Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the 'Proposal for a European Parliament and Council Directive relating to motor vehicles and their trailers with regard to the transport of dangerous goods by road and amending Directive 70/156/EEC in respect of the type-approval of motor vehicles and their trailers` () (97/C 296/01)

On 13 February 1997 the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, under Article 100a of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the above-mentioned proposal.

The Section for Industry, Commerce, Crafts and Services, which was responsible for preparing the Committee's work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 4 June 1997. The rapporteur was Mr Kubenz.

At its 347th plenary session (meeting of 9 July 1997), the Economic and Social Committee adopted the following opinion by 115 votes to three, with one abstention.

1. Preamble

The Member States (except Ireland) are contracting parties to the European Agreement concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road (ADR Agreement) ().

1.1. Directive 94/55/EC () transposed the provisions of the ADR Agreement into Community law as of 1 January 1997. The directive applies to the transport of dangerous goods and contains provisions relating to vehicle construction and equipment within the Community. However, it does not ensure that the construction characteristics of vehicles used to transport dangerous goods are accepted by other Member States. In order for this to be accomplished, a separate directive, within the purview of the European type-approval procedure laid down in Directive 70/156/EEC, needs to be accepted so as to provide for the free circulation of vehicles within the Community on the basis of harmonized construction characteristics.

1.2. This directive is therefore a companion directive to Council Directive 94/55/EC and lays down special provisions for

- the design and construction of the base vehicle intended for the transportation of dangerous goods; and

- technical specifications regarding

electrical equipment,

braking system (e.g. ABS and endurance braking system),

fire risk prevention, and

speed limitation.

1.3. These provisions are based on the provisions of Council Directive 94/55/EC (to which a direct reference is made in this directive). Compliance with all the relevant technical requirements of this directive will ensure that the vehicles concerned can circulate freely within the internal market of the EU. Thus when a vehicle type is approved in accordance with this directive, Member States will be able neither to prohibit manufacturers from offering it for sale, nor to refuse its registration or entry into service for reasons relating to its construction.

1.4. Like all other separate directives relating to the type approval of commercial vehicles - except those on air pollution and noise emissions - this new directive will be based on optional harmonization. Member States may require that only the provisions of the separate directive apply. Alternatively they may maintain national legislation on this matter, in which case the manufacturer can choose between this and the harmonized provisions. Member States are free to oblige a manufacturer, who has not opted for EC type-approval, to comply with their national requirements.

1.5. This directive does not affect national or Community legislation relating to the use of such vehicles. The administrative provisions of the draft proposal are aligned with those of Directive 70/156/EEC, in order to ensure its continued applicability.

1.6. This directive will remain optional until such time as the framework Directive 70/156/EEC becomes mandatory for commercial vehicles in all Member States. Whenever a manufacturer chooses to avail himself of the provisions of this directive, he will be permitted to do so, and vehicles which meet the technical requirements of the directive will be allowed to circulate freely in the other Member States.

2. Introduction

2.1. The object of this proposal for a directive is to establish the technical requirements for the construction of motor vehicles and their trailers used for the transport of dangerous goods by road. The directive will help to ensure that the technical conditions obtain for the safe transport of dangerous goods.

2.2. The draft proposal lays down requirements on the basis of Article 100a of the Treaty establishing the European Community (measures for the approximation of the provisions laid down by law, regulation or administrative action in Member States which have as their object the establishment and functioning of the internal market) and provides for total harmonization of the relevant technical provisions of vehicles intended for the transport of dangerous goods by road. This approach is consistent with the general approach followed in the motor vehicle sector as established in the framework directive regulating the type-approval of motor vehicles in the European Union [Council Directive 70/156/EEC () of 6 February 1970, as last amended by Directive 96/79/EC of the European Parliament and the Council ()].

3. General comments

3.1. The Economic and Social Committee welcomes the Commission proposal to harmonize the legal provisions governing the type-approval of motor vehicles and their trailers by amending Directive 70/156/EEC and by issuing a separate directive on type-approval of motor vehicles and their trailers with regard to the construction of vehicles designed for the transport of dangerous goods.

3.2. As the Council has now adopted more than thirty-six separate type-approval directives for category N vehicles, the time has come to add type-approval provisions for vehicles designed to transport dangerous goods, too.

3.3. This means that the type-approval procedure is applicable to basic mass-produced vehicles. The superstructures and the vehicle as a whole must be submitted to an officially approved expert before they can be brought onto the market for the first time since the special licensing system (what is known as the B3 certificate) is to be maintained as a basic rule ().

3.4. It is obviously useful to have a single Community-wide type-approval procedure for motor vehicles. The derogations for individually built and custom-made vehicles are sensible, since they take account of:

- vehicles manufactured in several stages;

- different variations and versions of a basic model;

- limited-edition vehicles.

3.5. The Committee agrees with the objectives of the proposed directive, but would point to the absolute need to standardize the scope of ECE and EC provisions.

4. Specific comments

4.1. The Economic and Social Committee would ask the European Commission, and particularly DG VII, to take appropriate steps to prevent the benefits of this directive, and of Directive 94/55/EEC as amended by Directive 96/86/EC (), from being undermined by divergent construction specifications issued by the competent authorities or other organizations.

4.2. It must be ensured that the scope of ECE and EC provisions can be regarded as equivalent.

Brussels, 9 July 1997.

The President of the Economic and Social Committee

Tom JENKINS

() OJ C 29, 30. 1. 1997, p. 17.

() ECE/TRANS/110 (Vol I and II), Geneva 30. 9. 1957.

() OJ L 319, 12. 12. 1994, p. 7 (Economic and Social Committee opinion, OJ C 195, 18. 7. 1994, p. 15) annexes OJ L 275, 28. 10. 1996, p. 1.

() OJ L 42, 23. 2. 1970, p. 1 (Economic and Social Committee opinion, OJ C 48, 16. 4. 1969, p. 14).

() OJ L 18, 21. 1. 1997, p. 7.

() The initial B3 certificate may still be issued solely by the national authorities responsible for the licensing of the vehicle. Thus, an initial B3 certificate for a 'whole vehicle` manufactured in Germany may not be issued if the vehicle is to be licensed in France.

() OJ L 335, 24. 12. 1996, p. 43.

APPENDIX

Directives and agreements on the transport of dangerous goods by road

1. ADR

ADR - the European Agreement concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road.

The agreement has been ratified by thirty-two countries. It contains detailed safety provisions to be applied in the transport of dangerous goods between the contracting states. Where it has not been ratified, national law applies in line with the principle of territoriality. The ADR made it necessary to adopt special arrangements for the single market. It has also meant partial harmonization of national provisions.

The general section of the agreement regulates the legal relationships between the contracting countries, while annexes A and B deal with licensing dangerous goods for transport, and provisions governing the construction and operation of the vehicles and containers used in such transport. The dangerous substances listed in annex A are put into thirteen classes. Marginals indicate the substances approved for transport and mandatory packaging and transport conditions.

Annex A has nine appendices (two of which are still open) which lay down testing procedures for substances and packaging and provisions relating to danger labels. Annex A relates mainly to the consignor of dangerous substances and items. Annex B contains general and specific regulations for the construction, equipment and operation of vehicles, containers, tanks and receptacles used in the transport of substances and items pursuant to Annex A.

Annex B has eight appendices which largely contain construction and operation specifications for all types of tank and the electrical fittings of the vehicles and approval provisions. Annex B relates mainly to the transporter of dangerous goods.

2. The EC framework directive (94/55/EEC)

The ADR framework directive (94/55/EEC) transposes the ADR in its entirety into Community law. The directive is based on Article 35 of the Treaty establishing the European Community and lays down arrangements for intra-Community traffic.

It is important to recognize that a type-approval granted under this directive is valid at national level only. Hence the need for a separate directive on vehicles used to transport dangerous goods, based on Article 100a of the Treaty establishing the European Community (free movement of goods).

A separate directive on the type-approval procedure applicable to motor vehicles and trailers used to transport dangerous goods by road would fully meet this concern expressed by business and industry. For these reasons, it is essential to adopt a type-approval directive based on Article 100a of the Treaty establishing the European Community. In order to do this, the directive, like all other directives relating to motor vehicles, should be based on Directive 70/156/EEC in respect of the type-approval of motor vehicles and their trailers. This arrangement means that only one operating licence needs to be obtained for a basic vehicle and this must then be recognized in all 15 Member States.

3. ECE - United Nations Economic Commission for Europe

The Economic Commission for Europe was established by the United Nations in December 1946 with its headquarters in Geneva. Similar UN bodies exist in other parts of the world. The ECE's remit is to develop and coordinate the economy in Europe. Transport policy has its own department (WP) with divisions for general transport policy, railways, road transport and internal waterway transport. The transport department's remit comes from the inland transport committee. Air transport is an issue only insofar as it affects other transport modes. The ECE has no executive rights, drawing up recommendations, resolutions and conventions. The ECE seeks advice from the main accredited international interest groups.

4. ECE provisions for motor vehicles

The legislation enacted under the Agreement of 20 March 1958 concerning the adoption of uniform conditions of approval and reciprocal recognition of approval for motor vehicle equipment and parts delegated this work to WP 29, which thus has the remit for all provisions relating to motor vehicles. At the moment, WP 29 is working on a proposal on uniform provisions for the type-approval procedure applicable to motor vehicles used for the transport of dangerous goods by road.

5. WP 15 - Working Group on the transport of dangerous goods

WP 15's remit includes the ADR provisions (European Agreement concerning the international carriage of dangerous goods by road).

6. Definitions in line with Annex II of Directive 70/156/EEC

Vehicle categories

Category M - motor vehicles with at least four wheels used for the carriage of passengers;

Category N - motor vehicles with at least four wheels used for the carriage of goods;

Category O - trailers (including semi-trailers).

Each category is divided into subcategories, such as category N1, which encompasses vehicles used for the carriage of goods and having a maximum mass not exceeding 3.5 tonnes.

7. Definition of a base vehicle

Article 2 of Directive 70/156/EEC defines a base vehicle as 'any incomplete vehicle, the vehicle identification number of which is retained during subsequent stages of the multi-stage type-approval process`.

8. Equivalence list

Annex IV of Directive 70/156/EEC lists the requirements for the purposes of vehicle type-approval. Part 2 of this annex determines which ECE provisions are recognized as being equivalent to individual EC directives. Thirty-five separate directives dealing with motor vehicles are deemed to be equivalent.

The aim of directives and the provisions relating to motor vehicles is to frame their scope and the requirements for approving vehicles and vehicle parts in such a way that the individual provisions can be incorporated into the equivalence list.

This is only possible where the scope and the technical requirements are deemed to be identical.

Note that the vehicle manufacturer thereby has the advantage that vehicles need only be checked once, yet once the findings of this technical examination have been consolidated, approval may be granted on the basis of the relevant EC directive and the corresponding EC provision.

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