Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the "Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on EC type-approval of agricultural and forestry tractors, their trailers and interchangeable towed equipment, together with their systems, components and separate technical units"

(COM(2002) 6 final - 2002/0017 (COD))

(2002/C 221/02)

On 12 February 2002 the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, under Article 95 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the above-mentioned proposal.

The Section for the Single Market, Production and Consumption, which was responsible for preparing the Committee's work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 8 May 2002. The rapporteur was Mr Levaux.

At its 391st plenary session (meeting of 29 May 2002), the Economic and Social Committee adopted the following opinion unanimously.

1. Objectives of the proposal

1.1. In connection with the harmonisation of approval procedures, it has become essential to bring the provisions of Council Directive 74/150/EEC of 4 March 1974 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the type-approval of wheeled agricultural or forestry tractors into line with those of 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, and with those of Council Directive 92/61/EEC of 30 June 1992 relating to the type-approval of two- or three-wheel motor vehicles.

1.2. The proposal makes up the second stage of rewriting Directive 74/150/EEC, and mainly involves extending its scope to cover more specific types of tractors, their trailers and interchangeable towed equipment.

1.3. The Commission stresses that, in the interests of effectiveness and greater transparency, it has prepared this proposal with a view to eliminating excess regulation and simplifying the implementation of legislation.

1.4. In proposing to replace national type-approval with EC type-approval, the Commission is advocating total, Community-wide harmonisation.

1.5. The proposal also takes account of certain international regulations, for example, those of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe and of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

1.6. Finally, the Commission feels that the proposed directive will help to expedite the administrative tasks which manufacturers must complete in order to be able to market their products.

1.7. The Directive will also allow manufacturers to eliminate the technical variants that are currently necessary to meet diverging national requirements, and to submit new types of vehicles to a single Community type-approval procedure in a single Member State.

2. General comments

2.1. The proposal for a Directive concerns an important sector of activity, the estimated turnover of which is Euro 16 billion.

2.2. This sector directly employs 140000 people in 5000 companies and, indirectly, a further 150000 in distribution and sales.

2.3. The trend seems to be towards gradual growth in production over the long term, with increased trade both within the Community and with external partners (mainly towards the USA and Central Europe).

2.4. The Committee welcomes the fact that the Commission has provided for sufficiently long deadlines for the implementation of the proposed Directive to allow manufacturers to adjust to the new harmonised procedures.

3. Specific comments

3.1. The Committee notes that the scope of Directive 74/150/EEC was limited to wheeled agricultural and forestry tractors. The scope of the proposed Directive is wider as it will cover both wheeled and track-laying tractors, their trailers and interchangeable towed equipment.

3.2. The Committee notes that interchangeable vehicle-mounted equipment is not mentioned in the proposed Directive. In the interests of clarity, the Committee believes it would be very useful to point out in the "whereas clauses" of this Directive that such equipment is regulated by another directive.

3.3. The Committee therefore proposes adding the following new point 2(a) to the whereas clauses of the proposal: "Interchangeable vehicle-mounted equipment for agricultural and forestry use is regulated by Directive 98/37/EC on 'machinery'(1), in view of the occupational safety aspects."

3.4. The Committee has taken note of the impact assessment drawn up by the Commission and reiterates that the proposal for a Directive affects both large companies, which manufacture tractors, and small and medium-sized enterprises on the equipment side, which are distributed equally throughout the EU. Single type-approval will make it easier for these companies to export their products.

3.5. While the harmonisation of procedures and EC type-approval is clearly important for making the internal market more dynamic, it must also be an opportunity to boost exports outside the Community, in particular beyond the countries of central Europe, many of which are already applicant states.

3.6. The Committee welcomes the Commission's efforts to harmonise procedures and establish a single EC type-approval that, in time, will allow manufacturers to operate under transparent and balanced conditions of competition by providing them with common rules, in particular concerning occupational safety, for the use of agricultural and forestry tractors and their equipment.

3.7. The Committee agrees with the objectives of the Commission, which states the following in the conclusion to its explanatory memorandum: "... the proposed directive will help to simplify and expedite the administrative tasks which manufacturers must complete in order to be able to market their products."

3.8. However, having examined the procedures, exemptions, special provisions for particular types of vehicle and annexes to the proposed Directive, the Committee believes that the mechanism is rather complex, given that it refers to over 43 separate directives to date, as listed in Annex II, Chapter B, Part 1 (List of separate directives).

3.9. As a result, the Committee believes that, despite efforts to clarify the mechanism, it is still rather complex and the proposal is unlikely significantly to expedite the administrative tasks facing manufacturers.

3.10. Article 21 states that the Commission will be assisted by a specialised committee on adaptation to technical progress, composed of representatives of the Member States. This committee could look into classification problems in each category of new vehicle, in particular the "Quads" that have recently emerged on the market.

3.11. The Committee regrets that this committee will only be concerned with the issue of adapting to technical progress and cannot take on the task of assessing the real impact of the new procedures in terms of simplifying and expediting administrative tasks. Given that this is a main objective stated by the Commission to stress the importance of the proposed Directive, the Committee believes that efforts must be made to avoid a proliferation of committees or observatories and that, after three years of implementation, this "adaptation committee" should assess improvements intended to simplify and expedite administrative tasks, which are sometimes linked to technical progress.

3.12. Article 23 of the proposed Directive states that the Member States must bring their provisions into line with this Directive by 31 December 2004 and that these new provisions will apply from 1 January 2005.

3.13. Article 24 states that national type-approval is to be replaced by EC type-approval, the aim of the proposed Directive, by category of vehicle once all the corresponding separate directives are adapted. The table found in Annex II, Chapter B, Part 1 (List of separate directives) of the proposed Directive demonstrates that, for many types of vehicle, the corresponding separate directives apply as they stand.

For these types of vehicle, EC type-approval will therefore apply as soon as the new provisions are implemented on 1 January 2005, as laid down in Article 23.

3.14. For categories of vehicle covered by existing separate directives that must be amended or separate directives that are yet to be published, the Commission envisages postponing the implementation of EC type-approval until:

- three years after the date of entry into force of the last separate directive which must still be adopted for new types of vehicles;

- six years after the date of entry into force of the last separate directive which must still be adopted for all vehicles.

3.15. As no indication is given of the deadline for publishing the last separate directives to be adopted, the Committee wonders when the proposed Directive will actually be fully implemented and when it will finally be able to have the positive impact expected.

3.16. The Committee believes it is necessary that enough time is allowed for manufacturers to adjust and Member States to make their arrangements. However, given how urgent and important it is for manufacturers to have a single type-approval procedure to facilitate exports, the Committee hopes that the aforementioned deadlines of three and six years will be reduced to two and four years respectively.

4. Conclusions

4.1. The Committee supports the Commission in its efforts to harmonise EC type-approval of agricultural and forestry tractors, and approves the proposed Directive.

4.2. The Committee hopes that the adoption of the Directive will provide an opportunity to give new impetus to exports in this innovative and competitive sector. It therefore suggests that the Commission conduct a forward economic study into the new possibilities that will be open to European manufacturers once this EC type-approval has been implemented by the Member States.

4.3. The Committee hopes that the Commission will set a specific deadline for publishing the remaining separate directives and shorten the deadline for implementing EC type-approval once they have been adopted, in order to give manufacturers a clear picture so they can develop their market more effectively.

4.4. The Committee regrets that the proposed Directive, which aims to simplify and expedite administrative tasks, does not provide for an assessment of the impact of new provisions in this area. To lighten the Commission's workload without setting up a new body, this task of assessing the impact of the new procedures should be assigned to the committee on adaptation to technical progress provided for in Article 21, for which Member States are free to appoint appropriate representatives.

Brussels, 29 May 2002.

The President

of the Economic and Social Committee

Göke Frerichs

(1) OJ L 207, 23.7.1998.