- alternative requirements
means administrative provisions and technical requirements that aim to ensure a level of functional safety, environmental protection and occupational safety that to the greatest extent practicable is equivalent to the level provided for by one or more of the regulatory acts listed in Annex II;
- alternative-fuel vehicle
means a vehicle designed to be capable of running on at least one type of fuel that is either gaseous at atmospheric temperature and pressure, or that is substantially derived from non-mineral oil;
- approval authority
means the authority or authorities of a Member State, notified to the Commission by that Member State, with competence for all aspects of the type-approval of a vehicle, system, component or separate technical unit, or of the individual vehicle approval, for the authorisation process for parts and equipment, for issuing and, if appropriate, for withdrawing or refusing approval certificates, for acting as the contact point for the approval authorities of the other Member States, for designating the technical services, and for ensuring that the manufacturer meets its obligations regarding the conformity of production;
- authorised repairer
means a natural or legal person who provides repair and maintenance services for vehicles and who operates within the manufacturer's distribution system;
- base vehicle
means any vehicle that is used at the initial stage of a multi-stage type-approval;
- cargo area
means the part of the vehicle located behind the row(s) of seats or behind the driver seat when the vehicle is fitted with only one driver seat;
- certificate of conformity
means the document issued by the manufacturer which certifies that a produced vehicle conforms to the approved type of vehicle and complies with all regulatory acts that were applicable at the time of its production;
- complete vehicle
means a vehicle that does not need to be completed in order to meet the relevant technical requirements of this Regulation;
- completed vehicle
means a vehicle resulting from the multi-stage type-approval that meets the relevant technical requirements of this Regulation;
- component
means a device that is intended to be part of a vehicle, that can be type-approved independently of a vehicle and that is subject to the requirements of this Regulation or any of the regulatory acts listed in Annex II where the specific regulatory act makes express provision to that effect;
- component type-approval
means the procedure whereby an approval authority certifies that a type of component independently of a vehicle satisfies the relevant administrative provisions and technical requirements;
- date of manufacture of the vehicle
means the date on which the manufacture of a vehicle was finalised in accordance with the approval obtained by the manufacturer;
- distributor
means a dealer or any other natural or legal person in the supply chain, other than the manufacturer or the importer, who makes available on the market a vehicle, system, component, separate technical unit, part or equipment;
- e-trailer
means any kind of trailer that is able to contribute to the propulsion of the vehicle combination by using its own electric powertrain and which is not able to be used on public roads without being actively towed by a motor vehicle.
- economic operator
means the manufacturer, the manufacturer's representative, the importer or the distributor;
- end-of-series vehicle
means a vehicle that is part of a stock and that, due to the entry into force of new technical requirements against which it has not been type-approved, cannot or can no longer be made available on the market, registered or entered into service;
- 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 goods other than parts that can be added to or installed on a vehicle;
- Goods
means primarily any movable things.
- importer
means a natural or legal person established in the Union who places on the market a vehicle, system, component, separate technical unit, part or equipment that has been manufactured in a third country;
- incomplete vehicle
means any vehicle that must undergo at least one further stage of completion in order to meet the relevant technical requirements of this Regulation;
- independent operator
means a natural or legal person, other than an authorised dealer or repairer, who is directly or indirectly involved in the repair and maintenance of vehicles, and include repairers, manufacturers or distributors of repair equipment, tools or spare parts, as well as 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;
- independent repairer
means a natural or legal person who provides repair and maintenance services for vehicles and who does not operate within the manufacturer's distribution system;
- individual vehicle approval
means the procedure whereby an approval authority certifies that a particular vehicle, whether unique or not, satisfies the relevant administrative provisions and technical requirements for EU individual vehicle approval or national individual vehicle approval;
- 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 a natural or legal person who is responsible for all aspects of the type-approval of a vehicle, system, component or separate technical unit, or the individual vehicle approval, or the authorisation process for parts and equipment, for ensuring conformity of production and for market surveillance matters regarding that vehicle, system, component, separate technical unit, part and equipment produced, irrespective of whether or not that person is directly involved in all stages of the design and construction of that vehicle, system, component or separate technical unit concerned;
- market surveillance
means the activities carried out and measures taken by the market surveillance authorities to ensure that vehicles, systems, components and separate technical units as well as parts and equipment made available on the market comply with the requirements set out in the relevant Union harmonisation legislation and do not endanger health, safety, the environment or any other aspect of public interest protection;
- market surveillance authority
means the national authority or authorities responsible for carrying out market surveillance on the territory of the Member State;
- Maximum mass
means the ‘technically permissible maximum laden mass’.
- mixed type-approval
means a step-by-step type-approval for which one or more system type-approvals have been obtained during the final stage of the whole-vehicle type-approval, without the need to issue the EU type-approval certificates for those systems;
- motor vehicle
means any power-driven vehicle that is designed and constructed to be moved by its own means, that has at least four wheels, is complete, completed or incomplete, and has a maximum design speed exceeding 25 km/h;
- multi-stage type-approval
means the procedure whereby one or more approval authorities certify that depending on its state of completion, an incomplete or completed type of vehicle satisfies the relevant administrative provisions and technical requirements;
- national accreditation body
means a national accreditation body as defined in point (11) of Article 2 of Regulation (EC) No 765/2008;
- 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 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 laid down by the law of a Member State, the validity of such approval being restricted to the territory of that Member State;
- Off road special purpose vehicle (ORV-SPV)
means a vehicle that belongs either to category M or N having the specific technical features referred to in points 2.1 and 2.2.
- Off-road vehicle (ORV)
means a vehicle that belongs to category M or N, having specific technical features which permit its use off the normal roads.
- on-site assessment
means a verification in the premises of a technical service or of one of its subcontractors or subsidiaries;
- parts
means goods used for the assembly, repair and maintenance 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;
- registration
means an administrative authorisation for the entry into service in road traffic of an approved vehicle, involving the identification of the vehicle and the issuing to it of a serial number, known as the registration number, whether on a permanent or temporary basis;
- Seat
means a complete structure with trim, integral or not with the vehicle body structure, which is intended to seat one person.
- Seating position
means any location capable of accommodating one person seated who is at least as large as:
- semi-trailer
means a trailer in which the axle, or axles are positioned behind the centre of gravity of the vehicle (when uniformly loaded), and which is equipped with a connecting device permitting horizontal and vertical forces to be transmitted to the towing vehicle;
- separate technical unit
means a device that is intended to be part of a vehicle that can be type-approved separately, but only in relation to one or more specified types of vehicle and that is subject to the requirements of this Regulation or any of the regulatory acts listed in Annex II where the specific regulatory act makes express provisions to that effect;
- separate technical unit type-approval
means the procedure whereby an approval authority certifies that a type of separate technical unit satisfies the relevant administrative provisions and technical requirements in relation to one or more specified types of vehicles;
- single-step type-approval
means the procedure whereby an approval authority certifies, by means of a single operation, that a type of vehicle, system, component or separate technical unit as a whole satisfies the relevant administrative provisions and technical requirements;
- spare parts
means goods that are to be installed in or on a vehicle to replace original parts of that vehicle, including goods that are necessary for the use of a vehicle, with the exception of fuel;
- special purpose vehicle
means a vehicle of category M, N or O having specific technical features that enable it to perform a function that requires special arrangements or equipment;
- Statement of compliance
shall mean a statement issued by the office or department within the manufacturer's organisation that is duly authorised by the management to fully engage the legal responsibility of the manufacturer with respect to the design and the construction of a vehicle.
- step-by-step type-approval
means the procedure consisting of the step-by-step collection of the whole set of EU type-approval certificates or UN type-approval certificates for the systems, components and separate technical units forming part of a vehicle, and which leads, in its final stage, to the whole-vehicle type-approval;
- Surface of the loading aperture
means the greatest surface of the orthogonal projection on a vertical plane, perpendicular to the centreline of the vehicle, of the maximum aperture permitted when the rear door(s) or tailgate is (are) wide open;
- surveillance on-site assessment
means a periodic routine on-site assessment that is neither the on-site assessment undertaken for the initial designation of the technical service or of one of its subcontractors or subsidiaries, nor the on-site assessment undertaken for the renewal of that designation;
- system
means an assembly of devices combined to perform one or more specific functions in a vehicle and that is subject to the requirements of this Regulation or any of the regulatory acts listed in Annex II;
- system type-approval
means the procedure whereby an approval authority certifies that a type of system satisfies the relevant administrative provisions and technical requirements;
- technical service
means an organisation or body designated by the approval authority 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;
- trailer
means any non-self-propelled vehicle on wheels designed and constructed to be towed by a motor vehicle, that can articulate at least around a horizontal axis perpendicular to the longitudinal median plane and around a vertical axis parallel to the longitudinal median plane of the towing motor vehicle;
- type of vehicle
means a particular group of vehicles that shares at least the features specified in Part B of Annex I, including a group of vehicles that contains variants and versions as referred to therein;
- 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 type-approved;
- vehicle
means any motor vehicle or its trailer;
- vehicle on-board diagnostic (OBD) information
means the information generated by a system that is on board a vehicle or that is connected to an engine, and that is capable of detecting a malfunction, and, where applicable, is capable of signalling its occurrence by means of an alert system, is capable of identifying the likely area of malfunction by means of information stored in a computer memory, and is capable of communicating that information off-board;
- vehicle produced in small series
means a type of vehicle of which the number of units that are made available on the market, registered or entered into service do not exceed the quantitative annual limits laid down in Annex V;
- vehicle repair and maintenance information
means all information, including all subsequent amendments and supplements thereto, that is required for diagnosing, servicing and inspecting a vehicle, preparing it for road worthiness testing, repairing, re-programming or re-initialising of a vehicle, or that is required for the remote diagnostic support of a vehicle or for the fitting on a vehicle of parts and equipment, and that is provided by the manufacturer to his authorised partners, dealers and repairers or is used by the manufacturer for the repair and maintenance purposes;
- virtual testing method
means computer simulations, including calculations, to demonstrate that a vehicle, a system, a component or a separate technical unit fulfils the technical requirements of a regulatory act listed in Annex II without requiring the use of a physical vehicle, system, component or separate technical unit;
- whole-vehicle type-approval
means the procedure whereby an approval authority certifies that an incomplete, complete or completed type of vehicle satisfies the relevant administrative provisions and technical requirements;