EU: Vehicle certification – fines for breaches of type-approval rules
After a public consultation, the EU Commission has now published a draft Delegated Regulation on the procedure for the imposition of administrative fines and the methods for their calculation and collection in the context of vehicle type approval.
It supplements the Regulation (EU) 2018/858 aka vehicle type approval framework regulation.
Member States no longer have the sole responsibility of sanctioning economic operators infringing the vehicle type approval law because since 2018 it has been regulated by a regulation at the EU level. On the basis of the tests and inspections it has carried out in accordance with Article 9 of Regulation (EU) 2018/858, the Commission can establish that a corrective or restrictive measure is necessary at Union level. And this is precisely the purpose of the new draft delegated regulation.
In accordance with the draft delegated regulation, for the purpose of calculating the amount of administrative fines the Commission shall estimate the following amounts:
(a) the economic advantage or other advantage obtained by the economic operator as a result of the non-compliance;
(b) where possible, the losses to consumers as a result of the non-compliance.
The advantages and losses thus assessed shall form the basis for the calculation of administrative fines. Where an advantage for the economic operator also constitutes a loss to consumers, it shall only be taken into account once.
However, when establishing the fine, some mitigating factors may be taken into consideration, such as:
(a) the efforts and co-operation of the economic operator in the detection of noncompliance;
(b) any self-initiated corrective actions taken by the economic operator including their promptness;
(c) any other reasonable and relevant mitigating factor demonstrated with appropriate evidence by the economic operator;
These fines must be paid within 3 months from the date on which the debtor has been notified of the Commission decision, counting from the date of receipt of the notification letter
The full text of the draft is available HERE.