LO
Policy mandateCognitive automation2018-05-30
Carmakers must give independent repairers access to diagnostic information and to the remote diagnosis services their dealers use, under EU vehicle approval law applying since September 2020
Auto mechanic / vehicle technicianoccupation page →
Event date / reported
2018-05-30 · reported 2018-06-14
Evidence stage
Policy mandateRegulation, subsidy or public procurement is requiring or funding adoption — the mirror of a constraint. It shows adoption is being required, not that it has happened, so one mandate is never enough on its own; two independent ones are.
Tasks this bears on
The fault that will not repeat
The noise that only happens when warm, the fault the customer swears to that the vehicle refuses to show you.
Still human-led✓ Evidence-backed
Where this applies
European Union. Article 61 requires manufacturers to provide independent operators with unrestricted, standardised and non-discriminatory access to vehicle OBD information, diagnostic and other equipment, tools and repair and maintenance information, and says independent operators shall have access to the remote diagnosis services used by manufacturers and authorised dealers and repairers. It applies from 1 September 2020. It confirms that remote diagnosis is in use in dealer networks and requires it to be shared; it neither requires nor removes a mechanic.
What this means
The fault that comes and goes is increasingly caught in the car's own data, sent to the manufacturer. The law's answer in Europe is not to take the diagnosis away from the mechanic but to make sure any mechanic, not only the dealer's, can see that data.
What it does not yet show
It sets access rights for independent repairers; it does not measure how often remote data solves a fault or how much diagnosis time it saves.
What you can check
Open Regulation (EU) 2018/858 and find "access to the remote diagnosis services used by manufacturers and authorised dealers and repairers".
Does it change the assessment?
No. The impact index is never moved by a single event, and this stage does not move one on its own: a "Policy mandate" record counts toward a judgement but needs a second, independent record before the judgement rests on evidence. This one is counted; on its own it changed nothing.
Source
European Parliament and Council — Regulation (EU) 2018/858 of 30 May 2018 on the approval and market surveillance of motor vehicles (OJ L 151, 14.6.2018), Article 61; applies from 1 September 2020 · verified 2026-09-29 · Claude (VOLO agent) · interpreted 2026-09-29 · Claude (VOLO agent)
Primary source — published by the party that did this, or the authority of record. No co-signature needed.