NoC313/10 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities 30.11.92
OpinionontheproposalforaCouncilDirectiverelatingtothemechanicalcouplingdevices
ofmotorvehiclesandtheirtrailersandtheirattachmenttothesevehicles(*)
(92/C313/04)
On22April1992theCouncildecidedtoconsulttheEconomicandSocialCommittee,under
Article100AoftheTreatyestablishingtheEuropeanEconomicCommunity ,onthe
abovementioned proposal.
TheSectionforIndustry,Commerce,CraftsandServices,whichwasresponsibleforpreparing
theCommittee'sworkonthesubject,adopteditsOpinionon2September1992inthelight
oftheReportbyMrPearson.
Atits299thPlenarySession(meetingof23September1992)theEconomicandSocial
CommitteeadoptedthefollowingOpinionunanimously .
willimprovesafety,however.Someofthetechnical
provisionsoftheDirective'sproposals,claimedtobe
intheinterestofsafety,varyandexceedtherequire­
mentsofthatRegulationandofthosestandards.Such
diversionmayincurashorttermincreasedcosttothe
manufacturerandinturntotheuser.Also,theremay
beconfusioninthepracticalapplicationofcurrent
couplingmechanismswiththoseofthenewspecifi­
cationthuscausinginconveniencetousers.
3.Articles1.Introduction
1.1.TheEconomicandSocialCommitteehasbeen
awareofthevariousproposalstoensurecommon
measurestowardthereductionofroadaccidents,the
removalofbarrierstotradeandthefreemovementof
personsandgoods.Ithasgivenitsopinions,inrecent
timesonsubjectssuchastyres,safetyglazing,masses
dimension,speedlimitersandexternalprojectionsto
goodsvehicles.ItthereforeispleasedthattheCom­
missionnowproposestofillthegapleftintheframe­
workDirective70/156/EECAnnexIIpoint11.
1.2.Withthefreeingoftheinternalmarketinvolving
thefreemovementofpersonsandgoodsitisvery
importantthattherebeharmonization ofthetechnical
requirementsofmechanicalcouplingdevices.Thecom­
patibilityandtheinterchangeability formotorvehicles
andtheirtrailersareveryimportantforcompetitive
transport .
1.3.TheCommitteefullyagreeswiththereasonsfor
theproposalsasstatedintheexplanatorymemor­
andum,butfeelsthatthecontentdoesnotfulfilcertain
statedobjectives.3.1.Article1
Thedefinitionrefersto....'typeapprovalofacom­
ponentwithinthemeaningofArticle9(a)ofDirective
70/156/EEC....'.Tomakethisdefinitionclearerthe
words'aslastamended'shouldbeadded.
3.2.Article2
Commence :'From1July1993MemberStatesmaynot
refuse...'
3.3.Article3
3.3.1.Thereisadiscrepancybetweenthelanguage
versionsofthisArticlewhichcancauseconfusion.The
Committeeclearlyunderstandsandapprovesthatitis
'thefirstentryintoservice'thatisintended.
3.3.2.Changedatefrom1October1995to1January
1996intheinterestofcompatibilityofotherDirectives.2.Specificcomments
2.1.TheCommitteeagreeswiththebasesofthe
specificationsbeinginaccordancewithECERegulation
55andwithISOstandards.ThereareseveralMember
StatescurrentlysignatoriestotheECERegulation55
andalsoanumberofnon-Community countries,whilst
ISOstandardsarewidelyadoptedbytheMember
States.
2.2.Itisappreciatedthataharmonizedgeneral
acceptanceofECERegulation55andISOstandards3.4.Article5
TheCommissionproposesthatitbeassistedbyan
AdvisoryCommitteebuttheEconomicandSocialCom­ (!)OJNoC134,25.5.1992,p.36.

30.11.92 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities NoC313/11
mitteebelievesthat'TheCommitteeforAdaptationto
technicalprogress'hasworkedwell—withvoting
procedurespermitted—andshouldremaininplace.
3.5.Article6
TheCommitteeunderstandstheurgencyofenacting
theseprovisionswithintheMemberStatesbutpoints
outthatthetimeschedulewillputconsiderablepressure
onmanufacturers tomeetthespecifications .Itwould
beadmirableiftheCouncilcouldarriveatadecision
earlyenoughfortheMemberStatestocomplywiththe
Regulationsby1January1993thuscoincidingwiththedatesetinthegeneralTypeApprovalDirective(70/
156/EEC).
3.6.AnnexV(4.5)
Intable5,thefiguresinClassD50-C2arenotin
accordancewithISOstandardsandtheGenevaCon­
ventionRegulation,anditisrecommendedthatthose
recognizedstandardsshouldstand.
3.7.AnnexVII
Themanufacturermayfinditdifficulttoevaluatefactor
'V'inthiscontext.
DoneatBrussels,23September1992.
TheChairman
oftheEconomicandSocialCommittee
MichaelGEUENICH
OpinionontheproposalforaCouncilDirectiveamendingDirective70/220/EEConthe
approximation ofthelawsoftheMemberStatesrelatingtomeasurestobetakenagainst
airpollutionbyemissionsfrommotorvehicles(*)
(92/C313/05)
On7April1992theCouncildecidedtoconsulttheEconomicandSocialCommittee,
underArticle100AoftheTreatyestablishingtheEuropeanEconomicCommunityonthe
abovementioned proposal.
TheSectionforIndustry,Commerce,CraftsandServices,whichwasresponsibleforpreparing
theCommittee'sworkonthesubject,adopteditsOpinionon8July1992inthelightofthe
ReportbyMrPearson.
Atits299thPlenarySession(meetingof23September1992)theEconomicandSocial
CommitteeadoptedthefollowingOpinionunanimously .
1.Introduction
1.1.Directive91/441/EEC(2),themostrecent
amendingDirectiveofthebasicDirective70/220/EEC,
madeprovisionformuchmoreseverepermittedlevels
ofemissionfrompassengercarsseatingnomorethan
sixpersonsandamaximumweightof2500kg.The
currentproposalscoverthesamepollutionlimitsasfor
passengercarsaccommodating morethansixpassen­
gers,forlightcommercialvehiclesandfor'off-road'
vehicles,ofuptoamaximumweightof3500kg.1.2.ThisdraftDirectivewasplannedtofollow
Directive91/441/EECasanumberofthecomponents
usedinmanufacturearethesame.Ingeneral,light
dutycommercialvehiclesaredesignedtomeetspecific
requirementsintermsoftransportofgoodsandpassen­
gersand,assuch,arecharacterizedbylowvolumeand
highvarianceofmodels:thosemotorcarcomponents
usedintheproductionofcommercialvehiclesusually
involvealterationastheextraloadburdencreatesa
problemforemissioncontrol,suspension,gear-box
transmissionandbodydesign(entailinggreaterwind
pressure).
(1)OJNoC100,22.4.1992,p.7.
(2)OJNoL242,30.8.1991,p.1.