No Deal Brexit and the Sale of Vehicles & Engines in the Internal Market

Articles Michael McParland QC 28th March 2019

The European Commission has today (28 March 2019) published a notice to stakeholders in the automotive industry which emphasises that, after Brexit Day, UK type approval for:

(a)       agricultural and forestry vehicles (under Regulation (EU) No 167 / 2013),

(b)       two-or three-wheel vehicles and quadricycles (under Regulation (EU) No 168/2013), and

(c)       internal combustion engines for non-road mobile machinery (under Regulation (EU) No 2016 /1628),

will no longer be valid.

As a consequence, UK manufacturers will no longer be able to place such vehicles or engines on the EU market in reliance on a certificate of conformity from the UK regulators. Certificates of conformity will in the future have to come from a Member State.

The Commission also emphasises that manufacturers in the UK will now to appoint representatives in the EU to represent them before the Member State type-approval authorities and for the purposes of market surveillance.

What about vehicles / engines that have been placed on the market in reliance with existing UK type-approvals?

Perhaps ominously, the note concludes:

“With respect to type-approvals granted by the United Kingdom authority prior to the withdrawal date, the Commission is considering the necessary and appropriate steps to ensure and facilitate continued compliance with EU law”.

This 28 March note follows the earlier 8 February “type approvals (automotive vehicles)” 

which also contained a similar conclusion regarding existing certification.

Would it be a wild guess to suggest that whatever the Commission concludes is appropriate won’t necessarily be favourable to UK manufacturers.

Related Barristers

Michael McParland QC