Manufacturer is a physical or a legal entity that is responsible for all aspects of the vehicle type-approval process, system, component or separate technical unit, or the approval of individual vehicle or approval process related to a part or a piece of equipment, for ensuring conformity of production and for market supervision issues in connection with the manufactured vehicle, system, component, separate technical unit or equipment, regardless of whether the entity is directly involved in the all phases of construction and production of the vehicle, system, component or separate technical unit.

Trailer is a non-self-propelled vehicle on wheels designed and constructed to be towed by a motor vehicle, that can articulate at least around a horizontal axis perpendicular to the longitudinal median plane and around a vertical axis parallel to the longitudinal median plane of the towing motor vehicle.

Approval authority is the authority or authorities of a member state, notified to the Commission by that member state, with competence for all aspects of the type-approval of a vehicle, system, component or separate technical unit, or of the individual vehicle approval, for the authorisation process for parts and equipment, for issuing and, if appropriate, for withdrawing or refusing approval certificates, for acting as the contact point for the approval authorities of the other member states, for designating the technical services, and for ensuring that the manufacturer meets its obligations regarding the conformity of production;.

EC Type-Approval is the procedure whereby an approval authority certifies that a type of vehicle, system, component or separate technical unit satisfies the relevant administrative provisions and technical requirements of Regulation (EU) 2018/858.

Technical service is an organisation or body designated by the approval authority as a testing laboratory to carry out tests, or as a conformity assessment body to carry out the initial assessment and other tests or inspections.

The technical services shall fall into one or more of the four following categories of activities, depending on their field of competence:

a) category A: technical services which carry out in their own facilities the tests referred to in Regulation (EU) 2018/858 and in the regulatory acts listed in Annex II;

b) category B: technical services which supervise the tests and the preparation of the tests set out in Regulation (EU) 2018/858 and in the regulatory acts listed in Annex II, when such tests are carried out in the manufacturer's facilities or in the facilities of a third party;

c) category C: technical services which regularly assess and monitor the manufacturer’s procedures for controlling conformity of production;

d) category D: technical services which supervise the tests and inspections or which perform them for the purposes of the surveillance of conformity of production.

COC – Certificate of Conformity

COP – Certificate of Procedures