Before the Volkswagen revelations in September 2015, the European Commission had concluded the need to prevent cases of non-compliance by proposing a new regulation to make vehicle testing more independent and reliable and to increase surveillance of cars already in circulation.

After a policy agreement at the EU level was reached in December 2017 regarding an overhaul of the EU type-approval framework for motor vehicles, EA NABs were strongly recommended to promote the concept of accreditation and convince national regulators of the benefits of accreditation. In accordance with Regulation (EC) 765/2008, accreditation of Technical Services was eventually recognized as an alternative to the assessments performed by Type Approval Authorities.

As a result, Regulation (EU) 2018/858 on the approval and market surveillance of motor vehicles and their trailers, and of systems, components, and separate technical units intended for such vehicles were released by the European Commission in May 2018.

This Regulation lays down harmonized rules and principles for the type-approval of motor vehicles and their trailers, and of systems, components, and separate technical units intended for such vehicles, and individual vehicle approval, to ensure the proper functioning of the Internal Market for the benefit of businesses and consumers. The objective is to offer a high level of safety, health, and environmental protection. The Regulation includes provisions regarding accreditation, conformity assessment bodies, inspection, testing, and certification.

The Regulation will make vehicle testing more independent and reinforce surveillance of cars already in circulation by:

• raising the quality level and independence of vehicle type approval and testing;
• increasing checks on cars that are already in the EU market;
• strengthening the current framework for EU type-approval, in particular by introducing provisions on accreditation and market surveillance.

On the level of the EA Inspection Committee (IC), a Task Force Group for Motor Vehicles Type Approval has been set up. Its activities have been directed at ensuring better harmonization amongst the national accreditation bodies in the assessment of technical services.

Through the IC Technical Network, “Car Inspection”, EA regularly cooperates with the International Motor Vehicle Inspection Committee (CITA) on issues such as the development of a more efficient Periodical Vehicle Inspection (PTI) accreditation scheme. The objective of this collaboration is to develop branch-specific interpretations of the requirements in EN ISO/IEC 17020 Conformity assessment — Requirements for the operation of various types of bodies performing inspection, to ensure that Member States continue to rely on accreditation.

The EA IC established also a Technical Network for Periodic Technical Inspections. Its activities have been directed at developing the necessary document EA-5/02 “Guidance on the application of ISO/IEC 17020 in vehicle inspection” to achieve better harmonization amongst national accreditation bodies. This Technical Network also offers the opportunity for the necessary discussions between EA and its stakeholders.