Implementazion of the European roadworthiness package

Roadworthiness package: Legal transposition, concrete functioning and readiness for the future

The roadworthiness package was adopted in 2014 and is composed of three directives, focused respectively on periodic roadworthiness tests (Directive 2014/45/EU); vehicle registration documents (Directive 2014/46/EU); and technical roadside inspections of commercial vehicles (Directive 2014/47/EU).

The objectives of this research paper are:

• to check how Member States have transposed the package from the road safety perspective and to determine whether the transposition has effectively led to the application of common standards;
• to check whether the national measures transposing the safety provisions of the package are sufficient and adequately shaped to achieve its safety objectives;

The analysis of the legal transposition by Member States was performed by considering the national legal measures transposing the roadworthiness package as they had been notified to the EC (more than 450 documents from 27 Member States)

Direct survey among responsible authorities at national level involved 23 different organization from 21 MS completed by 7 direct interview to ministries and other national authorities.

TRT had lead a multidisciplinary international consortium made by OIR, Arcadia International and M&E Factory, further supported by CORTE

Road transport is the most common means of transport in the EU, as well as the most important cause of accidents. In this respect, the European Union has developed a transport policy oriented towards safety and security through common standards and rules. A roadworthiness package was adopted at European level in 2014, aimed at improving road safety through common rules on periodic roadworthiness tests for motor vehicles and their trailers (Directive 2014/45/EU), vehicle registration documents (Directive 2014/46/EU), and roadside inspections of commercial vehicles (Directive 2014/47/EU). The purpose of this European implementation assessment is to check whether the transposition of safety measures included in the package has led to common standards in practice, as well as to assess the current functioning of the exchange of information and the mutual recognition of technical controls between Member States.

For more information

• Implementation of the roadworthiness package: European implementation assessment,  the study carried out by TRT. Go to the European Parliament website