CEMA asked the European Commission to take action on the transition engines issue

The WGAT meeting on 18th of March was the opportunity to have the latest status on two highly important subjects: transition engines and review of (EU) Regulation 167/2013 on type-approvals of agricultural vehicles.

Transition engines - postponement of the implementation dates for categories between 56 kW (75 hp) and 130 kW (175 hp) 

The transition engines were already mentioned during the meeting of September 2020, where CEMA presented a paper co-signed with CEETTAR (contractors) and CLIMMAR (dealers), requesting the postponement of the implementation dates (date for production of transition vehicles and date for placing them on the market), due to the Covid-19 situation, for horse powers between 75 hp and 175 hp. For other horse powers categories, the dates were postponed by twelve months through Regulations 2020/1040 (NonRoad mobile machinery) and 2020/1564 (agricultural tractors). The Commission had asked for additional information to have a better understanding on the situation. 

As a consequence, an internal survey was led among manufacturers, the results of which were transmitted to the Commission. CEMA contacted and informed the Portuguese presidency of the Council and the representative of the ENVI committee of the Parliament of this initiative. 

Considering the lack of answer on the final decision from the Commission, Jerome Bandry CEMA Secretary General expressed during the WGAT meeting the frustration met by manufacturers, and reiterated the need for a quick action. France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Spain supported the CEMA request. 

Review of the Regulation 167/2013 – Mother Regulation (MR) 

The representative of the Commission informed of the launch of a study during the second quarter of 2021 for a duration of nine months. This study is intended to assess which aspects of the type-approval procedures need to be improved, and which risks need to be better covered in the next revision. 

Considering the outcomes of the comments received from various Member States, the focus is mainly put on the following aspects:

  • Type-approvals of small series of vehicles
  • Definitions and categorisation of vehicles
  • Autonomous vehicles
  • Electric tractors
  • Exceptional dimensions
  • Operator presence control

This study is echoing the work under development within CEMA to simplify the MR and cover all types of vehicles, with the final aim of getting a full harmonisation of the road requirements for any agricultural vehicle.