8.4.2003 Official Journal of the European Union L 90/41 COMMISSION DIRECTIVE 2003/27 [EC of 3 April 2003 on adapting to technical progress Council Directive 96/96/EC as regards the testing of exhaust emissions from motor vehicles (Text with EEA relevance) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, (4)  The measures provided for in this Directive are in accor- Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Having regard to Council Directive 96/96/EC of 20 December 1996 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to roadworthiness tests for motor vehicles and their trailers (!), as last amended by Commission Directive 2001/11/ EC (3), and in particular Article 7(2) thereof, Whereas: (1) The Auto-Oil programmes, which were initiated in 1992 to provide the analytical foundation for the setting of vehicle emission and fuel quality standards for the year 2000 and beyond, in order to achieve air quality objec- tives with a particular focus on reducing road transport emissions, identified the standard of motor vehicle main- tenance as a key factor in the effect of traffic on air quality. (2)  Directive 96/96/EC specifies the tests to be carried out at periodic inspections to check that emissions from both petrol and diesel driven vehicles are still within accep- table limits. ) A working group of experts from the International Motor Vehicle Inspection Committee (CITA), and from other relevant organisations was established by the Commission and met during year 2000. The group examined the options for amending the limits for the emission tests prescribed in Directive 96/96/EC and in Directive 2000/30/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 June 2000 on the technical roadside inspection of the roadworthiness of commercial vehicles circulating in the Community (°) to determine whether improved environmental benefits could be realised. The Group concluded that the currently prescribed limits are invariably well above what the vehicle is capable of achieving in practice, provided that it is properly main- tained: the current limits are therefore not as effective as they could be in facilitating the detection of gross emit- ters, i.e. vehicles whose exhaust emissions are at least 50 % more than would be expected from a properly maintained vehicle. OJ L 46, 17.2.1997, p. 1. () OJ L 48, 17.2.2001, p. 20. 0J L 203, 10.8.2000, p. 1. dance with the opinion of the committee for the adapta- tion to technical progress of the Directive on road- worthiness tests for motor vehicles and their trailers instituted by Article 8 of Directive 96/96/EC, HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE: Atrticle 1 Annex II to Directive 96/96/EC is amended as set out in the Annex to this Directive. Atticle 2 1. Member States shall bring into force the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with this Directive by 1 January 2004 at the latest. They shall forthwith inform the Commission thereof. When Member States adopt those provisions, they shall contain a reference to this Directive or be accompanied by such a refer- ence on the occasion of their official publication. Member States shall determine how such reference is to be made. 2. Member States shall communicate to the Commission the texts of the provisions of national law that they adopt in the field governed by this Directive. Article 3 This Directive shall enter into force on the 20th day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities. Atrticle 4 This Directive is addressed to the Member States. Done at Brussels, 3 April 2003. For the Commission Loyola DE PALACIO Vice-President