The registration certificate part I has replaced the vehicle registration document. It is an official document to clarify the ownership of a motor vehicle and the fulfillment of the technical operating requirements. The person entered in the registration certificate is the keeper of the corresponding vehicle and therefore not necessarily also the owner or even possessor (even if this can be assumed in most cases).

The advantages are greater protection against forgery, EU-wide legibility and standardization as well as the higher information content.

There is no general obligation to exchange the old vehicle registration certificate for the new Part I registration certificate. However, old and new documents may not coexist for a vehicle. If a new vehicle registration certificate has to be issued anyway, e.g. because it has been lost (regardless of whether the old vehicle registration document is still available), it is automatically exchanged. The vehicle registration document is destroyed and replaced by the registration certificate part I, the vehicle registration document is invalidated and replaced by the registration certificate part II.