Draft Implementing Regulations for the EC Regulation on General Safety Published

When EC Regulation No. 661/2009 concerning "type approval requirements for the general safety of motor vehicles, their trailers and systems, components and separate technical units intended therefor" (often referred to as the General Safety Regulation or GSR) was published, one of its stated aims was to "simplify" the type approval legislation. This "legislative simplification" was achieved by repealing 50 of the "separate" EC Directives and replacing them with references to the corresponding Regulations of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN ECE). However, for some of the "separate" EC Directives that were repealed by (EC) No. 661/2009, no corresponding UN ECE Regulation currently exists. In these instances, the European Commission plan to issue "implementing" Regulations to replace the repealed Directives.

Recently, the European Commission have published draft versions of six such "implementing" Regulations; one on the space for mounting rear registration plates, one on the manufacturer's statutory plate and vehicle identification number, one on windscreen defrosting and demisting systems, one on windscreen wiper and washer systems, one on wheel guards and one on towing devices. These new draft implementing Regulations are intended to carry over the technical requirements from the EC Directives that have been repealed by (EC) No. 661/2009, but the European Commission has taken this opportunity to update the requirements in line with technical progress and, where necessary, introduce specific test procedures and administrative provisions.

Taking the draft implementing Regulation on the space for mounting rear registration plates as an example, when compared to the repealed Directive (70/222/EEC), the main technical requirements are unchanged, but the following amendments have been introduced:

• More detailed requirements concerning the surface to be covered by the registration plate (e.g. requirements on holes, gaps and protrusions) have been added.
• Requirements on the maximum space between the edges of the registration plate, when fitted, and surface of the registration plate space have been added.
• A test procedure for determining compliance with the applicable requirements has been added.
• Requirements concerning the type approval process, i.e. application for type approval and granting of type approval, have been added.
• A model of the information document format has been added.
• A model of the type approval certificate format has been added.