Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/1503 of 25 August 2017 amending Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/68 on common procedures and specifications necessary for the interconnection of electronic registers of driver cards (Text with EEA relevance. )

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to Regulation (EU) No 165/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 February 2014 on tachographs in road transport (1), and in particular Article 31(5) thereof,

Whereas:

(1) Regulation (EU) No 165/2014 requires Member States to interconnect their national electronic registers on driver cards through the TACHOnet messaging system.

(2) Common procedures and specifications necessary for the interconnection of electronic registers of driver cards through the TACHOnet messaging system are laid down by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/68 (2).

(3) The connection to the TACHOnet messaging system can be carried out either directly through a Trans European Services for Telematics between Administrations (‘Testa’) connection or indirectly through a Member State already connected to Testa. Traditionally, indirect connections have been bilaterally agreed through contracts signed by representatives of the entities involved at national level without the Commission intervening. However, in order to prevent potential misuse of the connection and to ensure the correct operation of the system, the Commission, in its capacity as general manager of the TACHOnet messaging system, should receive due and timely information about the interest of a national authority in connecting to the TACHOnet messaging system.

(4) In addition to Member States, the TACHOnet messaging system is in practice open to third countries. The Commission should therefore ensure that third countries comply with the same obligations as Member States regarding the TACHOnet messaging system.

(5) Some minor amendments to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/68 should be made in order to address the following aspects in a more precise and clear manner: the procedure for connection to the TACHOnet messaging system, the preliminary tests to be performed and the consequences of failure, the content of some XML messages, the determination of the escalation procedure to be followed by Member States in case of system errors, and the time that personal data can be retained in the logs of the central hub.

(6) The new version of the TACHOnet messaging system will apply from 2 March 2018. However, in order to enable certain preparatory steps to be taken, the provisions relating to connection by third countries, preliminary tests and indirect access should apply from the date of entry into force of this Regulation.

(7) Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/68 should therefore be amended accordingly.

(8) The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee on Road Transport,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/68 is amended as follows:

(2) the following Articles 3a and 3b are inserted: ‘Article 3a Connection by third countries Subject to the approval of the Commission, third countries may connect their electronic registers to the TACHOnet messaging system if they comply with this Regulation.

Article 3b

Preliminary tests The connection of a national electronic register to the TACHOnet messaging system, be it through direct or indirect access, shall be established after the successful completion of connection, integration and performance tests in accordance with the instructions and under the supervision of the Commission. In case of failure of the preliminary tests, the Commission may temporarily put on hold the testing phase. The tests shall resume once the responsible national authority has communicated to the Commission the adoption of the necessary technical improvements at national level allowing the successful performance of the preliminary tests. The maximum duration of the preliminary tests shall be six months.’;

(4) Annexes I, II, III, VI, VII and VIII are amended in accordance with Annex I to this Regulation;

(5) Annex IX is added as set out in Annex II to this Regulation.

Article 2

This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

Article 1 (4) shall apply from 2 March 2018.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels, 25 August 2017.

For the Commission The President Jean-Claude JUNCKER

(1) OJ L 60, 28.2.2014, p. 1.

(2) Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/68 of 21 January 2016 on common procedures and specifications necessary for the interconnection of electronic registers of driver cards (OJ L 15, 22.1.2016, p. 51).