No C 159/56 Official Journal of the European Communities 17. 6. 91 
APPENDIX 
(Article 43, fourth paragraph of the Rules of Procedure) 
The following proposed amendment was rejected by the Plenary Session: 
Point 1.8.2 
Insert the following at the beginning of 1.8.2: 
'The Committee endorses these aims and will look into what measures are needed to achieve them.' 
Voting 
For: 25, against: 45, abstentions: 10. 
Opinion on the amendment to the Proposal for a Directive on the approximation of the laws 
of the Member States relating to compulsory use of safety belts in vehicles of less than 
3,5 tonnes (!) 
(91/C 159/17) 
On 28 January 1991 the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, 
under Article 198 of the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, on the 
abovementioned amendment to the Proposal. 
The Section for Transport and Communications, which was responsible for preparing the 
Committee's work on the subject, adopted its Opinion on 10 April 1991. The Rapporteur 
was Mr Tukker. 
At its 286th plenary session (meeting of 25 April 1991), the Economic and Social Committee 
adopted the following Opinion unanimously. 
1. Introduction 
1.1. The Council has already adopted a number of 
Directives on the approximation of Member State laws 
relating to safety belts and their anchorages in various 
categories of motor vehicles. Directives 81/575/EEC 
and 82/318/EEC stated that their provisions were to 
come into effect by 30 September 1982, the correspond­
ing date for the proposed Directive COM(88) 544 is 
1 January 1993. 
1.2. These Directives specify that front and rear-seat 
belts must be used in three categories of motor vehicles: 
— Category Ml: Vehicles used for the carriage of 
passengers and comprising no more than eight seats in 
addition to the driver's seat. 
(*) OJ No C 308, 8. 12. 1990, p. 11. — Category M2: Vehicles used for the carriage of 
passengers, comprising more than eight seats in 
addition to the driver's seat, and having a maximum 
weight not exceeding 3,5 metric tonnes. 
— Category Nl: Vehicles used for the carriage of goods 
and having a maximum weight not exceeding 3.5 metric 
tonnes. 
1.3. Broadly speaking, these three Directives only 
apply to persons aged 12 or more. With respect to 
children aged less than twelve, they merely specify that 
they must sit on a rear seat and not on a front seat. 
2. Specific comments 
2.1. The proposed amendment to COM(88) 544 final 
clearly states where and how children up to twelve 
years (i.e. aged eleven or less) may use category I, II 
and III vehicles. The use of safety systems is prescribed 
17.^91 Official]ournal of the European Communities ^oCleo9^B 
for such children.These systems may be separate from 
or additional to the adult seat belt. 
2.2. In its Opinion of 2 May 1989 on Directive 
COM(88)^fmalmhe Economic and social Commits 
tee stated in section 2.3 (Articled) 
5.. there arealready enough restraint systems on 
the market specially designed for small children 
(under 12) to justify an early adoption ofaDirective 
for this cate^orv of passenger tooB 
2.3. The Committee welcomes the fact that the ComD 
mission isnowsubmittm^aproposaltothis end and 
broadly endorses its provisions. Idowevermhe Commits 
tee wishes to bnn^ the following points to the attention 
of the Council 
a) The Committee regrets that Directive COM(88)eoeo^ 
is still bein^ blocked byafewMember^tates^ and 
has not yet been accepted. The Committee trusts 
that the Member states in question will drop their 
opposition and enable early implementation of the 
complete Directive COM(88) e^^ including the 
amendments in respect of children^ssafety. 
b) The Committee points out that utilisation by chd 
drena^ed^tol2 of the standard adult threepomt 
belt can involve hazards if thereis no additional 
system to prevent necl^ injuries. An (automatic) 
lap belt without additional systems provides better 
protection forchildrena^ed^to 12thanathree 
point belt without additional systems. 
Only children withahei^htofl^0cm(10tol2 
year a^e^roup) can usean adult threepomtbelt 
without problems, smaller children usin^ an adult 
threepomt belt have to sit onaspecial cushion. 
Done at Brussels^ April 1991. Childrenwho are somewhat older than^are well 
protectedbyafourpointbelt^ whichensuresthat 
they cannot be pushed under the lap belt (submarine 
effect)in the absence of anything better^alap belt 
isa^ood alternatives certainly in the case of children 
a^edabout^ormore. 
c) The amended version of Article 2(3) recommended 
under (d) below ensures that all children under five 
occupying the rear seats of vehicles are properly 
protected if the necessary safety systems are fitted. 
This is also true for older children provided proper 
systems additional to the adult belt are fitted. If 
there are no supplementary systems^ the obligation 
does not apply^thus ensuring that there is no obhD 
^ationtouseathreepointbeltwhichcanleadto 
inmnes.In this casealap^belt would be preferable. 
d) The Committee proposes that Article 2(3) be 
reworded to readgMember states shall require that 
no later thanl]unel991 all children up to^years 
of a^e and occupying the rear forwardfacin^ seats 
of vehicles bein^ used on the road in cate^oryMl 
irrespective of the date of registration wear a 
restraint system where one is available. ^uchasysD 
tern has to be approved by the competent authorities 
of a Member ^tate and this approval has to be 
reco^m^ed by the other Member states for the sys 
temtobeusedinthose states too. Childrenolder 
than ^ must be restrained by the fitted approved 
safety belt or the most suitable restraint system 
referred to in Article 2(2) subject to use of an 
additional system approved for use byachild^hav^ 
m^ regard to the a^e and weight of the childB