1. Executive Summary

Despite progress achieved in the last decade, 70 people die and more than 650 are seriously injured every day on Europe’s road. As one of the most cost-effective safety infrastructure solutions available to policy makers, vehicle restraint systems can greatly contribute to alleviating the consequences of road accidents and increase levels of safety on European roads.

Since 1 July 2013, all vehicle restraint systems for non-temporary use sold within the European Union and which are subject to the provisions of the Construction Products Regulation (CPR) must bear a 'CE Marking', i.e. prove that they comply with the requirement of Annex ZA of the European Standard hEN 1317-5.

As the responsible organisations for the issue of CE Certificate of Constancy of Performance (hereafter CE Certificates), Notified Bodies essentially act as the passport holders for the internal market and as guarantors of quality with the European Union where an appropriate European Directive of Regulation is in force. As such, it is imperative that any appointed or accredited notified body possess sufficient knowledge that is updated at regular intervals when dealing with the certification of vehicle restraint systems.

The purpose of the current ERF position paper is to raise its concern amongst the relevant bodies (European Commission, Member State authorities, Notified Bodies) about the current functioning of the system of notified bodies within Europe with respect to the certification of Vehicle Restraint Systems. Since 2011, ERF has become aware of specific practices amongst certain notified bodies that are inconsistent with the provisions of the CPR and which result in undermining firstly the coherence of the internal market for vehicle restraint systems and secondly, could result in unsafe or non-compliant systems being installed within the EU and non-EU countries that may utilise hEN 1317-5.

Moreover, the paper proposes a set of recommendations which, in the opinion of ERF, could substantially improve the functioning of the system of notified bodies for vehicle restraint systems if impleme

 2. The role of Notified Bodies and the CE marking

Since 1 July 2013, all road restraint systems falling under the provisions of the hEN 1317-5 must bear a CE Marking. A CE marking on a road restraint system is the manufacturer’s self-declaration that performances were obtained using the procedures indicated in hEN 1317-5. It indicates to the appropriate bodies that the product may be legally offered for sale in their country and provides the responsible companies easier access into the European market to sell their products without adaptation or rechecking.

In order to obtain a CE marking for road equipment products, a company must seek the services of a Notified Certification Body which is responsible for assessing whether the product meets the necessary criteria. A notified certification body is an organisation that has been notified to the European Commission by a Member State.

As these organisations are ultimately responsible for assessing the compliance of a road restraint system against the hEN 1317-5 and the provision of a CE Certificate of Constancy of Performance to manufacturers, notified bodies can in essence be described as 'passport issuers' to the EU internal market, which is acknowledged as the largest market in the world.

Given this important responsibility, it is essential that Notified Bodies for vehicle restraint systems have  sufficient  expertise  when  certifying  road  restraint  systems.  This  will  ensure  that:

• the road restraint systems sold within the EU are indeed crashworthy and comply    with the strict requirements of the European Standard hEN 1317-5 in order to guarantee their performance on European roads
• guarantee a level playing field for all legal entities within the internal market for road restraint systems