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COMMISSION OFTHEEUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
COM(81)733 final.
Brussels,1stDecember 1981
h
PROPOSAL FORACOUNCIL DIRECTIVE
AMENDING 17DIRECTIVES ONTHEAPPROXIMATION OFTHELAWSOF
THEMEMBER STATES RELATING TOWHEELED AGRICULTURAL
ORFORESTRY TRACTORS
\\
(submitted totheCouncilbytheCommission )
s'f
COM(81)733final.

G^H3
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
I„SIGNIFICANCE ANDCONTENT OFTHEPROPOSAL
1.1Background
Framework Directive 74/150/EECrelating totheEECtype-approval of
wheeledagricultural orforestry tractors,andthe19separate direc­
tivesconcerning certainpartsorcharacteristics ofthesetractors
whichhavesofarbeenadopted andarenecessary fortheimplementation
oftheEECtype-approval procedure,applytotractors having amaximum
designspeedofbetween 6and25km/h.
Atthetimeoftheexamination oftheabovementioned framework Directive
intheCouncil,theUnitedKingdom wasconcerned thatalargenumber
oftractors manufactured intheUKhadamaximum designspeedinexcess
of25km/handtherefore felloutsidethescopeoftheDirective .,
TheUnitedKingdom was,however,abletoapprovetheDirective aspro­
posed,oncondition thatthequestion offastertractors wouldbeexa­
minedintheWorkingPartyonAgricultural Tractors andMachinery with
aviewtoestablishing theireligibility fortheEECtype-approval pro­
cedure.
1.2Technical problems
Theresultant discussions centred ontheproblemofwhethertheprovisions
laiddowninrespectoftractors withamaximum speedof25km/hcouldbe
appliedtotractors withahighermaximum speedwithoutcontravening the
roadsafetyrequirements .
Someexpertsthoughtthat"fast"tractors shouldbesubjecttomore
stringent requirements ,atleastasregardscertainpartsorcharacte­
ristics suchasthebrakesandthelighting andlight-signalling devices.
Discussions haverecently centred onaBritishproposal-supported by
themanufacturers' organization CEMA(European Committee ofAssociations
oae/ese

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ofManufacturers ofAgricultural Machinery)-whichseekstoincrease
themaximumdesignspeedfrom25to33km/h0TheBritishexpertsandthe
manufacturersbelievethatthisincreasewouldnotimpair"safety"if
therequirements adoptedinrespectoftractorshavingaspecifiedmaxi­
mumspeedof25km/hwereappliedtotractorscapableof33km/h.The
expertsofcertainotherdelegations haveexpresseddoubtson*this
point.Nevertheless ,,acompromiseproposalputforwardbytheCommission,
seekingtoincreasethemaximumdesignspeedfrom25to30km/h,was
favourablyreceivedbythegreatmajorityofexperts.
Thissuggestionformsthebasisforthepresentproposalforadirective.
1.3Economicaspects
Thisproposalisintendedtoenableagreaternumberoftractorstobene­
fitfromtheCommunitytype-approval procedure,sinceitiscertainthat,
asaresultofdevelopments whichhavetakenplaceinthelasttenyears,
agricultural tractorshavebecomelarger,fasterandsafer,aremanufac­
turedandusedinmostoftheMemberStatesandofferundeniable advan­
tagesfromthepointofviewoftheirefficiencyinagricultural holdings.
Someofgroundsthatjustifysuchaproposalaresetoutbelows:
-agricultural tractorswhichcannotexceed25km/hfallwithinacate­
goryofequipmentthataccountsforadecliningproportionofthe
worldmarketinagricultural tractors :morethan50%oftheagricul­
turaltractorsatpresentproducedinEuropearecapableofexceeding
25km/h;

-3-
Thefollowing table(source :EUROSTAT,21.9.1981 )provides anindica­
tionoftheEEC'stradein1980:
UNIT:1000ECUS
»
I
I
1AGRICULTURAL TRACTORS
PERIOD IMPORTS EXPORTS
!
iINTRA(EUR-9)EXTERNAL (EUR-9)INTRA(EUR-9)EXTERNAL (EUR-9)
jJanuary/December
t1980
1606.367 223.592 . *708.149 1.566.400
-anincrease inmaximum designspeedcanonlyproduce advantages as
regardsthecompetitiveness ofEuropean entreprises andforEurope's
economy asawhole-By contrast withtheprevailing situation /substan­
tialsavings wouldresultfromtheproduction ofasinglegearboxfor
theCommunity marketandforexportstothirdcountries .Moreover,
sincetheincreased vehicle speedwouldbeattained atthesameengine
speed,anotinconsiderable fuelsavingwouldbeachieved inthecourse
ofayear.
-inviewofthenumerous on-roadtripsperformed byagricultural vehicle
trains,itseemsadvisable toadoptahigherspeed,bothtomakeit
easierforsuchvehicletrainstojointraffic streams andtoreduce
thelengthoftimetheyspendintraffic.
1.4Conclusion
Itistherefore proposed thatframework Directive 74/150/EECand16
ofthe19separate directives adoptedtodatebeamended byreplacing
thefigureof25km/hby30km/hwherever necessary .
II.CONSULTATION OFPARLIAMENT ANDTHEECONOMIC ANDSOCIAL COMMITTEE
Inaccordance withthesecondparagraph ofArticle 100oftheTreaty,
theopinionofthesetwobodiesmustbeobtained .

-1-
PROPOSAL FORACOUNCIL DIRECTIVE AMENDING 17DIRECTIVES ONTHEAPPROXIMATION OF
THELAWSOFTHEMEMBER STATES RELATING TOWHEELED AGRICULTURAL ORFORESTRY TRACTORS
THECOUNCIL OFTHEEUROPEAN COMMUNITIES ,
HavingregardtotheTreatyestablishing theEuropean Economic Community ,and
inparticular Article 100thereof.
1Havingregardtotheproposal fromtheCommission ,
2HavingregardtotheOpinionoftheEuropean Parliament ,
HavingregardtotheOpinionoftheEconomicandSocialCommittee^,
WhereasArticle 1ofCouncilDirective 74/150/EECof4March1974ontheappro­
ximation ofthelawsoftheMemberStatesrelating tothetype-approval ofwhee-
4..... .. 5ledagricultural orforestry tractors ,asamended byDirective 79/694/EEC,
limitsthescopeofthesaidDirective totractors equipped withpneumatic
tyresandhavingtwoaxlesandamaximumdesignspeedofbetween 6and25km/h;
WhereasthesameDirective provides that,wherenecessary ,tractors witha
maximumdesignspeedinexcessof25km/hshallbesubjecttospecialrequire­
ments;whereas suchtractors formpartofthetractorfleetmanufactured and
usedintheCommunity andofferadvantages asregardstheefficiency ofagri­
cultural holdings;
Whereas anincrease of20%ofthemaximumdesignspeedwhichhashitherto been
prescribed isreasonable considering roadsafetyandsafetyofworkingcondi­
tionsontheland,
aoD/c
2
3ιββοοοοαι
aeenaacaei
OJNoL28o3=1974 ,p.10,
OJNoL205,13c8„1979 ,p.17.

-2-
Whereas MemberStatesmay,nevertheless ,restrict thespeedatwhichatractor
maybedrivenontheroadbyimposing speedlimits;
Whereas,moreover,tractors havingmorethantwoaxlescanbetreatedinthe
samewayasthosehavingtwoaxlesonly,andcantherefore bemadesubjectto
thesameprovisions ;
Whereasitistherefore notnecessary tolaydownthespecific rulesenvisa­
gedbytheframework Directive 74/150/EEC,andwhereasitissufficient that
thefieldofapplication ofthatDirective beextended,together withthatofthe
specificdirectives containing anexpressdefinition fotheirfieldofapplication
inrelation totractors withmorethantwoaxlesandamaximum designspeed
ofbetween 25and30km/h,
HASADOPTED THISDIRECTIVE
Article 1
1.Article1(2)ofDirectives 74/150/EEC,74/151/EEC,74/152/EEC*74/346/EEC?
74/347/EEci75/321/EEC^75/322/EEC?75/323/EEC?76/432/EEC?76/763/EEC?
77/311/EEC1°77/537/EEJJ78/933/EE^79/532/EE^79/533/EE(!4andArticle9(2)
ofDirective 78/764/EEC^ire'replacedbythefollowing :
'2.ThisDirective shallapplyonlytotractors definedinparagraph 1
whichareequipoed withpneumatic tyresandhaveatleasttwo
axlesandamaximumdesignspeedofbetween 6and30km/ho"
0JNoL84,28.3.1974,p.25.
*0JNoL84,28.3.1974,p.33.
30JNoL191,15.7.1974,p.1.
40JNoL191,15.7.1974,p.5.
50JNoL147,9.6.1975,p.24.
60JNoL147,9.6.1975,p.28.
70JNoL147,9.6.1975,P.38.
80JNoL122,8.5.1976,p.1.
90JNoL262,17.9.1976,p.135.
1°0JNoL105,28.4.1977,p.1.
110JNoL220,29.8.1977,p.38.
120JNoL325,20.11.1978,p.16
130JNoL145,13.6.1979,p.16
U0JNoL145,13.6.1979,p.20
150JNoL255,18.9.1978,p.1

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___1
2.Article 1(2)ofDirective 80/720/EECisreplaced bythefollowing :
"2.ThisDirective shallapplyonlytotractors definedinparagraph 1
whichareequipped withpneumatic tyresandhaveatleasttwoaalss,a
maximumdesignspeedofbetween 6and30km/handaminimumfixedor
variable trackwi.dthof1^150mmononeofthedriveaxles="
3=Item1=5oftheAnnextoDirective 74/152/EECisreplaced bythe
following 5
"1=5Inordertotakeaccountofvariousinherent errorsdue,inparticular ,
tothemeasuring technique andtothehigherenginespeedwhenopera­
tingatpartial load,aresult10%abovethe30km/hvalueshallbe
acceptable forthepurposeofthetype-approval test."
Article 2
1.MemberStatesshallbringintoforcetheprovisions necessary to
complywiththisDirective within18monthsofitsnotification andshall
forthwith informtheCommission thereof .
2.AssoonasthisDirective hasbeennotified,MemberStatesshallalsoensure
thattheCommission isinformed,insufficient timeforittosubmitits
comments,ofanydraftlaws,regulations oradministrative provisions which
theyintendtoadoptinthefieldcovered bythisDirective .
Article 3
ThisDirective isaddressed totheMemberStates.
0JNoL194,28.7.1980,p.1