- approval authority
means the authority of a Member State established or appointed by the Member State and notified to the Commission by the Member State with competence for all aspects of the approval of a type of vehicle, system, component or separate technical unit, for the authorisation process, for issuing and, if appropriate, withdrawing or refusing approval certificates, for acting as the contact point for the approval authorities of other Member States, for designating the technical services and for ensuring that the manufacturer meets his obligations regarding the conformity of production;
- base vehicle
means any vehicle which is used at the initial stage of a multi-stage type-approval process;
- certificate of conformity
means the document issued by the manufacturer, which certifies that the produced vehicle conforms to the approved vehicle type;
- complete vehicle
means any vehicle which need not be completed in order to meet the relevant technical requirements of this Regulation;
- completed vehicle
means a vehicle, resulting from the process of multi-stage type-approval, which meets the relevant technical requirements of this Regulation;
- component
means a device subject to the requirements of this Regulation or any of the delegated or implementing acts adopted pursuant to this Regulation, which is intended to be part of a vehicle and which may be type-approved independently of a vehicle in accordance with this Regulation and the delegated or implementing acts adopted pursuant to this Regulation, where such acts make express provision for so doing;
- component type-approval
means a type-approval whereby an approval authority certifies that a component independently of a vehicle satisfies the relevant administrative provisions and technical requirements;
- distributor
means any natural or legal person in the supply chain, other than the manufacturer or the importer, who makes available a vehicle, system, component, separate technical unit, part or equipment on the market;
- economic operator
means the manufacturer, the manufacturer’s representative, the importer or the distributor;
- end-of-series vehicle
means any vehicle that is part of a stock which cannot be made available on the market or can no longer be made available on the market, registered or enter into service owing to the entry into force of new technical requirements against which it has not been approved;
- entry into service
means the first use, for its intended purpose, in the Union, of a vehicle, system, component, separate technical unit, part or equipment;
- equipment
means any goods other than parts which can be added to or installed on a vehicle;
- functional safety
means the absence of unacceptable risk of physical injury or of damage to the health of persons or to property owing to hazards caused by mal-functional behaviour of mechanical, hydraulic, pneumatic, electrical or electronic systems, components or separate technical units;
- hybrid electric vehicle
means a vehicle that, for the purpose of mechanical propulsion, draws energy from both of the following on-vehicle sources of stored energy/power: This definition also includes vehicles which draw energy from a consumable fuel only for the purpose of recharging the electrical energy/power storage device;
- hybrid vehicle
means a powered vehicle equipped with at least two different energy converters and two different energy storage systems (on-vehicle) for the purpose of vehicle propulsion;
- importer
means any natural or legal person established in the Union who places on the market a vehicle, system, component, separate technical unit, part or equipment from a third country;
- incomplete vehicle
means any vehicle which must undergo at least one further stage of completion in order to meet the relevant technical requirements of this Regulation;
- independent operator
means undertakings other than authorised dealers and repairers which are directly or indirectly involved in the repair and maintenance of vehicles, in particular repairers, manufacturers or distributors of repair equipment, tools or spare parts, publishers of technical information, automobile clubs, roadside assistance operators, operators offering inspection and testing services, operators offering training for installers, manufacturers and repairers of equipment for alternative fuel vehicles;
- interchangeable towed equipment
means any vehicle used in agriculture or forestry which is designed to be towed by a tractor, changes or adds to its functions, permanently incorporates an implement or is designed to process materials, which may include a load platform designed and constructed to receive any tools and appliances needed for those purposes and to store temporarily any materials produced or needed during work and where the ratio of the technically permissible maximum laden mass to the unladen mass of that vehicle is less than 3,0;
- making available on the market
means any supply of a vehicle, system, component, separate technical unit, part or equipment for distribution or use on the market in the course of a commercial activity, whether in return for payment or free of charge;
- manufacturer
means any natural or legal person who is responsible to the approval authority for all aspects of the type-approval or authorisation process, for ensuring conformity of production and who is also responsible for market surveillance concerns for the vehicles, systems, components and separate technical units produced, whether or not the natural or legal person is directly involved in all stages of the design and construction of the vehicle, system, component or separate technical unit which is the subject of the approval process;
- market surveillance
means the activities carried out and measures taken by national authorities to ensure that vehicles, systems, components or separate technical units made available on the market comply with the requirements set out in the relevant Union harmonisation legislation and do not endanger health, safety or any other aspect of public interest protection;
- market surveillance authority
means an authority of a Member State responsible for carrying out market surveillance on its territory;
- national authority
means an approval authority or any other authority involved in and responsible for market surveillance, border control or registration in a Member State in respect of vehicles, systems, components, separate technical units, parts or equipment;
- national type-approval
means a type-approval procedure laid down by the national law of a Member State, the validity of such approval being restricted to the territory of that Member State;
- new vehicle
means a vehicle which has never been previously registered or entered into service;
- original parts or equipment
means parts or equipment which are manufactured according to the specifications and production standards provided by the vehicle manufacturer for the production of parts or equipment for the assembly of the vehicle in question;
- parts
means goods used for the assembly of a vehicle as well as spare parts;
- placing on the market
means making available a vehicle, system, component, separate technical unit, part or equipment for the first time in the Union;
- pure electric vehicle
means a vehicle powered by a system consisting of one or more electric energy storage devices, one or more electric power conditioning devices and one or more electric machines that convert stored electric energy to mechanical energy delivered at the wheels for propulsion of the vehicle;
- registration
means the administrative authorisation for the entry into service including for road traffic of a vehicle, involving the identification of the latter and the issuing to it of a serial number to be known as the registration number, be it permanently, temporarily or for a short period of time;
- self-testing
means the performance of tests in its own facilities, the registration of the test results and the submission of a report, including conclusions, to the approval authority by a manufacturer who has been designated as technical service in order to assess the compliance with certain requirements;
- separate technical unit
means a device subject to the requirements of this Regulation or any of the delegated or implementing acts adopted pursuant to this Regulation and intended to be part of a vehicle, which may be type-approved separately but only in relation to one or more specified types of vehicle, where such acts make express provision for so doing;
- separate technical unit type-approval
means a type-approval whereby an approval authority certifies that a separate technical unit satisfies the relevant administrative provisions and technical requirements in relation to one or more specified types of vehicles;
- spare parts
means goods which are to be installed in or on a vehicle so as to replace original parts of that vehicle, including goods such as lubricants which are necessary for the use of a vehicle, with the exception of fuel;
- system
means an assembly of devices combined to perform one or more specific functions in a vehicle and which is subject to the requirements of this Regulation or any of the delegated or implementing acts adopted pursuant to this Regulation;
- system type-approval
means a type-approval whereby an approval authority certifies that a system built into a vehicle of a specific type satisfies the relevant administrative provisions and technical requirements;
- technical service
means an organisation or body designated by the approval authority of a Member State as a testing laboratory to carry out tests, or as a conformity assessment body to carry out the initial assessment and other tests or inspections, on behalf of the approval authority, it being possible for the approval authority itself to carry out those functions;
- tractor
means any motorised, wheeled or tracked agricultural or forestry vehicle having at least two axles and a maximum design speed of not less than 6 km/h, the main function of which lies in its tractive power and which has been especially designed to pull, push, carry and actuate certain interchangeable equipment designed to perform agricultural or forestry work, or to tow agricultural or forestry trailers or equipment;
- trailer
means any agricultural or forestry vehicle intended mainly to be towed by a tractor and intended mainly to carry loads or to process materials and where the ratio of the technically permissible maximum laden mass to the unladen mass of that vehicle is equal to or greater than 3,0;
- type-approval
means the procedure whereby an approval authority certifies that a type of vehicle, system, component or separate technical unit satisfies the relevant administrative provisions and technical requirements;
- type-approval certificate
means the document whereby the approval authority officially certifies that a type of vehicle, system, component or separate technical unit is approved;
- variant
means vehicles of the same type which do not differ in at least the following respects:
- vehicle
means any tractor, trailer or interchangeable towed equipment as defined in points 8, 9 and 10;
- vehicle repair and maintenance information
means all information required for diagnosis, servicing, inspection, periodic monitoring, repair, reprogramming or reinitialising of the vehicle and which the manufacturers provide for their authorised dealers and repairers, including all subsequent amendments and supplements to such information;
- vehicle type
means a group of vehicles, including variants and versions of the same category, that do not differ in at least the following essential respects:
- version of a variant
means vehicles which consist of a combination of items shown in the information package referred to in Article 24(10).
- virtual testing method
means computer simulations, including calculations, to demonstrate whether a vehicle, a system, a component or a separate technical unit fulfils the technical requirements of a delegated act adopted pursuant to Article 27(6) without requiring the use of a physical vehicle, system, component or separate technical unit;
- whole-vehicle type-approval
means a type-approval whereby an approval authority certifies that an incomplete, complete or completed vehicle type satisfies the relevant administrative provisions and technical requirements;