21.4.92 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities NoC98/9
OpinionontheproposalforaCouncilDirectiveonproceduresforharmonizingthepro­
grammesforthereductionandeventualeliminationofpollutioncausedbywastefromthe
titaniumdioxideindustry{l)
(92/C98/05)
On14February1992theCouncildecidedtoconsulttheEconomicandSocialCommittee,
underArticle100AoftheTreatyestablishingtheEuropeanEconomicCommunity ,onthe
abovementioned proposal .
TheSectionforProtectionoftheEnvironment ,PublicHealthandConsumerAffairs,which
wasresponsibleforpreparingtheCommittee'sworkonthesubject,adopteditsOpinionon
4February1992.TheRapporteurwasMrBeltrami.
Atits294thPlenarySession(meetingof26February1992)theEconomicandSocialCommittee
adoptedthefollowingOpinionunanimously .
—transposalhasalreadybeenlargelyachieved,and
thisshouldbesafeguarded ,TheCommitteeunreservedlywelcomesthenewCom­
missionproposal,andrecommendsthattheinstitutions
involvedinadoptingthedraftdirectivereachadecision
assoonaspossible,inordertoreducethedurationof
thelegalvoidtoaminimum .—thetemporaryvoidinCommunitylaw,createdby
theCourtjudgment,shouldbefilled,
theCouncilhasaskedtheCommission tosubmitanew
proposalassoonaspossible,inwhichtheprovisions
oftheannulledDirective89/428/EECarereproduced,
andundertakestomakeitsdecisionasrapidlyasis
compatiblewiththerequestedadoptionprocedure .
2.Generalcomments1.Introduction
1.1.CouncilDirective89/428EECof21June
1989(2),whichlaiddownproceduresforharmonizing
theprogrammesforthereductionandeventualelimin­
ationofpollutioncausedbywastefromthetitanium
dioxideindustry,wasannulledbyjudgmentC-300/89
of11June1991oftheCourtofJustice,onthegrounds
thatitlackedaproperlegalbasis.
1.2.AlthoughTreatyArticle100A,introducedby
theSingleEuropeanAct,wasconsideredmoreappro­
priatebytheCommissionproposalandtheEuropean
Parliamentopinion,theCouncilhadadoptedArticle
130Sasthelegalbasis,judgedinappropriate bythe
Court.
1.2.1.Whereas
—asaresultoftheCourt'sjudgment,Directive89/
428/EECisnowvoidandtheobligationsupon
MemberStatesandtheCommission'spowersof
supervisionandinterventionlaiddowninitthere­
forelapse,withretroactiveeffect,
—inordertocomplywithDirective89/428/EEC,the
MemberStateshadalreadybeenobligedto
implementthenecessarynationalmeasuresfor
transposalby31December1989,2.1.TheCommittee,whichsupportstheproposal's
aims,noteswithsatisfactionthatthejudgmentarising
fromtheCommission'sproceedingsbeforetheCourt
ofJusticehelpsclarifythemostappropriatelegalbasis
forenvironmental protectionstandards .
2.2.Ithasinfactbeenestablishedthatwhenadirec­
tivesimultaneously constitutesactionintheenviron­
mentalsphereandaharmonization measureaimedat
theoperationoftheinternalmarket,ithasaduallegal
basis(Art.100Aand130S),butwith100Ataking
precedencesinceitprovidesforcooperationwiththe
EuropeanParliamentandreflectsthefundamental
democraticprincipleofpopularparticipationthrough
arepresentative assembly .
(')OJNoC317,7.12.1991,p.5.
(2)OJNoL201,14.7.1989,p.56.2.3.AstheCourt'sjudgmenthasclearlyestab­
lished,thereisnoneedforconcernovertheeffective

NoC98/10 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities 21.4.92
nesswithwhichtheaimofenvironmental protection
maybepursued,sinceArticle100A(3)express­lyprovidesforahighlevelofenvironmental protec­
tion.
DoneatBrussels,26February1992.
TheChairman
oftheEconomicandSocialCommittee
MichaelGEUENICH
OpinionontheproposalforaCouncilDirectiveontheapproximation ofthelawsofthe
MemberStatesrelatingtowheeledagriculturalorforestrytractors
(92/C98/06)
On24October1991theCouncildecidedtoconsulttheEconomicandSocialCommittee,
underArticle198oftheTreatyestablishingtheEuropeanEconomicCommunity ,onthe
abovementioned proposal.
TheSectionforIndustry,Commerce,CraftsandServices,whichwasresponsibleforpreparing
theCommittee'sworkonthesubject,adopteditsOpinionon5February1992.The
RapporteurwasMrWick,whoworkedwithoutaStudyGroup.
Atits294thPlenarySession(meetingof26February1992)theEconomicandSocialCommittee
adoptedthefollowingOpinionunanimously .
2.Generalcomments
2.1.TheCommission'sproposalforaformalcon­
solidatedversionofCouncilDirectivesontheapproxi­
mationofthelawsoftheMemberStatesonwheeled
agriculturalandforestrytractorsistobewelcomedon
groundsoftransparencyandlegalcertainty,aswellas
reliabilityofprotectionagainstaccidentsatwork.1.TheCommissionproposal
1.1.Toensurethesmoothoperationofthecommon
market,itisnecessarytoharmonizetheprovisionson
thetechnicalcharacteristicsofagriculturalandforestry
tractorsapplyingineachMemberState.
1.2.TheCounciloftheEuropeanCommunitieshas
thereforeadoptedatotalof24Directivessince1974
(includingtheframeworkDirective74/150/EEC)on
approximation ofthelegalprovisionsoftheMember
Statescoveringwheeledagriculturalandforestrytrac­
tors.
1.3.SincetheseDirectiveshavebeenrepeatedlyand
substantivelyamended,itisadvisableforreasonsof
claritytocodifytheminasingleconsolidatedtext.2.2.However,thecontentsofthebasicDirectives
didnotremainunchangedinthecodificationprocess.
Onthecontrary,substantivechangeshavebeenmade,
whichdepartfromthefundamentalprinciplesgovern­
ingcodificationanddonotcorrespondtothestatement
intheExplanatoryMemorandumthatthesubstanceof
theconsolidated textswouldremainuntouched .