(1)

With the adoption of Regulation (EU) 2018/1139 and in particular its Article 68, the Commission is now empowered to adopt delegated acts with regard to the acceptance of certificates and other documentation attesting compliance with civil aviation rules issued in accordance with the laws of a third country, whilst ensuring an equivalent level of safety to that provided for in Regulation (EU) 2018/1139.

(2)

The main objective of this Regulation is to bring the current legal framework into line with Regulation (EU) 2018/1139 and therefore the content of Article 8, Annex III and related provisions of Commission Regulation (EU) No 1178/2011 (2) concerning the acceptance of third country certificates should be transferred into a delegated act. Furthermore, those provisions should now also include rules on acceptance of third-country sailplanes and balloons certificates.

(3)

Regulation (EU) No 1178/2011 lists conditions for the acceptance of licences from third countries. Under certain conditions, a pilot licence issued by a third country may currently be accepted by Member States or the holder of such a third country licence can obtain credit when applying for a licence in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 1178/2011. Such credit is currently determined based on a recommendation from an approved training organisation.

(4)

The rules applicable to training organisations providing training for certain non-commercial pilot licences and ratings have been simplified and the declared training organisation (‘DTO’) has been introduced, pursuant to Commission Regulation (EU) 2018/1119 (3). Therefore, the rules concerning the acceptance of licences from third countries should be updated in order to permit DTOs to give credit to holders of third country licences who apply for a licence issued under the Union legal framework.

(5)

Article 8 of Regulation (EU) No 1178/2011 as well Annex III to that Regulation, currently containing requirements for the acceptance of licences from third countries, should therefore be deleted,

(1)

In order to ensure uniform application of the Combined Nomenclature annexed to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 (2), it is necessary to adopt measures concerning the classification of the goods referred to in the Annex to this Regulation.

(2)

Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 has laid down the general rules for the interpretation of the Combined Nomenclature. Those rules apply also to any other nomenclature which is wholly or partly based on it or which adds any additional subdivision to it and which is established by specific provisions of the Union, with a view to the application of tariff and other measures relating to trade in goods.

(3)

Pursuant to those general rules, the goods described in column (1) of the table set out in the Annex should be classified under the CN code indicated in column (2), by virtue of the reasons set out in column (3) of that table.

(4)

It is appropriate to provide that binding tariff information issued in respect of the goods concerned by this Regulation which does not conform to this Regulation may, for a certain period, continue to be invoked by the holder in accordance with Article 34(9) of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013. That period should be set at 3 months.

(5)

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Customs Code Committee,

(1)

In order to ensure uniform application of the Combined Nomenclature annexed to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 (2), it is necessary to adopt measures concerning the classification of the goods referred to in the Annex to this Regulation.

(2)

Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 has laid down the general rules for the interpretation of the Combined Nomenclature. Those rules apply also to any other nomenclature which is wholly or partly based on it or which adds any additional subdivision to it and which is established by specific provisions of the Union, with a view to the application of tariff and other measures relating to trade in goods.

(3)

Pursuant to those general rules, the goods described in column (1) of the table set out in the Annex should be classified under the CN code indicated in column (2), by virtue of the reasons set out in column (3) of that table.

(4)

It is appropriate to provide that binding tariff information issued in respect of the goods concerned by this Regulation which does not conform to this Regulation may, for a certain period, continue to be invoked by the holder in accordance with Article 34(9) of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013. That period should be set at 3 months.

(5)

The Customs Code Committee has not delivered an opinion within the time limit laid down by its Chair,

(1)

In accordance with Article 97 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013, the Commission has examined the application for protection of the name ‘Commune de Champagne’ as a protected geographical indication, submitted by the Community of Vine and Wine of the municipality of Champagne, canton of Vaud, Switzerland (CVVCCVDCH) and its members (the applicant) on 3 November 2015.

(2)

In response to requests for clarification from the Commission, in particular on the protection of the name ‘Commune de Champagne’, the CVVCCVDCH sent a new version of the specification, together with a summary and additional information, on 1 December 2016 and 7 April 2017.

(3)

The Commission has found that the name ‘Commune de Champagne’ is not included among the designations registered in the Swiss repertoire of controlled designations of origin held by the Federal Office for Agriculture pursuant to Article 25 of the Ordinance on wine-growing and importing wine, 916.140 of 14 November 2007.

(4)

Furthermore, after examination of the documentation submitted by the CVVCCVDCH, the Commission is of the opinion that the name ‘Commune de Champagne’ cannot be validly protected in Switzerland. Firstly, the Agreement between the European Community and the Swiss Confederation on trade in agricultural products (2), and in particular Article 8 of Annex 7 thereto, imposes an obligation on the Swiss Confederation to protect and reserve the name ‘Champagne’ on Swiss territory, provided that the wine originates from the European Union. Secondly, as regards Article 32 of the Regulation on wines from the canton of Vaud of 27 May 2009 (canton of Vaud, Swiss Confederation), the Commission notes that it concerns the right to display a local reference to wines with a controlled designation of origin and under certain conditions. This article lays down rules on the labelling of wines with a controlled designation of origin, in this case ‘Bonvillars’, in so far as it allows the reference to the municipality of origin of the grapes to be included on the label. It does not in itself confer the protection of the designation ‘Commune de Champagne’ as a geographical indication.

(5)

The Commission thus establishes that the applicant has not provided proof that the name concerned is validly protected in its country of origin. The condition of Article 94(3) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 is therefore not met.

(6)

It follows from the above that the conditions laid down in Title II, Chapter I, Section 2, Subsection 2, ‘Designations of origin and geographical indications’, of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 are not met.

(7)

The application for protection of the name ‘Commune de Champagne’ as a protected geographical indication should therefore be rejected in accordance with Article 97(4) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013.

(8)

The measure provided for in this Decision is in accordance with the opinion of the Committee for the Common Organisation of Agricultural Markets,

(1)

On 20 September 2019, the manufacturers Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, Daimler AG, FCA Italy S.p.A, Honda Motor Europe Ltd, Hyundai Motor Europe Technical Center GmbH, Jaguar Land Rover LTD, Automobile Citroen, Automobile Peugeot, PSA Automobiles SA, Renault, SEG Automotive Germany GmbH, Volkswagen AG, Volkswagen AG Nutzfahrzeuge and the supplier Valeo Electrification Systems jointly made a request as provided for by Article 12a of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 725/2011 (2) to amend Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2017/785 (3) in order to extend the approval of the innovative technology to its use in certain not-off-vehicle charging hybrid electric vehicles (NOVC-HEVs) of category M1 and passenger cars capable of running on certain alternative fuels.

(2)

On 1 October 2019, the manufacturers Daimler AG, FCA Italy S.p.A, Hyundai Motor Europe Technical Center GmbH, Jaguar Land Rover LTD, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, Opel Automobile GmbH-PSA, Automobile Citroen, Automobile Peugeot, PSA Automobiles SA, Renault, SEG Automotive Germany GmbH, Volkswagen AG, Volkswagen AG Nutzfahrzeuge and the supplier Valeo Electrification Systems submitted a joint application for the approval, in accordance with Article 11 of Regulation (EU) 2019/631, as an innovative technology, of the efficient generator function in 12 volt motor-generators for use in certain light commercial vehicles, including certain NOVC-HEVs and light commercial vehicles capable of running on certain alternative fuels.

(3)

A 12 volt motor-generator may operate as either an electric motor converting electrical energy into mechanical energy, or a generator converting mechanical energy into electrical energy, i.e. similarly as an alternator. The technology subject to the amendment request and the application is defined as an efficient generator function of the 12 volt motor-generator.

(4)

Considering that the amendment request and the approval application refer to the same innovative technology and that the same conditions apply for its use in the vehicle categories concerned, it is appropriate to address both the amendment request and the approval application in one single decision.

(5)

The amendment request and the approval application have been assessed in accordance with Article 11 of Regulation (EU) 2019/631, Implementing Regulation (EU) No 725/2011 and Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 427/2014 (4) as well as the Technical Guidelines for the preparation of applications for the approval of innovative technologies pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 443/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council (5) (July 2018 version) (6). Both the request and the application fulfilled the formal requirements; in accordance with Article 11(3) of Regulation (EU) 2019/631, they were notably accompanied by a verification report undertaken by an independent and certified body.

(6)

The efficient generator function of a 12 volt motor-generator has already been approved for use in conventional combustion engine powered passenger cars by Implementing Decision (EU) 2017/785 as an innovative technology capable of reducing CO2 emissions in a way that is only partially covered by the measurements performed as part of the emission test under the New European Driving Cycle set out in Commission Regulation (EC) No 692/2008 (7). The assessment shows that the approved eco-innovation is capable of reducing CO2 emissions under the same conditions also for other vehicle categories.

(7)

More precisely, the applicants have demonstrated that the efficient generator function of a 12 volt motor-generator is capable of reducing CO2 emissions in conventional combustion engine powered light commercial vehicles in the same way as for passenger cars with the same kind of powertrain.

(8)

With regard to NOVC-HEVs of categories M1 and N1 for which uncorrected measured fuel consumption and CO2 emission values may be used in accordance with point 5.3.2 of Annex 8 to Regulation UN/ECE No 101 (8), it is appropriate to consider them equivalent for the purpose of this Decision to conventional combustion engine-powered M1 and N1 vehicles.

(9)

The applicants have demonstrated that the testing methodology set out in Implementing Decision (EU) 2017/785 for testing CO2 savings from the use of the efficient generator function in 12 volt motor-generators in conventional combustion engine powered passenger cars is appropriate for determining such savings from the use of the technology in light commercial vehicles as well as for certain M1 and N1 NOVC-HEVs.

(10)

The applicants have requested that, due to the increasing share of passenger cars and light commercial vehicles capable of running on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), compressed natural gas (CNG) or E85, the scope of this Decision should include also such vehicles, and that consequently some factors in the testing methodology should be adjusted accordingly.

(11)

Considering the limited availability of E85 on the Union market as a whole, it is, however, not appropriate to distinguish this fuel from petrol for the purpose of the testing methodology.

(12)

With regard to the addition to the testing methodology of a run-in procedure for the motor-generator, the application does not set out with sufficient precision the details for how such run-ins should be performed nor how the run-in effect should be taken into account. Moreover, it is already integral to the testing methodology set out in Implementing Decision (EU) 2017/785 that such effects may be taken into account, where necessary, by the requirement that the efficiency of the generator function of the motor-generator must be measured at least five times. As the efficiency of the generator function of the motor-generator is determined on the basis of the average of the measurement results, any run-in effects, positive or negative, may therefore be adequately taken into account in the final efficiency determination, where necessary by increasing the number of measurements. Against that background, it is not appropriate to complement the testing methodology with an additional specific run-in procedure such as that proposed in the applications

(13)

Taking into account the above considerations, the testing methodology provided for in Implementing Decision (EU) 2017/785, with the addition of some fuel-specific factors, should also be considered appropriate for determining the CO2 savings from the innovative technology fitted in N1 vehicles powered by internal combustion engines, NOVC-HEV M1 and N1 vehicles as well as M1 and N1 vehicles capable of running on certain alternative fuels.

(14)

Manufacturers should have the possibility to apply to a type-approval authority for the certification of CO2 savings from the use of the innovative technology where the conditions laid down in this Decision are met. Manufacturers should for that purpose ensure that the application for certification is accompanied by a verification report from an independent and certified body confirming that the innovative technology complies with the conditions laid down in this Decision and that the savings have been determined in accordance with the testing methodology set out in this Decision.

(15)

In order to facilitate a wider deployment of the innovative technology in new vehicles, a manufacturer should also have the possibility to submit a single application for the certification of the CO2 savings from the efficient generator functions used in several 12 volt motor generators. It is, however, appropriate to ensure that, where that possibility is used, a mechanism is applied that incentivises the deployment of only those motor generators that offer the highest efficiency.

(16)

It is the responsibility of the type-approval authority to verify thoroughly that the conditions for certifying the CO2 savings from the use of an innovative technology as specified in this Decision are met. Where the certification is issued, the responsible type-approval authority should ensure that all elements considered for the certification are recorded in a test report and kept together with the verification report and that this information is made available to the Commission on request.

(17)

For the purpose of determining the general eco-innovation code to be used in the relevant type-approval documents in accordance with Annexes I, VIII and IX to Directive 2007/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (9), it is necessary to attribute an individual code to the innovative technology.

(18)

From 2021, manufacturers’ compliance with their specific CO2 emission targets is to be established on the basis of the CO2 emissions determined in accordance with the Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure (WLTP) set out in Commission Regulation (EU) 2017/1151 (10). CO2 savings from the innovative technology certified by reference to this Decision may therefore be taken into account for the calculation of manufacturers’ average specific CO2 emissions only for the calendar year 2020,

(a)

the innovative technology is fitted in light commercial vehicles (N1) powered by internal combustion engines running on petrol, diesel, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), compressed natural gas (CNG) or E-85, or in not-off-vehicle charging hybrid electric vehicles (NOVC-HEVs) of the category M1 or N1 that comply with point (3) of paragraph 5.3.2 of Annex 8 to Regulation No 101 of the Economic Commission for Europe of the United Nations;

(b)

the efficiency of the generator function, determined in accordance with the methodology set out in the Annex, is at least: