Division (15)

According to recital 26 of the Regulation, Fiat is not obliged to provide independent repairers with technical information that would enable a third party to bypass or disarm on-board anti-theft devices and/or recalibrate^f1 electronic devices, or to tamper with devices which limit a vehicle’s performance. As with any exception under EU law, recital 26 is to be interpreted narrowly. The commitments note that if Fiat were to invoke this exception as a reason for withholding any technical information from independent repairers, it has committed itself to ensure that the information withheld is limited to that necessary to provide the protection described in recital 26, and that the lack of the information in question does not prevent independent repairers from carrying out operations other than those listed in recital 26, including work on devices such as engine management ECUs, airbags, seatbelt pre-tensioners, or central locking elements.