14.3.2013 Official Journal of the European Union L 70/7 COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING DECISION of 13 March 2013 on the approval of the use of light emitting diodes in certain lighting functions of an M1 vehicle as an innovative technology for reducing CO, emissions from passenger cars pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 4432009 of the European Parliament and of the Council (Text with EEA relevance) (2013/128/EV) THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION, Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, Having regard to Regulation (EC) No 443/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009 setting emission performance standards for new passenger cars as part of the Community’s integrated approach to reduce CO, emissions from light-duty vehicles (*), and in particular Article 12(4) thereof, Whereas: 1 The manufacturer AUDI AG (the ‘Applicant) submitted an application for the approval of an innovative tech- nology on 29 August 2012. The completeness of the application was assessed in accordance with Article 4 of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 725/2011 of 25 July 2011 establishing a procedure for the approval and certification of innovative technologies for reducing CO, emissions from passenger cars pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 443/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council (). The Commission identified certain relevant information as missing in the original application and requested the Applicant to complete it. The Applicant provided the required information on 25 October 2012. The application was found to be complete and the period for the Commis- sion’s assessment of the application started on the day following the date of official receipt of the complete information, i.e. 26 October 2012. The application has been assessed in accordance with Article 12 of Regulation (EC) No 443/2009, Imple- menting Regulation (EU) No 725/2011 and the Technical Guidelines for the preparation of applications for the approval of innovative technologies pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 443/2009 (3). The application refers to the use of light emitting diodes (LEDs) in the low beam headlamp, the high beam headlamp, and the licence plate lamp of an M1 vehicle. () OJ L 140, 5.6.2009, p. 1. () OJ L 194, 26.7.2011, p. 19. () http://ec.europa.eu/clima/policies/transport/vehicles/cars/docs| guidelines_en.pdf (version of July 2011). ) ®) The Commission finds that the information provided in the application demonstrates that the conditions and criteria referred to in Article 12 of Regulation (EC) No 443/2009 and in Articles 2 and 4 of Implementing Regulation (EU) No 725/2011 have been met. The Applicant has demonstrated that the use of LEDs in the low beam headlamp, the high beam headlamp, and the licence plate lamp did not exceed 3 % of the new passenger cars registered in the reference year 2009. In support of this the Applicant provided data on the percentage of installed LEDs in different lighting functions in the AUDI A6 model, in M1 vehicles produced by Volkswagen AG and production data from the European Association of Automotive suppliers (CLEPA). On that basis, the Commission finds that the use of LEDs in the low beam headlamp, the high beam headlamp, and the licence plate lamp should be considered eligible for approval as an innovative tech- nology within the meaning of Article 12 of Regulation (EC) No 443/2009. The definition of the baseline technology is essential for the determination of the CO, savings from the inno- vative technology. That definition should therefore be justified and be based on relevant data. The Applicant has provided data in support of halogen lighting as the technology with the highest market penetration in 2009. The Commission notes that although other, more energy efficient, lighting technologies may have been in use within a limited segment of the car fleet, it is acknowledged that halogen lighting had the highest market penetration for the fleet as a whole. As a consequence, and for the purpose of ensuring that the testing methodology may be relevant and representative for the vehicle fleet as a whole, it is appropriate to consider halogen lighting as baseline technology. The Applicant has provided a methodology for testing the CO, reductions from the use of the LEDs in the lighting functions concerned. The Commission finds that the methodology provides accurate and reliable results that are reproducible by a third party. The Commission finds that the Applicant has demon- strated satisfactorily that, for the vehicles on which the innovative technology was tested using the described methodology, the emission reduction achieved by the innovative technology is at least 1 g CO,/km.