Proposal for a European Parliament and Council Directive amending Council Directive 80/181/EEC on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to units of measurement (1999/C 89/02) (Text with EEA relevance) COM(1999) 40 final - 99/014(COD)

(Submitted by the Commission on 6 February 1999)

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 100a thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee,

Acting in accordance with the procedure to in Article 189b of the Treaty,

1. Whereas at international level the 19th General Conference on Weights and Measures (1991) extended the list of SI prefixes to be used for multiples and submultiples of SI units;

2. Whereas the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) has revised the principles and rules regarding quantities and units as laid down in the international standard ISO 31; whereas rules for the practical use of the SI system are given by the international standard ISO 1000;

3. Whereas the text of Council Directive 80/181/EEC (1), as last amended by Directive 89/617/EEC (2) should be brought into line with these international agreements and standards;

4. Whereas certain third countries do not accept onto their market products marked exclusively in the legal units established by Directive 80/181/EEC; whereas companies exporting to these countries will be disadvantaged if supplementary indications are disallowed after 31 December 1999; whereas supplementary indications in non-legal units should therefore be authorised for a further period;

5. Whereas the application of Directive 80/181/EEC should be re-examined and the appropriate measures taken towards the use of a global system; whereas the procedure of Article 18 of the Council Directive 71/316/EEC (3), should apply where appropriate,

HAVE ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:

Article 1

Directive 80/181/EEC is hereby amended as follows:

1. In Article 3(2):

'31 December 1999` is replaced by '31 December 2009`.

2. The following Article 6a is added:

'Article 6a

Issues concerning the implementation of this directive, and in particular, the matter of supplementary indications shall be further examined, and if necessary the appropriate measures adopted in accordance with the procedure of Article 18 of Council Directive 71/316/EEC (*).

(*) OJ L 202, 6.9.1971, p. 1.`

3. The Annex is amended as follows:

(a) In Chapter I, the text under the table in point 1.1.1 is replaced by the following:

'Celsius temperature t is defined as the difference t = T - T0 between the two thermodynamic temperatures T and T0 where T0 = 273,15 K. An interval or difference of temperature may be expressed either in kelvins or in degrees Celsius. The unit "degree Celsius" is equal to the unit "kelvin".`

(b) The definitions of the SI supplementary units following the table in point 1.2.1 is replaced by the following:

'Unit of plane angle

The radian is the angle between two radii of a circle which cut off on the circumference an arc equal in length to the radius.

(International standard ISO 31 - 1: 1992).

Unit of solid angle

The steradian is the solid angle of a cone which, having its vertex in the centre of a sphere, cuts off on the surface of the sphere an area equal to that of a square with sides of length equal to the radius of the sphere.

(International standard ISO 31 - 1: 1992).`

(c) The table in point 1.3. is replaced by the following:

'>TABLE>

`

(d) Point 3. is replaced by the following:

'3. UNITS USED WITH THE SI, THE VALUES OF WHICH IN SI ARE OBTAINED EXPERIMENTALLY

>TABLE>

`

Article 2

Member States shall bring into force the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with this Directive on (4). They shall forthwith inform the Commission thereof.

When Member States adopt these provisions, they shall contain a reference to this Directive or shall be accompanied by such reference at the time of their official publication. Member States shall lay down the procedure for such reference.

Article 3

Without prejudice to Directive 80/181/EEC, Member States shall, after 31 December 1999, authorise or continue to permit the use of the supplementary indications referred to in Article 3 of that Directive.

Article 4

This Directive shall enter into force on the 20th day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.

(1) OJ L 39, 15.2.1980, p. 40.

(2) OJ L 357, 7.12.1989, p. 28.

(3) OJ L 202, 6.9.1971, p. 1.

(4) 12 months after the adoption of this Directive.