Commission’s opinion, the present report, based on information furnished by 17 Member States, enables it to make a first overall analysis which justifies the length of time it took to obtain the information required to compile the report.

The report concludes that there is poor compliance by most Member States with the obligation to provide statistics and information under Directive 2000/30/EC:

• the data are not communicated by all the Member States;

• where data are communicated, this is not done in proper detail, preventing adequate evaluation of the effectiveness of Community policies on road safety and environmental protection.

The Commission is initiating infringement procedures for failure to meet the obligations imposed by Directive 2000/30/EC against the Member States that have not or have incompletely communicated the data required by the said Directive (Infringements 2007-2041 to 2007-2045).

The Directive lays down the model for individual roadworthiness reports. It appears from experience gained with this form that in its present shape it is not easy to use for electronic transmission of all the relevant statistical data to the Commission. As the Directive does not specify any format for the transmission of statistical data, Member States communicate this information by very different methods, making it difficult to collate the results. It would be better if in future the data were communicated in a computer-processable format. It is necessary, therefore, to specify a common exchange format. On the basis of experience gained in this first exercise, the Commission could propose a common format for the electronic transmission of statistical data to the Commission.

Even though the Directive requires the transmission of data with a particular level of detail (vehicles classified by category and by country of registration, details of items checked and deficiencies encountered on the basis of Annex I to Directive 2000/30/EC), the requisite information is often transmitted in a highly aggregate form, rendering detailed analysis impossible.

The Commission could consider convening the Committee on the adaptation to technical progress responsible for providing assistance in the implementation of Directive 2000/30/EC to find solutions to the difficulties encountered by the Member States in collecting, compiling and transmitting statistical data concerning technical roadside inspections, including any amendments to the specimen technical roadside inspection report laid down in Annex I to Directive 2000/30/EC. The major variations in non-compliance levels noted between the Member States are inexplicable from the analysis of the information transmitted. An explanation will be sought in consultation with the Member States.

Many Member States mainly check vehicles registered in their territory. The proportion of vehicles not registered in their territory in relation to all vehicles checked by the Member States varies greatly. The attention of the Member States should be drawn to the fact that verification of vehicles not registered in their territory helps to spread best practice.

Consequently, this proportion ought to be as high as possible in relation to road traffic flows.