Commission Regulation (EU) 2015/924 of 8 June 2015 amending Regulation (EU) No 321/2013 concerning the technical specification for interoperability relating to the ‘rolling stock — freight wagons’ subsystem of the rail system in the European Union (Text with EEA relevance)

1 Notwithstanding the provisions in Section 6.3 of the Annex, an EC certificate of verification may be issued for a subsystem containing components corresponding to the “friction element for wheel tread brakes” interoperability constituent that does not have an EC declaration of conformity during a transition period of 10 years after the date of application of this Regulation, if the following conditions are met: (a) the component was manufactured before the date of application of this Regulation; and (b) the interoperability constituent has been used in a subsystem that had been approved and placed in service in at least one Member State before the date of application of this Regulation.

2 The production, upgrade or renewal of any subsystem using non-certified interoperability constituents shall be completed, including granting authorisation for placing in service of the subsystem, before the transition period set out in paragraph 1 expires.

3 During the transition period set out in paragraph 1: (a) the reasons for non-certification of any interoperability constituents shall be properly identified in the verification procedure for the subsystem referred to in paragraph 1; and (b) national safety authorities shall report in their annual report, as referred to in Article 18 of Directive 2004/49/EC, on the use of non-certified “friction element for wheel tread brakes” interoperability constituents in the context of authorisation procedures.

1 Until the expiry of their current approval period, “friction element for wheel tread brakes” interoperability constituents listed in Appendix G of the Annex do not need to be covered by an EC declaration of conformity. During this period, “friction elements for wheel tread brakes” listed in Appendix G of the Annex shall be deemed to be compliant with this Regulation.

2 After their current approval period expires, “friction element for wheel tread brakes” interoperability constituents listed in Appendix G of the Annex shall be covered by EC declaration of conformity.

1 Notwithstanding the provisions in Section 6.3 of the Annex, an EC certificate of verification may be issued for a subsystem containing components corresponding to the “friction element for wheel tread brakes” interoperability constituent that does not have an EC declaration of conformity during a transition period of 10 years after the expiry of the approval period of the interoperability constituent, if the following conditions are met: (a) the component was manufactured before the expiry of the approval period of the interoperability constituent; and (b) the interoperability constituent has been used in a subsystem that had been approved and placed in service in at least one Member State before the expiry of its approval period.

2 The production, upgrade or renewal of any subsystem using non-certified interoperability constituents shall be completed, including granting authorisation for placing in service of the subsystem, before the transition period set out in paragraph 1 expires.

3 During the transition period set out in paragraph 1: (a) the reasons for non-certification of any interoperability constituents shall be properly identified in the verification procedure for the subsystem referred to in paragraph 1; and (b) the national safety authorities shall report in their annual report, as referred to in Article 18 of Directive 2004/49/EC, on the use of non-certified “friction element for wheel tread brakes” interoperability constituents in the context of authorisation procedures.’

The EC-type or EC design examination certificate for the “friction element for wheel tread brakes” interoperability constituent shall be valid for 10 years. During that period, new constituents of the same type may be placed on the market on the basis of an EC declaration of conformity that refers to this EC-type or EC design examination certificate.’

1 In order to keep pace with technological progress, innovative solutions may be required that do not comply with the specifications set out in the Annex and/or for which the assessment methods set out in the Annex cannot be applied. In that case, new specifications and/or new assessment methods associated with those innovative solutions shall be developed.

2 Innovative solutions may be related to the “rolling stock — freight wagons” subsystem, its parts and its interoperability constituents.

3 If an innovative solution is proposed, the manufacturer or his authorised representative established within the Union shall declare how it deviates from or complements the relevant provisions of this TSI and shall submit the deviations to the Commission for analysis.

4 The Commission shall deliver an opinion on the innovative solution proposed. If this opinion is positive, the appropriate functional and interface specifications and the assessment method, which must be included in the TSI in order to allow the use of this innovative solution, shall be developed and subsequently integrated in the TSI during the revision process carried out pursuant to Article 6 of Directive 2008/57/EC. If the opinion is negative, the innovative solution proposed shall not be applied.

5 Pending the review of the TSI, the positive opinion delivered by the Commission shall be considered an acceptable means of compliance with the essential requirements of Directive 2008/57/EC and may therefore be used for the assessment of the subsystem.’

This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union. It shall apply from 1 July 2015.