31. 8. 87 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 232/7 
Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the proposal for a Council Directive amending 
several Directives concerning the approximation of the laws of the Member States where there is 
provision for publication of attestations and certificates 
(87/C 232/05) 
On 25 February 1987, the Council decided, in accordance with Article 100 of the Treaty establishing 
the European Economic Community, to consult the Economic and Social Committee on the 
abovementioned proposal. 
The Section for Industry, Commerce, Crafts and Services was instructed to prepare the work on this 
topic and adopted its opinion on 6 May 1987 on the report by Mr Pearson. 
The Economic and Social Committee, at its 247th plenary session, meeting on 1 July 1987, adopted 
unanimously the following opinion: 
1. The Committee welcomes the Commission's 
proposal. 
2. The proposed deletions all occur in Annexes of the six 
Directives in question. Five of these are Framework 
Directives and specific Directives have subsequently been 
prepared and adopted, or await adoption, by Council in the 
particular spheres where the changes are proposed. 
3. The requirement laid down in each of these Directives to publish extracts from certificates in the Official Journal of 
the European Communities has lapsed for several years: as 
there has been no comment on the subject from any source 
the requirements have in the Committee's opinion, been 
shown to serve no useful purpose. It is only sensible therefore 
to save cost and the time of Commission personnel by 
deleting the relevant clauses in the Annexes of the Directives. 
The Committee notes that where a certificate has been 
withdrawn on grounds on non-compliance, the requirement 
to publish the details of the withdrawal is retained. 
Done at Brussels, 1 July 1987. 
The Chairman 
of the Economic and Social Committee 
Alfons MARGOT 
Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the proposal for a Council Directive amending 
Directive 70/156/EEC on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the 
type-approval of motor vehicles and their trailers (') 
(87/C 232/06) 
On 18 February 1987 the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, under 
Article 100 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 3 June 1987, in the light of the report by Mr 
Perrin-Pelletier. 
At its 247th plenary session (meeting of 1 July 1987) the Economic and Social Committee adopted the 
following opinion unanimously. 
The Committee approves the draft Directive, provided that the observations set out below are taken 
into consideration. 
0) OJ No C 48, 25. 2. 1987, p. 4. 
No C 232/8 Official Journal of the European Communities 31. 8. 87 
1. Introduction 
1.1. During 1986, the Commission's DG III visited the 
competent type approving authorities of the Member States 
in order to conduct an appraisal of the type approval process 
as actually practised in reality. The outcome clearly showed 
that the type approval process was, in some cases, unduly 
bureaucratic and that information requirements varied, in 
some cases substantially, between Member States. 
1.2. Accordingly the Commission's services established 
an ad hoc working group to review, streamline and clarify the 
EEC type approval procedures, a process in which all 
Member States vehicle and component industries and the 
consumers are participating. 
1.2.1. The first outcome of this consultative process is the 
present Commission proposal. 
2. General comments 
2.1. The proposed amendment to Directive 
70/156/EEC, i.e. the framework Directive for EEC type 
approval for motor vehicles which is an integral factor in 
attaining a single internal market for motor vehicles, falls 
within the framework of the 'White Paper on completing the 
internal market'. 
2.1.1. The achievement and effective implementation of 
full EEC type approval for motor vehicles should in the 
Committee's opinion be seen in this context. 
2.2. Thus the Committee reiterates its demand that full 
European type-approval be achieved as quickly as possible 
and certainly no later than 1992. However, the Committee 
insists in the interest of consumer safety and the protection of 
the environment and employment that the Community 
requirements concerning type-approval be applied with 
equal vigour to both indigenous and imported vehicles and 
does not lead to distortion of competition on the European 
market. 
2.3. The Committee is of the opinion that the document 
exchanged between Member States should provide sufficient 
information for type approval authorities to be able to verify 
that a particular vehicle, separate technical unit or 
component conforms to the type approved — but no more 
and no less. Whereever possible, this document, known as 
the Type-Approval Certificate, should be one single sheet of 
paper and presented in a format and with a numbering 
system common to all Directives so that it will be easily 
adaptable to electronic data processing in the future. 
2.3.1. This would result in a substantial streamlining of 
the present administrative procedures because this Type-Approval Certificate in normal circumstances should 
be the only document exchanged between Member States. 
2.3.2. The whole mechanism depends in the Committee's 
opinion on the type-approving authorities of the individual 
Member States working together in a spirit of mutual trust 
with the aim of creating a genuine internal market. 
3. Specific comments 
3.1. The provisions foreseen for establishing and 
verifying conformity of production are largely satisfactory. 
However, the Committee would like to make the following 
comments: 
3.1.1. Article 1 
The Commission proposes that definitions of 'separate 
technical unit' and 'component' be inserted in the Directive; 
both concepts are in current use. 
The Committee notes however, that the definition of 
'separate technical unit' appears to clash with Article 9a (2). 
Article 1 states that the 'separate technical unit' may be 
type-approved only in relation to one or more specified types 
of vehicles. The proposed new version of Article 9a (2) (like 
the current version) merely refers to this link as a 
possibility. 
3.1.2. Article 5, paragraph 2 
Article 5 deals with the provision of type-approval 
information and provides recourse for additional 
information. Whilst the Committee understands the need for 
the provision for further information in this Article, it is very 
necessary to ensure that this right is not abused in terms of 
regular and perhaps exaggerated requests for complementary 
information. If this practice were to develop the benefits 
being sought through streamlining the administrative 
procedures would begin to dissolve. 
3.1.3. Article 8, paragraph 2 
The proposal states in this Article that any requested CoP 
check must be conducted within six months from the date of 
request. If does not, however, make any mention or 
provision for the period of advance notification which a 
manufacturer may reasonably expect of intent by the type 
approval authorities to conduct a CoP check — this could 
31. 8. 87 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 232/9 
vary between a few hours and a few weeks and really does 
need to be clarified in order that all Member States have 
common practices in this regard. 
Furthermore, the Committee recommends that the Member 
State which is challenging CoP should not only notify the 
Member State which granted type approval — i.e. the normal 
practice, but also should simultaneously advise the 
manufacturer. This would allow manufacturers to take 
immediate action to check CoP and minimize the possibility 
of producing vehicles not in conformity, which then have to 
be traced and rectified. vehicles already produced if this is demanded by the 
authorities. Not only would such an agreement on a 
Community basis represent an equitable and reasonable 
allocation of responsibility, it might also act as a deterrent 
vis-a-vis any Member State which might contemplate 
misusing the provisions of this Directive for purposes other 
than those for which it is specifically intended. 
4. Articles 11 and 13 
Furthermore, the Committee proposes that the words 'au 
besoin' in the French version be replaced by 's'il l'estime 
necessaire'. 
3.1.4. Article 8, paragraph 4 
The wording of this Article does not, in the Committee's 
opinion, reflect the 'loser pays' principle. In other words, if a 
Member State challenges conformity of production, which 
after having been checked by the Member State which 
granted type approval, is nevertheless found to conform to 
the type approved, then the Member State which wrongly 
challenged CoP should pay whatever reasonable costs 
were incurred to verify CoP. Similarly if the vehicle is 
found not to conform then the manufacturer bears the cost of 
the CoP check and, as is normal, the cost of rectifying 4.1. Although the Committee is in general in favour of a 
speeding-up of the procedure of adaptation of Directives to 
technical progress it cannot, as far as the automobile sector is 
concerned, agree with the introduction of a new procedure 
which in the end would reduce the role of the Committee on 
Adaptation to Technical Progress to a purely consultative 
one. The Committee feels that it is vital not to abolish the 
voting procedure of a committee which has proved itself 
capable of results and brought considerable expertise to the 
ongoing work of preparing Community legislation in this 
area, in particular at a moment when the completion of a 
European type-approval system is nearing its end. This 
notwithstanding, however, the Committee would be in 
favour of a tightening of the ramifications of the committee's 
working procedures, especially the setting of precise and 
binding deadlines. Steps should however be taken to ensure 
that the organizations concerned (those representing 
industry, employers, workers and consumers) are consulted 
on all issues having a bearing on health and safety. 
Done at Brussels, 1 July 1987. 
The Chairman 
of the Economic and Social Committee 
Alfons MARGOT 
Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the proposal for a Council Decision with regard to 
the 'Consolidated resolution on the facilitation of road transport' of the United Nations Economic 
Commission for Europe 
(87/C 232/07) 
On 13 April 1987 the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, under Article 
75 of the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, on the abovementioned 
proposal. 
The Section for Transport and Communications, which was responsible for preparing the 
Committee's work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 10 June 1987 in the light of the report by Mr 
Alexopoulos. 
At its 247th plenary session (meeting of 1 July 1987) the Economic and Social Committee 
unanimously adopted the following opinion: