COMMISSION DIRECTIVE 97/31/EC of 11 June 1997 adapting to technical progress Council Directive 76/760/EEC relating to the rear registration plate 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 relating to the type-approval of motor vehicles and their trailers (1), as last amended by European Parliament and Council Directive 96/79/EC (2), and in particular Article 13 (2) thereof,
Having regard to Council Directive 76/760/EEC of 27 July 1976 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the rear registration plate 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,
Whereas Directive 76/760/EEC is one of the separate Directives of the EEC 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 this Directive;
Whereas, in particular, Articles 3 (4) and 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 that Directive in order that type-approval may be computerized; whereas the type-approval certificate(s) provided for in Directive 76/760/EEC must be amended accordingly;
Whereas the procedures need to be simplified in order to maintain the equivalence established 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 when the said regulations are amended; whereas, as a first step, the technical requirements of Directive 76/760/EEC need to be replaced by those of Regulation No 4 by way of cross-reference;
Whereas reference is made to Council Directive 76/756/EEC (4), as last amended by Commission Directive 97/28/EC (5), and to Directive 76/761/EEC (6), as last amended by the Act of Accession of Austria, Finland and Sweden;
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 76/760/EEC is hereby amended as follows:
1. Article 1 (1) is replaced by the following:
'1. Member States shall grant EEC component type-approval for any type of rear registration plate lamp which satisfies the construction and testing requirements laid down in the relevant Annexes.`
2. The first paragraph of Article 2 is replaced by the following:
'Member States shall for each type of rear registration plate lamp which they approve pursuant to Article 1, issue to the manufacturer an EEC component type-approval mark conforming to the model shown in Annex 1, 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 procedure 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 Annex to this Directive.
Article 2
1. From 1 January 1998, or, if the publication of the texts referred to in Article 3 is delayed beyond 1 July 1997, six months after the actual date of publication of these texts, Member States may not, on grounds relating to rear registration plate lamps:
- refuse, in respect of a type of vehicle or a type of lamp mentioned above, 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 rear registration plate lamps,
provided that the lamps comply with the requirements of Directive 76/760/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 October 1998 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 rear registration plate lamps, and for any type of rear registration plate lamp, if the requirements of Directive 76/760/EEC, as amended by this Directive, are not fulfilled.
3. From 1 October 1999 the requirements of Directive 76/760/EEC relating to rear registration plate 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 above, for the purposes of replacement parts Member States shall continue to grant EC type-approval of rear registration plate lamps, and to permit their sale and entry into service, in accordance with previous versions of Directive 76/760/EEC provided that such 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 were first registered.
Article 3
The paragraphs and annexes of UN/ECE Regulation No 4 referred to in Annex II, item 2.1, shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Communities before 1 July 1997.
Article 4
1. Member States shall bring into force the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with this Directive by 1 January 1998; however, if the publication of the texts referred to in Article 3 is delayed beyond 1 July 1997, 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 January 1998, or, if the publication of the texts referred to in Article 3 is delayed beyond 1 July 1997, Member States shall implement these provisions six months after the actual date of publication of these texts.
When Member States adopt these provisions, these shall contain a reference to this Directive or shall be accompanied by such reference at the time of their official publication. The procedure for such reference shall be adopted by Member States.
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 twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.
Article 6
This Directive is addressed to the Member States.
Done at Brussels, 11 June 1997.