COMMON POSITION (EC) No 8/98 adopted by the Council on 19 December 1997 with a view to adopting a Council recommendation on a parking card for people with disabilities (98/C 62/02)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 75(1) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal for a recommendation submitted by the Commission,

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee (1),

Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions (2),

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 189c of the Treaty (3),

(1) Whereas the reciprocal recognition of a parking card for people with disabilities based on a standardised Community model was advocated by the Commission in its communication on a medium-term social action programme (1995 to 1997), forwarded to the Council, the European Parliament, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on 12 April 1995, and also in its report of 26 November 1993 to the Council on the measures to be taken in the Community regarding the accessibility of transport to persons with reduced mobility;

(2) Whereas, in the spirit of the Resolution of the Council and of the representatives of the Governments of the Member States meeting within the Council of 20 December 1996 on equality of opportunity for people with disabilities, all people with disabilities should be entitled to additional concrete measures aimed at improving their occupational and social integration;

(3) Whereas a mode of transport other than public transport constitutes, for many people with disabilities, the only means of getting about independently for purposes of occupational and social integration; whereas, in certain circumstances and with due regard to road safety, it is only right that people with disabilities should be enabled, by means of a parking card for such people, to park as near to their destination as possible; whereas people with disabilities should thus have the opportunity to avail themselves of the facilities provided by the said parking card throughout the Community in accordance with the national rules applying in the country in which they happen to be;

(4) Whereas, in view of the fact that parking cards for people with disabilities may come within the remit of regional and local authorities, the Committee of the Regions should be consulted;

(5) Whereas, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, Community action is appropriate to promote the understanding and mutual recognition of parking cards for people with disabilities and to facilitate freedom of movement for people with disabilities;

(6) Whereas it is desirable that there should be a Community-model parking card, recognised mutually by the Member States, for people with disabilities;

(7) Whereas the definition of disability and the rules for assigning parking cards to persons with disabilities are the responsibility of the Member States;

(8) Whereas Member States should introduce certain security features to prevent forgery or counterfeiting of the parking card;

(9) Whereas the European Conference of Ministers of Transport (ECMT) has already adopted a resolution encouraging the provision and reciprocal recognition of parking cards for people with disabilities (ECMT Resolution of 22 April 1997);

(10) Whereas full information should be provided to card-holders on the conditions for using the card in the Member States,

Hereby RECOMMENDS Member States:

1. To introduce a parking card for people with disabilities, issued to them in accordance with the respective national provisions, on the basis of the standardised Community model described in the Annex, which may be used in parallel with the parking cards issued in the Member States, according to the terms laid down in paragraph 5;

2. To recognise, as from 1 January 1999, the parking cards for people with disabilities introduced by each Member State in accordance with the standardised Community model, so that card-holders may benefit from the associated parking facilities available in the Member State in which they happen to be;

3. To grant the parking card to people whose disability leads to reduced mobility;

4. To provide, on the basis of a technical fact sheet prepared by the Commission, an overview of the conditions of use in the different Member States of the European Union when issuing a parking card to people with disabilities and at the request of the persons concerned;

5. To take the necessary steps to ensure that standardised Community model parking cards for people with disabilities are available by 1 January 2000 at the latest;

This Recommendation notwithstanding, models existing in Member States before 1 January 2000 may continue to be used on the territory of such Member States beyond that date until their replacement;

6. To inform the Commission, before 1 July 2000, of the action taken pursuant to this Recommendation.

Done at . . .

For the Council

The President

(1) OJ C 174, 17.6.1996, p. 27.

(2) OJ C 42, 10.2.1997, p. 27.

(3) Opinion of the European Parliament of 13 December 1996 (OJ C 20, 20.1.1997, p. 386), Council Common Position of 19 December 1997 and Decision of the European Parliament of . . . (not yet published in the Official Journal).

ANNEX

PROVISIONS ON THE COMMUNITY MODEL PARKING CARD FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

A. The overall dimensions of the Community model parking card for people with disabilities shall be:

- height: 106 mm,

- width: 148 mm.

B. The colour of the parking card shall be light blue, except for the white wheelchair-user symbol, which shall have a dark blue background.

C. The parking card for people with disabilities shall be plastic-coated, with the exception of the space reserved for the holder's signature on the left-hand side of the reverse.

D. The parking card for people with disabilities shall be divided vertically into two parts on both the front and reverse.

The left-hand side of the front shall contain:

- the wheelchair-user symbol in white on a dark blue background,

- the date of expiry of the parking card,

- the serial number of the parking card,

- the name and stamp of the issuing authority/organisation.

The right-hand side of the front shall contain:

- in capital letters, the words 'Parking card for people with disabilities` in the language(s) of the Member State issuing the card; after a suitable space, the words 'Parking card` shall appear in small type in the other languages of the European Union,

- the words 'European Communities' model` in the language(s) of the Member State issuing the card,

- as background, the distinguishing code of the Member State issuing the parking card, as follows:

>TABLE>

surrounded by the ring of 12 stars symbolising the European Union.

The left-hand side of the reverse shall contain:

1. the holder's surname;

2. the holder's forename(s);

3. the holder's signature or other authorised mark, if allowed under national legislation;

4. the holder's photograph.

The right-hand side of the reverse shall contain:

1. the statement:

'This card entitles the holder to the special local parking facilities available in the Member State concerned`;

2. the statement:

'When in use, the card is to be displayed at the front of the vehicle in such a way that the front of the card is clearly visible for checking purposes`.

E. With the exception of the right-hand side of the front, entries shall be shown in the language(s) of the Member State issuing the parking card.

If a Member State wishes to make the entries in a national language other than one of the following: Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, it shall draw up a bilingual version of the card using one of the aforementioned languages, without prejudice to the other provisions of this Annex.

STATEMENT OF THE COUNCIL'S REASONS

I. INTRODUCTION

1. Further to the undertaking it gave in its medium-term social action programme 1995 to 1997, to the effect that it would submit a recommendation on the reciprocal recognition of a parking card for people with disabilities, the Commission sent the Council a draft recommendation on 15 January 1996.

2. The recommendation is based on Article 75 of the Treaty establishing the European Community.

3. The European Parliament delivered a first reading opinion on 13 December 1996. The Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions delivered their opinions on 27 March 1996 and 14 November 1996 respectively.

4. By letter of 5 March 1997 the Commission sent the Council an amended proposal to take account of the European Parliament's amendments.

5. In accordance with Article 189c of the EC Treaty, the Council adopted a common position on 19 December 1997.

II. OBJECTIVE

The recommendation concerns the standardisation of the layout of parking cards for people with disabilities and their reciprocal recognition by the Member States, in order to facilitate such people's freedom of movement by car.

III. ANALYSIS OF THE COMMON POSITION

1. General comments

2. Changes made by the Council to the Commission's amended proposal

(Unless otherwise indicated, the numbering referred to (for recitals and paragraphs) is that of the common position).

2.1. Preamble

For reasons of clarity, recitals 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9 and 10 of the common position have been simplified compared with the Commission's original proposal. These changes do not concern the substance.

Recitals 7 and 8 have been added to the Commission's amended proposal. Recital 7 is a reminder that the Member States alone are responsible for deciding who should benefit from the parking card. Recital 8 meets the concerns of a number of Member States about the risks of forgery which could affect the legitimate beneficiaries of parking facilities. Here, too, the Member States wanted to retain the right to deal with this matter themselves.

2.2. Introduction of a Community model (paragraph 1)

Like the Commission's amended proposal, which provided that the Community model could be used alongside existing regional or national cards for a transitional period determined by the Member States, the common position adopted by the Council envisages national cards being replaced by the Community model only in the longer term and makes reference to more specific conditions, provided for in paragraph 5.

The wording chosen by the Council reflects the basic idea of a 'transitional period` and simplifies the drafting of this paragraph.

2.3. Recognition of parking cards in accordance with the Community model (paragraph 2)

The Council has deleted the word 'reciprocally`. Since a standardised Community model is being created, the question of reciprocal recognition of national parking cards does not arise.

Also, in the interest of clarity, the Council was concerned to add a date from which the Community model would be recognised. The date chosen is in the fairly near future since it does not require any particular action on the part of Member States, except perhaps to issue instructions to the police authorities that have to enforce national rules on traffic and parking.

2.4. Beneficiaries of the card (paragraph 3)

Although it included the concept of 'reduced mobility` to justify Community action to create a standardised Community model for parking cards for people with disabilities, the Council did not seek to define exactly who was to benefit from the card, since the conditions of issue are subject to the principle of subsidiarity (recital 7 makes clear that 'the definition of disability and the rules for assigning parking cards to persons with disabilities are the responsibility of the Member States`).

2.5. Overview of the conditions of use in the different Member States (paragraph 4)

While complying with the spirit of the Commission's amended proposal on this point, the Council sought to make clear that the overview of the parking facilities in question would be prepared by the Commission on the basis of information to be submitted by the Member States.

The Council also wanted to make clear that the persons concerned would receive an overview when they were issued with the card and/or at their request.

2.6. Availability of the Community model (paragraph 5)

The Council wanted to set a date from which the Member States undertook to circulate their own parking cards in accordance with the Community model. The date adopted allows Member States a reasonable period of time for the technical production of the cards.

It is also necessary to ensure that Member States do not have to replace all their cards at the same time, given the administrative problems involved, especially if they also replace the cards of people with disabilities who do not wish to travel in an EU Member States other than the one in which they usually reside. The Council has therefore expressly provided that the cards will be replaced gradually and that national cards will continue to exist alongside the Community cards for a time. It may be noted that a similar provision was contained in paragraph 1 of the Commission's amended proposal. Here, too, the Council's main concern was to clarify the arrangements introduced.

2.7. Provisions on the Community model parking card for people with disabilities (Annex)

In section D, the Council has replaced the concept of 'period of validity` with 'date of expiry`.

3. Amendments made by the European Parliament

3.1. Parliament amendments accepted by the Commission

The Commission's amended proposal incorporated, either verbatim or in a slightly modified form, amendments 1, 2, 3, 6, 8, 9 and 10.

3.2. Parliament amendments not accepted by the Commission

The Commission's amended proposal did not incorporate Amendments 2, 5 or 7.