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 Article 8 thereof,

The Commission shall be assisted by a committee on the adaptation to technical progress of the Directive on roadworthiness tests for motor vehicles and their trailers, hereinafter referred to as the 'Committee`, which shall consist of representatives of the Member States with a representative of the Commission in the chair.

Commission Directive 2001/11/EC of 14 February 2001 adapting to technical progress Council Directive 96/96/EC on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to roadworthiness tests for motor vehicles and their trailers - functional testing of commercial vehicles' speed limitation device(3) is to be incorporated into the Agreement,

Commission Directive 1999/52/EC of 26 May 1999 adapting to technical progress Council Directive 96/96/EC on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to roadworthiness tests for motor vehicles and their trailers(2) is to be incorporated into the Agreement,

Commission Directive 2001/9/EC of 12 February 2001 adapting to technical progress Council Directive 96/96/EC on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to roadworthiness tests for motor vehicles and their trailers(2) is to be incorporated into the Agreement.

Member States may, with the agreement of the European Commission, add other applications for which no harmonised rules or documents exist yet at EU level (e.g. roadworthiness certificate), on the vehicle registration card to realise additional vehicle related services.

In order to be consistent with that Directive, Directive 2000/30/EC also needs to be adapted so as to include the new technical provisions, namely by bringing on-board diagnostic (OBD) monitoring systems and speed limiters within the scope of roadside inspections.

whereas it is therefore appropriate, in connection with the first review of this Directive, to consider enlarging the scope to used cars covered by Commission Directive 93/116/EC of 17 December 1993 adapting to technical progress Council Directive 80/1268/EEC relating to the fuel consumption of motor vehicles(4);

Having regard to Council Directive 96/96/EC of 20 December 1996 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to roadworthiness tests for motor vehicles and their trailers(1), as last amended by Commission Directive 2001/11/EC(2), and in particular Article 7(2) thereof,

Article 1 (4) of Council Directive 86/364/EEC of 24 July 1986 relating to proof of compliance of vehicles with Directive 85/3/EEC on the weights, dimensions and certain other technical characteristics of certain road vehicles (;) which provides that vehicles may be subject, as regards common standards on weights, to random checks and, as regards common standards on dimensions, only to checks where there is a suspicion of non-compliance with Directive 85/3/EEC ($), as last amended by Directive 89/461/EEC (=) and Directive 88/218/EEC (%), Directive 88/218/EEC amending Directive 85/3/EEC, which refers to a series of provisions laying down controls for mechanically refrigerated equipment;

Whereas Directive 96/96/EC repeals, with effect from 9 March 1998, Council Directive 77/143/EEC of 29 December 1976 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to roadworthiness tests for motor vehicles and their trailers (3) and its successive amendments which are incorporated in the Agreement and are therefore to be deleted from the Agreement with effect from the same date,

Whereas, pursuant to existing Community and national legislation in the field of road and inland waterway transport, Member States perform checks, verifications and inspections relating to technical characteristics, authorizations and other documentation with which vehicles and inland waterway vessels must comply;

The group examined the options for amending the limits for the emission tests prescribed in Directive 96/96/EC and in 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(3) to determine whether improved environmental benefits could be realised.

Article 5 (3) of Council Directive 77/143/EEC of 29 December 1977 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to roadworthiness tests for motor vehicles and their trailers (&) as amended by Directive 88/449/EEC ((), which provides that each Member State shall recognize the proof that a vehicle has passed a roadworthiness test issued in another Member State;

For the purposes of this paragraph "independent operator" shall mean undertakings which are directly or indirectly involved in the repair and maintenance of motor vehicles, in particular independent repairers, manufacturers of repair equipment or tools, independent distributors of spare parts, publishers of technical information, automobile clubs, roadside assistance operators, operators offering inspection and testing services and operators offering training for repairers.

reinforce administrative capacity for implementing the fiscal and social/technical acquis, (ii) continue to implement programmes for phasing out discriminatory practices in road transport taxation/charging, (iii) continue to implement the action plans to retrofit Romanian lorries with speed limitation devices and recording equipment, (iv) continue to implement rules on driving times and rest periods, (v) implement the schedule to ensure the necessary investments for upgrading and rehabilitating the road network up to Community axle-weight norms, taking account of environmental legislation and (vi) ensure that the roadside inspection of vehicles does not give rise to any de facto discrimination between Romanian and EC hauliers and/or vehicles.