No C 168/4 Official Journal of the European Communities 10. 7. 90 
European Parliament appear to have been consulted at that 
time in spite of the proposals being subject to Article 100 of 
the Treaty. 
4.1. It should be noted that the current proposals are not 
in accordance with the 'new approach' Directives for 
reasons that are acceptable. Nevertheless the Committee 
stresses the need for the same level of importance to be 
given in the area of health and safety as is required in the 
'new approach' principle. 
4.2. The Committee believes that it should draw the 
attention of the Council to the ESC opinion of 26 February 
1976 (J), in particular, in relation to 'optional harmoni-
(!) OJ No C 131, 12. 6. 1976, p. 31. zation'. In point 1.1.2 of that opinion it is stated '... in 
addition it [the Committee] considers that the Directive on 
lifts should provide for total harmonization. This is 
warranted in the interests of workers' and users' safety and 
for economic and technical reasons.' This sentiment is still 
valid 14 years later but has not been addressed in either of 
the amending Directives since then. 
Done at Brussels, 25 April 1990. 
The Chairman 
of the Economic and Social Committee 
Alberto MASPRONE 
Opinion on the proposal for a Council Directive amending Council Directive 79/196/EEC on the 
approximation of the laws of the Member States concerning electrical equipment for use in 
potentially explosive atmospheres employing certain types of protection 
(90/C 168/04) 
On 27 February 1990 the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, under 
Article 100a of the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, on the 
abovementioned 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 April 1990. The rapporteur was 
Mr Flum. 
As its 276th plenary session (meeting of 25 April 1990) the Economic and Social Committee 
adopted unanimously the following opinion: 
The Economic and Social Committee endorses 
proposal subject to the following comments: the 
1. The outline Directive 76/117/EEC on the approxim­
ation of the laws of the Member States concerning 
electrical equipment for use in potentially explosive 
atmospheres 0) was adopted by the Council on 
18 December 1975 pursuant to Article 100 of the EEC 
Treaty: 
— This Directive lays down in particular the inspection 
procedures which this equipment must satisfy in 
order to be imported, put on the market and used 
freely after undergoing tests and being provided with 
the prescribed markings and marks. 
It also stipulates that separate Directives are to specify 
the harmonized standards applicable to this equipment 
[Article 4 (4)] and that the standards are to be adapted 
to technical progress (Article 5). — The free movement of electrical equipment was 
established by Directive 79/196/EEC of 6 February 
1979 (2). This Directive applies to equipment for use 
in potentially explosive atmospheres which in­
corporate one or more of the types of protection 
listed in Article 1. 
— Annex I to this Directive lists the harmonized 
standards produced by Cenelec which equipment 
with a specific type of protection must satisfy. These 
standards were adapted to technical progress by 
Directives 84/47/EEC of 16 January 1984 (3) and 
88/571/EEC of 10 November 1988 (4). 
— Annex II to Directive 79/196/EEC lays down the 
model for the distinctive Community mark, as 
implemented in Directive 84/47 of 16 January 1984. 
2. The aim of the present proposal [doc. COM(90) 13 final 
— SYN 243 (5)] amending Directive 79/196/EEC is to 
(!) OJ No L 24, 30. 1. 1976, p. 45. (2) OJ No L 43, 20. 2. 1979, p. 20. 
(3) OJ No L 31, 2. 2. 1984, p. 19. 
(4) OJ No L 311, 17. 11. 1988, p. 46. 
(5) OJNo C 111, 5. 5. 1990. 
10,7 90 Official]ournal of the European Communities ^oC^l^B5 
add two types of protection — ^encapsulationDm'and 
intrinsically safe electrical systems^' — for which 
European standards also e^istinthemeantime (E^l 
5002^ and El^ 500^9), 
^, Also to be included is handheld electrostatic spraying 
equipment for which there are also new standards (El^ 
50050 and E^ 5005^ parts l,2and^), 
4, The types of protection for the handheld electrostatic 
spraying equipment come under ArticlelofUirectnBe 
79^11^EEC, The aim of the proposal is to adapt to 
technical progress and establish the free movement of 
goods. There are no objections to the expansion of 
C^ener^l comments 
The Committee welcomes this proposal as it provides the 
financial means for carrying out the veterinary legislative 
programme and subsequently reduce the nsl^ofafailureof 
the Community animal health plan, it also maizes 
allowance for desirable expenditure in areas for which 
hithertonobudgetary provision hasbeenavailable.The 
Committee hopes that the financial appropriation will be 
adequate to avoid the temptation of spreading the money 
too thinly, 
whilst appreciating that there isastrong and necessary 
facultative element in the whole proposition, in deciding 
priorities the Committee strongly supports the compensD 
ation measures outlined in Article^(5) as being of prime 
importance, A larger compensatory contribution from 
member States could possibly be made through savings on 
frontier control expenditure to enable producers to receive 
lOO^compensation^^o^o Suchalevel of compensation 
would have the added advantage that there would be more 
incentive for livestock producers and others to report the 
^oi^Dem^,^i^,D ^ Articleland the inclusion ofnew standards in Anneal, 
The FOirective can be implemented byl]ulyl992,The 
Committee also notes thatacomprehensive revision of 
the provisions for electrical equipment — which is to 
cover all sectors — is already under way, 
FOone at Brussels, 25 April 1990, 
o^r^^o^o^^^^^o^^Co^^^^ 
earliest suspicion of disease. In any case, rapid payment to 
the farmer is imperative. 
Specific comments 
Add 5Au^esley'sdisease5 Other diseases such as infectious 
bovine rhinotracheitis (IB^.) and maedi^visna might be 
considered for inclusion atalater date, 
Arr^^^ 
Abetter scientificdefimtion is required (at least in the 
English version) of lumpy sl^in disease, perhaps by 
specifying the virus involved to differentiate from the 
herpes virus causing pseudodumpysl^in disease, 
Arr^^^ 
— First indent 
Add ^with due regard to environmental protection. C^inion on the proposal foraC^ou^cil decision on e^pendir^re in ^he veterinary field (^) 
(90BC 16^05) 
On 14Februaryl990 the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, under 
Article 19^oftheTreatyestablishingtheEuropeanEconomicCommumty,on the abovementioned 
proposal. 
The Section for Agriculture and Fishenes,which was responsible for preparing the Committee's 
worl^ on the subject, adopted its opinion on5Apnll990.The rapporteur was ^virStone^ugh, 
Atits276thplenary session (meetingof 25 April 1990) theEconomicandSocialCommittee 
adopted unanimously the following opinions