Council Decision (EU) 2024/3246 of 5 December 2024 on the position to be taken on behalf of the Union in the Joint Committee established by the Agreement between the European Union and Ukraine on the carriage of freight by road, as regards the recognition of smart tachographs for the enforcement of the Agreement and the provision by the European Commission of smart tachograph certification services to Ukraine

The position to be taken on the Union’s behalf in the third meeting of the Joint Committee established by Article 7(1) of the Agreement between the European Union and Ukraine on the carriage of freight by road, as regards the recognition of smart tachographs for the enforcement of that Agreement and the provision by the European Commission of smart tachograph certification services to Ukraine, shall be based on the draft Decision of the Joint Committee attached to this Decision. Minor changes to the draft Decision of the Joint Committee may be agreed by the representatives of the Union in the Joint Committee without a further decision of the Council.

The Decision of the Joint Committee shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union.

This Decision shall enter into force on the date of its adoption.

For the purposes of this Decision, the following definitions apply: (1) ‘tachograph’ means the equipment intended for installation in road vehicles to display, record, print, store and output automatically or semi-automatically details of the movement, including the speed, of such vehicles and details of certain periods of activity of their drivers; (2) ‘smart tachograph’ means a digital tachograph complying with the following requirements: (a) automatic recording of the position of the vehicle at certain points during the daily working period, as provided for in Article 8 of Regulation (EU) No 165/2014; (b) remote early detection of possible manipulation or misuse, as provided for in Article 9 of Regulation (EU) No 165/2014; (c) equipped with an interface with Intelligent Transport Systems, as provided for in Article 10 of Regulation (EU) No 165/2014; and (d) in compliance with the specifications set out in Regulation (EU) 2016/799, with the following adaptations: (i) ‘Member State’ shall be understood as ‘Member State of the European Union and Ukraine’; (ii) for the purposes of subsection 4.1, paragraph (229), of Annex IC, the distinguishing sign for Ukraine shall be ‘UA’.

Vehicles registered in the Union and in Ukraine equipped with smart tachographs may be used to carry out the operations referred to in Article 4 of the Agreement.

1 Type-approval of smart tachograph equipment shall follow the procedure laid down in Chapter III of Regulation (EU) No 165/2014, with the following adaptation: ‘Member State’ shall be understood as ‘Member State of the European Union and Ukraine’.

2 Ukraine recognises that the interoperability certificate delivered in accordance with Article 12(3) of Regulation (EU) No 165/2014 shall be issued by a single laboratory under the authority and responsibility of the European Commission.

3 Ukraine recognises that the European Commission acts as the single European Root Certification Authority (ERCA) within the framework laid down in Regulation (EU) 2016/799.

4 The European Commission shall provide the competent authorities of Ukraine with the cryptographic material for the issuing of tachograph cards for drivers, workshops, companies and control authorities, in accordance with the ERCA certificate policy and the certificate policy of Ukraine.

The provisions of Chapters IV to VI and Article 38 of Regulation (EU) No 165/2014 shall apply with the following adaptation: ‘Member State’ shall be understood as ‘Member State of the European Union and Ukraine’.

This Decision shall enter into force on the date of its adoption.