COMMISSION DIRECTIVE 1999/15/EC
of 16 March 1999
adapting to technical progress Council Directive 76/759/EEC relating to direction indicator lamps for motor vehicles and their trailers
(Text with EEA relevance)
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,
Having regard to Council Directive 70/156/EEC of 6 February 1970 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the type-approval of motor vehicles and their trailers(1), as last amended by Directive 98/91/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council(2), and in particular Article 13(2) thereof,
Having regard to Council Directive 76/759/EEC of 27 June 1976 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to direction indicator lamps for motor vehicles and their trailers(3), as last amended by the Act of Accession of Austria, Finland and Sweden, and in particular Article 10 thereof,
(1) Whereas Directive 76/759/EEC is one of the separate Directives of the EC type-approval procedure which has been established by Directive 70/156/EEC; whereas, consequently, the provisions laid down in Directive 70/156/EEC relating to vehicle systems, components and separate technical units apply to Directive 76/759/EEC;
(2) Whereas, in particular, Article 3(4) and Article 4(3) of Directive 70/156/EEC require each separate Directive to have attached to it an information document and also a type-approval certificate based on Annex VI to Directive 70/156/EEC in order that type-approval may be computerised; whereas the type-approval certificate provided for in Directive 76/759/EEC should be amended accordingly;
(3) Whereas the procedures should be simplified in order to maintain the equivalence envisaged by Article 9(2) of Directive 70/156/EEC between certain separate Directives and the corresponding regulations of the United Nations' Economic Commission for Europe (UN-ECE), when those regulations are amended; whereas, as a first step, the technical requirements of Directive 76/759/EEC should be replaced by those of UN-ECE Regulation No 6 by way of cross-reference;
(4) Whereas it is necessary to ensure that the requirements in Council Directive 76/756/EEC(4), as last amended by Commission Directive 97/28/EC(5), and in Council Directive 76/761/EEC(6), as last amended by Commission Directive 1999/17/EC(7), are complied with;
(5) Whereas the measures provided for in this Directive are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee for Adaptation to Technical Progress established by Directive 70/156/EEC,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:
Article 1
Directive 76/759/EEC is amended as follows:
1. In Article 1, paragraph 1 is replaced by the following:
"1. Each Member State shall grant EC component type-approval for any type of direction indicator lamp which satisfies the construction and testing requirements laid down in the relevant Annexes."
2. In Article 2, the first paragraph is replaced by the following:
"Member States shall, for each type of direction indicator lamp which they approve pursuant to Article 1, issue to the manufacturer an EC component type-approval mark conforming to the model shown in Annex I, Appendix 3."
3. Article 4 is replaced by the following:
"Article 4
The competent authorities of the Member States shall inform each other, by means of the procedures specified in Article 4(6) of Directive 70/156/EEC, of each approval which they have granted, refused or withdrawn pursuant to this Directive."
4. Article 9 is replaced by the following:
"Article 9
For the purposes of this Directive, 'vehicle' means any motor vehicle intended for use on the road, with or without bodywork, having at least four wheels and a maximum design speed exceeding 25 km/h, and its trailers, with the exception of vehicles which run on rails and of agricultural and forestry tractors and all mobile machinery."
5. The Annexes are replaced by the text in the Annex to this Directive.
Article 2
1. From 1 October 1999, or, if the publication of the texts referred to in Article 3 is delayed beyond 1 April 1999, six months after the actual date of publication of these texts, Member States may not, on grounds relating to direction indicator lamps:
- refuse, in respect of a type of vehicle or a type of direction indicator lamp, to grant EC type-approval or national type-approval, or
- prohibit the registration, sale or entry into service of vehicles, or the sale or entry into service of direction indicator lamps,
provided that the direction indicator lamps comply with the requirements of Directive 76/759/EEC, as amended by this Directive, and that, as far as vehicles are concerned, they are installed in accordance with the requirements laid down in Directive 76/756/EEC.
2. From 1 April 2000 Member States:
- shall no longer grant EC type-approval, and
- may refuse to grant national type-approval
for any type of vehicle on grounds relating to direction indicator lamps, and for any type of direction indicator lamp, if the requirements of Directive 76/759/EEC, as amended by this Directive, are not fulfilled.
3. From 1 April 2001 the requirements of Directive 76/759/EEC relating to direction indicator lamps as components, as amended by this Directive, shall be applicable for the purposes of Article 7(2) of Directive 70/156/EEC.
4. Notwithstanding paragraphs 2 and 3, for the purposes of replacement parts Member States shall continue to grant EC type-approval of direction indicator lamps, and to permit their sale and entry into service, in accordance with previous versions of Directive 76/759/EEC provided that such direction indicator lamps:
- are intended to be fitted to vehicles already in use, and
- comply with the requirements of that Directive which were applicable when the vehicles where first registered.
Article 3
The paragraphs and annexes of UN-ECE Regulation No 6, referred to in point 1 of Annex II, shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Communities before 1 April 1999.
Article 4
1. Member States shall bring into force the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with this Directive by 1 October 1999; however, if the publication of the texts referred to in Article 3 is delayed beyond 1 April 1999, the Member States shall comply with this obligation six months after the actual date of publication of these texts. They shall forthwith inform the Commission thereof.
They shall apply those provisions from 1 October 1999, or, if the publication of the texts referred to in Article 3 is delayed beyond 1 April 1999, six months after the actual date of publication of those texts.
When Member States adopt those provisions, they shall contain a reference to this Directive or be accompanied by such a reference on the occasion of their official publication. Member States shall determine how such reference is to be made.
2. Member States shall communicate to the Commission the texts of the main provisions of national law which they adopt in the field covered by this Directive.
Article 5
This Directive shall enter into force on the 20th day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.
Article 6
This Directive is addressed to the Member States.
Done at Brussels, 16 March 1999.