Automaker across the European Union (EU) will from next April have to issue comprehensive and detailed certificates of conformity with each new vehicle illustrating compliance with EU technical standards.

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These are not simple declarations. There are three models of certificate: one for completed vehicles made by one manufacturer; another for completed vehicles made by more than one automaker – say the chassis made by one and the rest by another; and a third certificate for each of these elements as they are passed to a second manufacturer.


In the past (since 1993)  manufacturers have only had to release such EU certificates when ordered by national laws or demanded by a purchaser, to help them export vehicles from one EU member state to another.


EU industry commissioner Günter Verheugen claimed the reform was not designed to load auto manufacturers with red tape, but to simplify purchases – especially cross-border purchases – for consumers: “As of today, citizens have less paper work and fewer procedures to follow if they buy a new vehicle in another EU member state,” he said.


The key is easing registration, said a separate European Commission note: “For example, it will be possible for a French citizen to buy a new caravan in Germany and to register it in France simply by submitting the European certificate of conformity to the registration authority,” it said, adding that this document also includes also environmental performance data, increasingly necessary for vehicle taxation schemes.

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All certificates also include a comprehensive list of other technical data – see http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/automotive/pagesbackground/whole_vehicle/en.pdf