End of Life Vehicles Regulation - details of the proposal

One of the key challenges related to the implementation of the current EU legislation (Directive 2000/53/EC) was to determine whether a vehicle has become an end-of-life vehicle. This is particularly important to ensure that ELVs are not exported fraudulently as second-hand vehicles. Despite the existence of guidance on this issue, such assessment remained problematic in practice. This has been one of the major regulatory gaps used by illegal operators to circumvent the EU rules.

To address this problem, the proposed Regulation lays down a set of criteria designed to determine whether a used vehicle should be considered as an end-of-life vehicle.

The basic principle is that a vehicle shall be considered as an ELV when it is irreparable.

This principle does not apply to vehicles of historic interest , which are excluded from both the current EU legislation and are outside the scope of the new Regulation proposal.

The Annex I to the Regulation provides a list of technical criteria as to what this means in practice. These criteria are based on experience in the implementation of the current EU legislation, as well as existing guidance or best practices in Member States. Another criterion is linked to the fact that a vehicle cannot be economically reparable, i.e. that its market value is lower than the costs of the necessary repairs to restore it in a way that it can obtain a roadworthiness certificate in the Member State where it was registered.

The Annex I to the Regulation further lists situations where it is difficult to identify the registration status of a vehicle or its owner due to missing or inaccurate information on its identity (for example in the case of stolen vehicles). These elements can be an indication that a vehicle is an ELV. They should be taken into consideration when checking the status of a vehicle, but are not by themselves a decisive factor to decide that it is an ELV.

The above criteria are designed to support all public authorities, economic operators and vehicle owners dealing with end-of-life vehicles.

The proposal does not place any requirements on the vehicle based on its age, type, brand, model, origin or ownership form.

The proposed rules to determine when vehicles legally reach their end-of-life primarily aim at addressing activities by illegal operators who intentionally escape the legal route for the handling of ELVs: some people sell car wrecks pretending that they are second-hand cars that can be repaired, and such wrecks end up on landfills outside Europe, rather than being responsibly managed. Other examples of illegal operations are the selling of completely flooded vehicles, of unsafe vehicles with severe technical defects and vehicles for which the original identity is deliberately obscured due to theft or disassembly of (multiple) new vehicles into components for reassembly.

By fighting such illegal operators, the Commission proposal actually protects the legitimate interests of the vehicle owners to have their vehicles properly treated at their end-of-life and without incurring any costs.

These proposed rules would therefore not unduly restrict the property rights of European citizens, nor hinder legal activities of a car owner or the interests of the hobbyists of vintage cars.

The proposed ELV Regulation sets out the principle that the owner of a car which has become an ELV should deliver it to an ATF, once he received information proving that his vehicle cannot be repaired any longer.

This requirement is not new. It builds on the current legislation, which has been in place since 2000. According to it, “Member States shall also take the necessary measures to ensure that all end-of life vehicles are transferred to authorised treatment facilities” (see article 5(2) of the ELV Directive).

A wreck can cause pollution (such as leakage of oil) and should be dealt with through a proper authorised treatment installation, as is the case already for 6 million of ELVs every year in the EU. This obligation however does not apply to legitimate owners keeping a vehicle in their private premises, if they have not received information that this vehicle meets the criteria for irreparability and are not acting fraudulently.

The proposed Regulation includes a wide range of measures designed to improve the availability, quality and traceability of second-hand spare parts. The aim of these measures is that vehicle owners who need to repair their cars, as well as repair operators, are able to find and use such spare parts more easily. These parts are generally much cheaper than new ones. The proposed measures include new requirements to facilitate the removal of spare parts from end-of-life vehicles, as well as the streamlining of digital information from manufacturers to the repair and maintenance operators. There are specific restrictions to limit the use of so-called ‘digitally coded parts’ that may hamper repair, remanufacturing and reuse.

The Annex I to the proposed Regulation contains specific criteria, aimed to address circumstances where the replacement of some key parts of a vehicle would be of such magnitude that its identity of origin would be irreversibly lost, and the vehicle could not pass the periodic technical inspection.

For example, the vehicle identification/chassis/serial numbers are missing or cannot be found, or are incomplete, illegible, obviously falsified, or does not match the vehicle documents. In that case, and if this situation cannot be clarified, the vehicle should be considered as an ELV.

Examples for such operations could be the theft and disassembly of (multiple) new vehicles into components and reassembly to deliberately obscure the original identities.

As in other cases, these criteria are first targeting illegal operators who, for example, use stolen cars, or pile up old used cars, for the purposes of smuggling spare parts or used cars without proper identification. It is not to hinder legal activities by private owners or hobbyists of vintage cars. If a car needs a repair, any part may be changed as long as the vehicle is fit to pass the roadworthiness inspections and remains authorised to operate on the EU roads. In particular, the proposed Regulation does not prohibit the repair or replacement of the engine, gearbox, shell or chassis assembly of a vehicle.