23. 11. 73 Official  Journal  of the  European  Communities No C 101/25 
CONSULTATION  OF  THE  ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIAL  COMMITTEE 
on the  proposals  for  Council  Directives  on the  approximation  of the  laws  of the 
Member  States: 
— on common  measures  with  regard  to pressure  vessels  and  methods  of control  of 
such  vessels, 
— relating  to seamless  steel  gas cylinders 
A. REQUEST  FOR  AN  OPINION 
At its 226th  meeting  held  on 5 and  6 February  1973,  the Council  decided,  in accordance 
with  the  provisions  of the  second  paragraph  of Article  100  of the  Treaty  establishing 
the European  Economic  Community,  to consult  the Economic  and  Social  Committee  on 
the above  proposals  for a Directives. 
The request  for an Opinion  was  sent  by the President  of the  Council  to the  Chairman 
of the Economic  and  Social  Committee  on 6 February  1973. 
B. TEXTS  WHICH  WERE  THE  SUBJECT  OF  THE  CONSULTATION 
The texts  which  were  the subject  of the consultation  have  not  yet been  published  in the 
Official  Journal  of the European  Communities. 
C. OPINION  OF  THE  ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIAL  COMMITTEE 
At its 113th  Plenary  Session  held  in Brussels  on 26 and  27 September  1973,  the Com-
mittee  adopted  its Opinion  on the  texts  referred  to above  by a unanimous  vote  of all 
the members  present  or represented. 
The text  of the Opinion  is as follows: 
THE  ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIAL  COMMITTEE, 
Having  regard  to the  referral  by the  Council  of the 
European  Communities  on 6 February  1973  of the 
'proposal  for  a  Council  Directive  on  the 
approximation  of the  laws  of the  Member  States  on 
common  measures  with  regard  to pressure  vessels 
and methods  of control  of such  vessels'  and  the 
'proposal  for  a  Council  Directive  on  the 
approximation  of the  laws  of the  Member  States 
relating  to seamless  steel  gas cylinders'; 
Having  regard  to  Article  100  of  the  Treaty 
establishing  the European  Economic  Community; 
Having  regard  to the  Decision  of its Bureau  on 21 
February  1973  instructing  the  Section  for  Industry, 
Commerce,  Crafts  and  Services  to  prepare  an 
Opinion  and  a report  on the matter; 
Having  regard  to the General  Programme  of 28 May 
1969,  on the elimination  of technical  barriers  to trade in industrial  products  resulting  from  disparities 
between  the  laws,  regulations  and  administrative 
provisions  of the Member  States; 
Having  regard  to the  Opinion  delivered  by  the 
Section  for Industry,  Commerce,  Crafts  and  Services 
at its meeting  on 4 July  1973; 
Having  regard  to the  report  submitted  by  Mr 
Lecuyer,  rapporteur; 
Having  regard  to the  deliberations  at its  113th 
Plenary  Session  of 26 and  27 September  1973  during 
its session  on 26 September, 
HAS  ADOPTED  THE  FOLLOWING  OPINION: 
The Economic  and  Social  Committee  approves  the 
two proposed  Directives  subject  to the  following 
comments. 
No C 101/26 Official  Journal  of the European  Communities 23.11.73 
I. PROPOSAL  FOR  A DIRECTIVE  ON  PRESSURE 
VESSELS 
General  Comments 
(a) Scope 
The Committee  has  doubts  about  the  scope  of the 
proposal  for  a Directive.  Although  this  does  not 
appear  clearly  in the  proposal  for  a Directive,  the 
explanation  of the  motives  stresses  that  for  the 
'vessels  of complex  conception  and  fabrication,  the 
difficulties  encountered  to arrive  at harmonization  of 
standards  are  enormous'.  Consequently  such  vessels 
are not  covered  by  the  proposal  for  a Directive. 
Although  it is impossible  to obtain  very  precise 
statistics  on the  matter,  it seems  that  such  vessels 
represent  80 % of the total  volume  of manufacture,  if 
we exclude  gas cylinders.  The  Committee  is therefore 
of the  opinion  that  the directive  must  apply  solely  to 
vessels  made  in large  production  runs  since  the 
Commission  itself  recognizes  that  it is not  possible  to 
harmonize  the provisions  on other  vessels. 
(b) Aim  of the proposal 
Independently  of the  main  aim  of the  proposed 
Directive,  which  is to eliminate  technical  barriers  to 
trade,  its fundamental  purpose  is to ensure  safety 
since  it deals  with  vessels  in which  various  fluids  are 
at a pressure  greater  than  atmospheric  pressure. 
The Committee  would  like  to point  out  that  in point 
of fact  certain  provisions  in the  proposed  Directive, 
and in particular  in Annex  1, entail  the imposition  of 
rigid  manufacturing  stipulations  which  would  rob 
production  of all flexibility  and  would  not  facilitate 
adaptation  to technical  progress.  It believes  that  the 
Commission  should  endeavour  to resort  in the special 
Directives,  among  other  solutions,  to the  one  called 
referral  to standards. 
(c) Transitory  provisions 
Although  the  Committee  wants  the  scope  of the 
Directive  to be narrower  than  at present  laid  down  in 
Article  1, it notes  that  Article  22 provides  for  the 
conditional  recognition  of  inspections  of  the 
categories  of pressure  vessels  which  are  not  yet  the 
subject  of a special  Directive.  This  means  recognition 
by the importing  country  of inspections  carried  out  in 
the country  of origin  in compliance  with  the methods 
in force  in the  importing  country.  The  purpose  of 
these  transitory  provisions  is to allow  immediate 
application  of the  Directive  without  waiting  for 
special  Directives. The Committee  feels  that  for  all vessels  made  to 
order  — and  these  form  a very  significant  part  of the 
market  — conditional  recognition  of inspections  will 
be permanent  and  not  transitory.  The  proposal 
should  be modified  accordingly. 
(d) The  harmonization  solution 
The Commission  proposes  optional  harmonization, 
under  which  the  various  national  markets  co-exist 
with  a Community  market. 
The Committee  has  always  advocated  total 
harmonization  and  has  stressed  that  optional 
harmonization  can  only  be adopted  as a means  of 
helping  industry  to adjust  in as short  a period  as 
possible. 
It is therefore  desirable  that  each  special  Directive 
should  specify  the  date  on  which  the  national 
provisions  must  be  aligned  on  Community 
provisions.  The  Commission  proposal  however, 
merely  states  that  a date1  may  be specified  by the 
special  Directive. 
Specific  Comments 
Article  1 
For the  reasons  set  out  under  (a)  of the  general 
comments,  Article  1 (1) should  be amended  to specify 
that the  Directive  only  covers  vessels  made  in large 
production  runs.  The  latter  concept  would  then  be 
specified  in each  special  Directive. 
Article  3 
The Committee  feels  that  this  Article  should  stipulate 
that the  special  Directives  are  to lay  down  the 
possibility  of reference  as a matter  of preference  to 
the standards  drawn  up inter  alia  by the  European 
Committee  for Coordination  of Standards. 
In addition  it requests  that  the  special  Directives  lay 
down  the  date  when  the  changeover  from  optional 
harmonization  to total  harmonization  should  begin 
and provide  for  the  consequent  necessity  for  mutual 
recognition  of inspections. 
Since  the Directive  concerns  safety  problems,  it seems 
preferable  for this  Article  to deal  with  the  technical 
23. 11. 73 Official  Journal  of the European  Communities No C 101/27 
regulations  on  safety  rather  than  'the  technical 
regulation  for  manufacture'.  The  latter  wording 
could  in fact  be misunderstood. 
Article  19 
The Committee  requests  that  its  structure  and 
working  methods  for adaptation  to technical  progress 
be reviewed  so as to enable  the  participation  of 
qualified  specialists  from  the interested  circles.  Such 
participation  seems  to it to be all the more  necessary 
because  the  relevant  branches  of industry  use  very 
complex  techniques. 
Article  22 
The Committee  feels  that  the  provisions  of this 
Article  can  legitimately  be considered  as transitory 
for vessels  which  are  produced  in series  and  which 
will therefore  be harmonized  by special  Directives. 
On the other  hand,  in the case  of one-off  vessels  and 
vessels  made  in very  small  series,  the application  of 
the provisions  of this  Article,  which  establish 
'conditional  acknowledgement  of inspections',  will  be 
wide  and  permanent. 
Although  the  Directive  is concerned  almost  entirely 
with  vessels  which  are serially  produced,  and  in order 
to respect  the  Commission's  wish  to cover  a vast 
sector  in a single  instrument,  the Committee  requests 
that the proposed  Directive  be divided  into: 
— Title  1, dealing  with  serially  produced  EEC-type 
vessels  which  are  or will  be the  subject  of a 
special  Directive  and  defined  as 'those  produced 
to identical  design,  size,  and  finish  for similar  end 
use. They  may  be made  in large  continuous 
production  runs  of short  batches  to suit  the 
demands  of the  customer'.  Examples  are  air 
receivers,  gas bottles; 
— and  Title  2, dealing  with  vessels  of special 
'one-off'  nature  not  of the  EEC-type  and  which 
will not  be the  subject  of a special  Directive, 
defined  as 'those  vessels  produced  to individual designs  for  specific  or unique  use.  They  are 
normally  produced  to meet  specified  process 
criteria  and  are  structurally  designed  to national 
or international  design  codes  to  suit  the 
customer's  requirements'.  Examples  are  refinery 
columns,  heat  exchangers  and  chemical  process 
vessels. 
Title  2 should  refer  to the provisions  of Title  1 which 
can apply  to vessels  which  are not  of the EEC-type, 
in particular  to Article  13, Article  18 (first  indent), 
Article  22 and  also  to Annexes  III and  IV. 
This  would  respect  the Commission's  desire  that  the 
principles  contained  in its proposal1  should  be applied 
as soon  as the proposal  is adopted,  without  a slowing 
down  of subsequent  harmonization  efforts  having  to 
be feared.  The  Committee's  proposal  aims  at 
avoiding  confusion  of the  two  large  categories  of 
pressure  vessels.  The  Commission  itself  emphasizes  in 
its explanation  of  the  motives  that  a special 
procedure  for  application  should  be laid  down  for 
each  of these  categories. 
The Committee  trusts  that  the  Commission  will 
ensure  that  the application  of Article  22 does  not lead 
to distortions  in competition  between  the  Member 
States. 
II. PROPOSAL  FOR  A DIRECTIVE  ON  GAS 
CYLINDERS 
The Committee  finds  that  the provisions  contained  in 
the proposed  Directive  are aimed  at guaranteeing  the 
safety  of those  who  use  gas cylinders.  It recalls  that 
certain  types  of gas cylinders  are very  widely  used  by 
the public  and  that  they  pose  a problem  of 
metrological  control.  It is important,  in fact,  that  the 
consumer  should  have  a guarantee  as to the  safety 
and also  as to the contents  of the cylinder  he is using. 
But neither  the  proposed  Directive  nor  its Annexes 
deal with  this  aspect  of the  problem.  It is desirable 
that the Commission  should  make  proposals  on this 
matter  promptly. 
Done  at Brussels,  26 September  1973. 
The Chairman 
of the Economic  and  Social  Committee 
Alfons  LAPP  AS