Council Directive 80/181/EEC of 20 December 1979 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to units of measurement and on the repeal of Directive 71/354/EEC
Date: 1979-12-20

num: Article 1
paragraphs: The legal units of measurement within the meaning of this Directive which must be used for expressing quantities shall be: (a) those listed in Chapter I of the Annex;
(b) those listed in Chapter II of the Annex, until a date to be fixed by the Member States ; this date may not be later than 31 December 1985;
(c) those listed in Chapter III of the Annex only in those Member States where they were authorized on 21 April 1973 and until a date to be fixed by those Member States ; this date may not be later than a date to be set by the Council before 31 December 1989 on the basis of Article 100 of the Treaty.
num: Article 2
paragraphs: (a) The obligations arising under Article 1 relate to measuring instruments used, measurements made and indications of quantity expressed in units of measurement, for economic, public health, public safety or administrative purposes.
(b) This Directive shall not affect the use in the field of air and sea transport and rail traffic of units, other than those made compulsory by the Directive, which have been laid down in international conventions or agreements binding the Community or the Member States.
num: Article 3
paragraphs: 1. For the purposes of this Directive "supplementary indication" means one or more indications of quantity expressed in units of measurement not contained in Chapter I of the Annex accompanying an indication of quantity expressed in a unit contained in that Chapter.
2. The use of supplementary indications shall be authorized until 31 December 1989.
3. However, Member States may require that measuring instruments bear indications of quantity in a single legal unit of measurement.
4. The indication expressed in a unit of measurement listed in Chapter I shall predominate. In particular, the indications expressed in units of measurement not listed in Chapter I shall be expressed in characters no larger than those of the corresponding indication in units listed in Chapter I.
5. The use of supplementary indications may be extended after 31 December 1989.
num: Article 4
paragraphs: The use of units of measurement which are not or are no longer legal shall be authorized for: - products and equipment already on the market and/or in service on the date on which this Directive is adopted,
- components and parts of products and of equipment necessary to supplement or replace components or parts of the above products and equipment.
However, the use of legal units of measurement may be required for the indicators of measuring instruments.
num: Article 5
paragraphs: International standard ISO 2955 of 1 March 1974, "Information processing - Representations of SI and other units for use in systems with limited character sets" shall apply in the field covered by paragraph 1 thereof.
num: Article 6
paragraphs: Directive 71/354/EEC shall be repealed on 1 October 1981.
However, by way of derogation from Directive 71/354/EEC, Member States shall authorize or continue to allow on the terms specified in Article 1 of this Directive the use of the following units of measurement after 31 December 1979: >PIC FILE= "T0013329">
num: Article 7
paragraphs: (a) Member States shall adopt and publish before 1 July 1981 the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with this Directive and shall inform the Commission thereof.
They shall apply these provisions from 1 October 1981.
(b) As from the date of notification of this Directive, Member States shall also ensure that the Commission is informed, in sufficient time to enable it to submit its comments, of any draft laws, regulations or administrative provisions which they intend to adopt in the field covered by this Directive.