EU: New rules for digital registration certificates and e-cars are coming

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The EU regulations for the registration of vehicles are about to undergo an extensive update. The EU Commission wants to introduce digital vehicle registration and periodic inspection certificates, simplify cross-border data exchange and better protect citizens from fraudulent activities such as odometer manipulation. To this end, it launched a legislative package on Thursday to amend the directives on vehicle registration documents and periodic technical inspections.

"The advantages of digital data exchange must be better exploited and vehicle documents must be further harmonized in order to reduce the administrative burden and costs," the Brussels government institution promotes its approach in the draft for a reformed registration directive. "In addition, digital vehicle registration documents could further facilitate the digitalization of vehicle registration and data management processes and reduce costs".

According to the plan, the registration authorities will in future issue mobile registration certificates to citizens free of charge, which will be stored in the future digital wallet for the European Digital Identity (EUDI). Article 5 of the planned directive sets out detailed requirements for the introduction of mobile vehicle registration certificates. Annex III contains the specifications for the mobile registration certificates, including the corresponding ISO standard. In it, the executive body also lists the requirements that should enable users to store and retrieve the mobile certificate in their wallet for the European digital identity.

Mileage recorded in database

Like the physical documents, the digital vehicle registration certificate will, according to the plan, also be used to confirm the registration of the vehicle, to check certain – more extensive – technical data about it and to enable checks by the authorities.

The plan requires the collection and exchange of extensive databases. The Commission writes: What is required in any case is the digitization of the MOT certificate, the linking of national vehicle registers and the expansion of the harmonized vehicle database in these registers.

For example, service providers who carry out repair or maintenance work on a vehicle would have to record the mileage in a special national database or in the national vehicle register. In addition, vehicle manufacturers should regularly transmit the relevant information from their networked vehicles. Member States will be obliged to communicate the mileage to inspectors, the holder of the registration certificate and the competent national authorities.

Minimum set of mandatory data

In order to facilitate cross-border traffic and, in particular, the registration of new vehicles, EU countries are to electronically record all necessary data on all vehicles registered on their territory and keep this information up to date at all times. According to the Commission, this will help to improve the accuracy of vehicle registers, ensure better law enforcement and make vehicle fraud and theft more difficult.

The initiative provides for "a minimum set of mandatory data" that must be registered by the member states, the government institution explains. The new elements include the country in which the vehicle was first registered, the status (deregistered, decommissioned, exported, end-of-life vehicle, scrapped), the MOT report and the validity of the technical inspection, including the expiration date, as well as the status of the battery in the case of e-cars.

During the consultations, some stakeholders expressed concerns about data protection issues with the common measures for electronic test certificates. From a road safety perspective, however, automatic access to certificates via a common system offers considerable advantages, particularly with regard to facilitating cross-border inspections and greater consumer convenience, the Commission argues. However, the introduction of a digital TÜV certificate requires "the development of robust data protection measures". In particular, personal data used to check the registration of a vehicle should not be stored by the inspection body. However, legally regulated exceptions are permissible.

E-cars and assistance systems are included

In Germany, it has no longer been absolutely necessary to go to the registration office since 2023. Vehicle owners can apply for everything they need online. What is required is the use of an electronic identification function (eID), such as the one from the online ID card. A test has just started for the digital vehicle registration document via the i-Kfz app. By the end of 2030 at the latest, a standardized digital driving license should also be available to all EU citizens via the EUDI wallet.

According to the Commission, the outlined EU regulations will also "take into account the growing presence of electric vehicles and adapt to new technologies". Regular technical inspections for electric cars and advanced driver assistance systems, annual inspections for older cars and vans and advanced emission testing methods to detect high-emission vehicles to reduce particulate matter pollution are planned. The focus here is on the "software integrity of safety and emission-relevant systems".

(vbr)