COMMON POSITION (EC) No 33/96

adopted by the Council on 10 June 1996

with a view to adopting Directive 96/. . ./EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of . . . amending Directive 89/686/EEC on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to personal protective equipment

(96/C 220/02)

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 100a thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (1),

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee (2),

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

Whereas Directive 89/686 (4) requires that all personal protective equipment (PPE) bears the CE marking and that this marking be accompanied by additional information corresponding to the year in which the marking was affixed;

Whereas this indication of the year is not a factor beneficial to the safety of the user of the PPE; whereas this indication might be confused with the date of obsolescence which must be affixed to PPE subject to ageing;

Whereas affixing this indication of the year is a burden on the manufacturers of PPE; whereas the cost of this burden is far from negligible;

Whereas, in view of the principle of subsidiarity, this simplification for manufacturers can be achieved only by means of a Directive amending Directive 89/686/EEC,

HAVE ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:

Article 1

In Annex IV to Directive 89/686/EEC, the following wording shall be deleted:

'Additional information:

- the last two digits of the year in which the CE marking was affixed; this information is not required in the case of the PPE referred to in Article 8 (3).`

Article 2

1. Member States shall adopt and publish the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with this Directive before 1 January 1997. They shall forthwith inform the Commission thereof.

They shall apply these laws, regulations and administrative provisions from 1 January 1997.

When Member States adopt these measures they shall contain a reference to this Directive or shall be accompanied by such reference on the occasion of their official publication. The methods of making such reference shall be laid down by Member States.

2. Member States shall communicate to the Commission the texts of the provisions of national law which they adopt in the field governed by this Directive.

Article 3

This Directive shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.

Article 4

This Directive is addressed to the Member States.

Done at . . .

For the European Parliament

The President

For the Council

The President

(1) OJ No C 23, 27. 1. 1996, p. 6.

(2) OJ No C 97, 1. 4. 1996, p. 8.

(3) Opinion of the European Parliament of 22 May 1996 (not yet published in the Official Journal), Council common position of . . . (not yet published in the Official Journal) and Decision of the European Parliament of . . . (not yet published in the Official Journal).

(4) OJ No L 399, 30. 12. 1989, p. 18. Directive as amended by Directives 93/68 (OJ No L 220, 30. 8. 1993, p. 1) and 93/95/EEC (OJ No L 276, 9. 11. 1993, p. 11).

STATEMENT OF THE COUNCIL'S REASONS

I. INTRODUCTION

1. In a letter dated 3 January 1996, the Commission forwarded a proposal for a Directive, based on Article 100a of the EC Treaty amending Directive 89/686/EEC on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to personal protective equipment (PPE).

2. The European Parliament delivered its opinion on 22 May 1996 approving the Commission proposal.

The Economic and Social Committee delivered its opinion on 31 January 1996.

3. The Council adopted its common position pursuant to Article 189b of the Treaty on 10 June 1996.

II. OBJECTIVE

4. The aim of the proposal is to amend Council Directive 89/686/EEC of 21 December 1989 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to personal protective equipment (PPE), as amended by Directives 93/68/EEC and 93/95/EEC.

The purpose of the proposal is to simplify the administrative requirements imposed on the manufacturers of personal protective equipment (PPE) and in particular to repeal the obligation to indicate on every item of PPE the year in which the EC marking was affixed.

III. ANALYSIS OF THE COMMON POSITION

5. The Council approved the Commission proposal, amending only the date in Article 2. The Council preferred a specific date for the adoption and publication by the Member States of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions, namely 1 January 1997, instead of the three-month period initially proposed.