Wednesday 11 May 2011

Units of measurement (codification) ***I

P7_TA(2011)0209

European Parliament legislative resolution of 11 May 2011 on the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to units of measurement (codified text) (COM(2010)0507 – C7-0287/2010 – 2010/0260(COD))

2012/C 377 E/36

(Ordinary Legislative Procedure - Codification)

The European Parliament,

having regard to the Commission proposal to the European Parliament and the Council (COM(2010)0507),

having regard to Article 294(2) and Article 114 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, pursuant to which the Commission submitted the proposal to Parliament (C7-0287/2010),

having regard to Article 294(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee of 8 December 2010 (1) ,

having regard to the Interinstitutional Agreement of 20 December 1994 – Accelerated working method for official codification of legislative texts (2) ,

having regard to Rules 86 and 55 of its Rules of Procedure,

having regard to the report of the Committee on Legal Affairs (A7-0089/2011),

whereas, according to the Consultative Working Party of the legal services of the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission, the proposal in question contains a straightforward codification of the existing texts without any change in their substance,

Adopts its position at first reading hereinafter set out;

Instructs its President to forward its position to the Council, the Commission and the national parliaments.

(1) OJ C 54, 19.2.2011, p. 31.

(2) OJ C 102, 4.4.1996, p. 2.

Wednesday 11 May 2011

P7_TC1-COD(2010)0260

Position of the European Parliament adopted at first reading on 11 May 2011 with a view to the adoption of Directive 2011/…/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to units of measurement (Codification)

(Text with EEA relevance)

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 114 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,

After transmission of the draft legislative act to the national parliaments,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee (1),

Acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure (2),

Whereas:

(1) Council Directive 80/181/EEC of 20 December 1979 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to units of measurement (3) has been substantially amended several times (4). In the interests of clarity and rationality the said Directive should be codified.

(2) Units of measurement are essential in the use of all measuring instruments, to express measurements or any indication of quantity. Units of measurement are used in most fields of human activity. It is necessary to ensure the greatest possible clarity in their use. It is therefore necessary to make rules for their use within the Union for economic, public health, public safety or administrative purposes.

(3) Units of measurement are the subject of international resolutions adopted by the General Conference of Weights and Measures (CGPM) set up by the Metre Convention signed in Paris on 20 May 1875, to which all the Member States adhere. The ‘International System of Units’ (SI) was drawn up as a result of those resolutions.

(4) There exist international conventions or agreements in the field of international transport which bind the Union or the Member States. Those conventions or agreements have to be respected.

(5) Given the local character of certain exemptions still being applied in the United Kingdom and Ireland in respect of units of measurement and the limited number of products concerned, maintaining those exemptions would not result in a non-tariff barrier to trade and, as a consequence, there is no need to put an end to those exemptions.

(6) Certain third countries do not accept onto their market products marked exclusively in the legal units of measurement established by this Directive. Companies exporting their products to those countries will be disadvantaged if supplementary indications are disallowed. Supplementary indications in non-legal units of measurement should therefore continue to be authorised.

(7) Such supplementary indications could also allow the gradual and smooth introduction of new metric units which may be developed at the international level.

(8) However, the systematic application of supplementary indications for all measuring instruments, including for medical instruments, is not necessarily desirable. The Member States should therefore be able to require that, on their territory, measuring instruments bear indications of quantity in a single legal unit of measurement.

(9) This Directive does not affect the continued manufacture of products already on the market before the date of application of Directive 80/181/EEC. It does, however, affect the placing on the market and use of products and equipment bearing indications of quantity in units of measurement which are no longer legal units of measurement, when such products and equipment are necessary to supplement or replace components or parts of such products, equipment and instruments already on the market. It is therefore necessary for Member States to authorise the placing on the market and the use of such products and equipment to complete and replace components, even when they bear indications of quantity in units of measurement which are no longer legal units of measurement, so that products, equipment or instruments already on the market may continue to be used.

(10) This Directive supports the smooth functioning of the internal market through the harmonisation of units of measurement which it prescribes. In this context, it is appropriate that the Commission monitor market developments relating to this Directive and its implementation, notably as concerns possible obstacles to the functioning of the internal market and any further harmonisation required to overcome those obstacles.

(11) It is appropriate that the Commission continue to strongly pursue, in the context of its third-country trade relations, including the Transatlantic Economic Council, the acceptance in third-country markets of products labelled only in SI units.

(12) This Directive should be without prejudice to the obligations of the Member States relating to the time-limits for transposition into national law and application of the Directives set out in Annex II, Part B,

HAVE ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:

Article 1

The legal units of measurement within the meaning of this Directive which must be used for expressing quantities shall be:

(a) those listed in Chapter I of Annex I;

(b) those listed in Chapter II of Annex I only in those Member States where they were authorised on 21 April 1973.

Article 2

1. The obligations arising under Article 1 relate to measuring instruments used, measurements made and indications of quantity expressed in units of measurement.

2. This Directive shall not affect the use in the field of air and sea transport and rail traffic of units of measurement, other than those made compulsory by this Directive, which have been laid down in international conventions or agreements binding the Union or the Member States.

Article 3

1. For the purposes of this Directive ‘supplementary indication’ means one or more indications of quantity expressed in units of measurement not contained in Chapter I of Annex I accompanying an indication of quantity expressed in a unit of measurement contained in that Chapter.

2. The use of supplementary indications shall be authorised.

However, Member States may require that measuring instruments bear indications of quantity in a single legal unit of measurement.

3. The indication expressed in a unit of measurement listed in Chapter I of Annex I shall predominate. In particular, the indications expressed in units of measurement not listed in Chapter I shall be expressed in characters no larger than those of the corresponding indication in units of measurement listed in Chapter I.

Article 4

The use of units of measurement which are not or are no longer legal shall be authorised for:

(a) products and equipment already on the market and/or in service on 20 December 1979;

(b) components and parts of products and of equipment necessary to supplement or replace components or parts of the products and equipment referred to in point (a).

However, the use of legal units of measurement may be required for the indicators of measuring instruments.

Article 5

Issues concerning the implementation of this Directive and, in particular, the matter of supplementary indications shall be further examined, and if necessary the appropriate measures shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 17 of Directive 2009/34/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009 relating to common provisions for both measuring instruments and methods of metrological control (5).

Article 6

The Commission shall monitor market developments relating to this Directive and its implementation with regard to the smooth functioning of the internal market and international trade and shall submit a report on those developments, accompanied by proposals where appropriate, to the European Parliament and to the Council by 31 December 2019.

Article 7

Member States shall ensure that the Commission is informed, in sufficient time to enable it to submit its comments, of any draft laws, regulations or administrative provisions which they intend to adopt in the field covered by this Directive.

Article 8

Directive 80/181/EEC, as amended by the Directives listed in Annex II, Part A, is repealed, without prejudice to the obligations of the Member States relating to the time-limits for transposition into national law and application of the Directives set out in Annex II, Part B.

References to the repealed Directive shall be construed as references to this Directive and shall be read in accordance with the correlation table in Annex III.

Article 9

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

Article 10

This Directive is addressed to the Member States.

Done at For the European Parliament The President For the Council The President

(1) OJ C 54, 19.2.2011, p. 31.

(2) Position of the European Parliament of 11 May 2011.

(3) OJ L 39, 15.2.1980, p. 40.

(4) See Annex II, Part A.

(5) OJ L 106, 28.4.2009, p. 7.

Wednesday 11 May 2011

ANNEX I CHAPTER I LEGAL UNITS OF MEASUREMENT REFERRED TO IN ARTICLE 1(a) 1. SI UNITS AND THEIR DECIMAL MULTIPLES AND SUBMULTIPLES 1.1. SI base units Quantity Unit Name Symbol Length metre m Mass kilogram kg Time second s Electric current ampere A Thermodynamic temperature kelvin K Amount of substance mole mol Luminous intensity candela cd Definitions of SI base units: Unit of length A metre is the length of the path travelled in a vacuum by light during 1/299 792 458 seconds. (Seventeenth CGPM (1983), Resolution 1). Unit of mass A kilogram is a unit of mass; it is equal to the mass of the international prototype of the kilogram. (Third CGPM (1901), page 70 of the conference report). Unit of time A second is the duration of 9 192 631 770 periods of the radiation corresponding to the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the caesium-133 atom. (Thirteenth CGPM (1967), Resolution 1). Unit of electric current An ampere is a constant current which, if maintained in two straight parallel conductors of infinite length, of negligible circular cross-section, and placed one metre apart in a vacuum, would produce between those conductors a force equal to 2 × 10-7 newton per metre of length. (International Committee of Weights and Meaures (CIPM) (1946), Resolution 2, approved by the ninth CGPM (1948)). Unit of thermodynamic temperature A kelvin, unit of thermodynamic temperature, is the fraction 1/273,16 of the thermodynamic temperature of the triple point of water. This definition refers to water having the isotopic composition defined by the following amount-of-substance ratios: 0,00015576 mole of 2H per mole of 1H, 0,0003799 mole of 17O per mole of 16O and 0,0020052 mole of 18O per mole of 16O. (Thirteenth CGPM (1967), Resolution 4 and Twenty-third CGPM (2007), Resolution 10). Unit of amount of substance A mole is the amount of substance of a system which contains as many elementary entities as there are atoms in 0,012 kilogram of carbon 12. When the mole is used, the elementary entities must be specified and may be atoms, molecules, ions, electrons, other particles, or specified groups of such particles. (Fourteenth CGPM (1971), Resolution 3). Unit of luminous intensity A candela is the luminous intensity, in a given direction, of a source that emits monochromatic radiation of frequency of 540 × 1012 hertz and that has a radiant intensity in that direction of (1/683) watt per steradian. (Sixteenth CGPM (1979), Resolution 3). 1.1.1. Special name and symbol of the SI derived unit of temperature for expressing Celsius temperature Quantity Unit Name Symbol Celsius temperature degree Celsius °C Celsius temperature t is defined as the difference t = T - T0 between the two thermodynamic temperatures T and T0 where T0 = 273,15 K. An interval or difference of temperature may be expressed either in kelvins or in degrees Celsius. The unit ‘degree Celsius’ is equal to the unit ‘kelvin’. 1.2. SI derived units 1.2.1. General rule for SI derived units Units derived coherently from SI base units are given as algebraic expressions in the form of products of powers of the SI base units with a numerical factor equal to 1. 1.2.2. SI derived units with special names and symbols Quantity Unit Expression Name Symbol In terms of other SI units In terms of SI base Plane angle radian rad m · m–1 Solid angle steradian sr m2 · m–2 Frequency hertz Hz s-1 Force newton N m · kg · s-2 Pressure, stress pascal Pa N · m-2 m-1 · kg · s-2 Energy, work; quantity of heat joule J N · m m2 · kg · s-2 Power (1), radiant flux watt W J · s-1 m2 · kg · s-3 Quantity of electricity, electric charge coulomb C s · A Electric potential, potential difference, electromotive force volt V W · A-1 m2 · kg · s-3 · A-1 Electric resistance ohm Ω V · A-1 m2 · kg · s-3 · A-2 Conductance siemens S A · V-1 m-2 · kg-1 · s3 · A2 Capacitance farad F C · V-1 m-2 · kg-1 · s4 · A2 Magnetic flux weber Wb V · s m2 · kg · s-2 · A-1 Magnetic flux density tesla T Wb · m-2 kg · s-2 · A-1 Inductance henry H Wb · A-1 m2 · kg · s-2 · A-2 Luminous flux lumen lm cd · sr cd Illuminance lux lx lm · m-2 m-2 · cd Activity (of a radionuclide) becquerel Bq s-1 Absorbed dose, specific energy imparted, kerma, absorbed dose index gray Gy J · kg-1 m2 · s-2 Dose equivalent sievert Sv J · kg-1 m2 · s-2 Catalytic activity katal kat mol · s–1 Units derived from SI base units may be expressed in terms of the units listed in Chapter I. In particular, derived SI units may be expressed by the special names and symbols given in the above table; for example, the SI unit of dynamic viscosity may be expressed as m-1 · kg · s-1 or N · s · m-2 or Pa · s. 1.3. Prefixes and their symbols used to designate certain decimal multiples and submultiples Factor Prefix Symbol 1024 yotta Y 1021 zetta Z 1018 exa E 1015 peta P 1012 tera T 109 giga G 106 mega M 103 kilo k 102 hecto h 101 deca da 10-1 deci d 10-2 centi c 10-3 milli m 10-6 micro μ 10-9 nano n 10-12 pico p 10-15 femto f 10-18 atto a 10-21 zepto z 10-24 yocto y The names and symbols of the decimal multiples and submultiples of the unit of mass are formed by attaching prefixes to the word ‘gram’ and their symbols to the symbol ‘g’. Where a derived unit is expressed as a fraction, its decimal multiples and submultiples may be designated by attaching a prefix to units in the numerator or the denominator, or in both these parts. Compound prefixes, that is to say prefixes formed by the juxtaposition of several of the above prefixes, may not be used. 1.4. Special authorised names and symbols of decimal multiples and submultiples of SI units Quantity Unit Name Symbol Value Volume litre 1 or L (2) 1 l = 1 dm3 = 10-3 m3 Mass tonne t 1 t = 1 Mg = 103 kg Pressure, stress bar bar (3) 1 bar = 105 Pa Note: The prefixes and their symbols listed in 1.3 may be used in conjunction with the units and symbols contained in the Table in 1.4. 2. UNITS WHICH ARE DEFINED ON THE BASIS OF SI UNITS BUT ARE NOT DECIMAL MULTIPLES OR SUBMULTIPLES THEREOF Quantity Unit Name Symbol Value Plane angle revolution (*) (4) (5) 1 revolution = 2 π rad grade (*) or gon (*) gon (*) 1 gon = π/200 rad degree ° 1° = π/180 rad minute of angle ′ 1′ = π/10 800 rad second of angle ″ 1″ = π/648 000 rad Time minute min 1 min = 60 s hour h 1 h = 3 600 s day d 1 d = 86 400 s Note: The prefixes listed in 1.3 may only be used in conjunction with the names ‘grade’ or ‘gon’ and the symbol ‘gon’. 3. UNITS USED WITH THE SI, WHOSE VALUES IN SI ARE OBTAINED EXPERIMENTALLY Quantity Unit Name Symbol Definition Energy Electronvolt eV The electron volt is the kinetic energy acquired by an electron in passing through a potential difference of 1 volt in vacuum Mass Unified atomic mass unit u The unified atomic mass unit is equal to 1/12 of the mass of an atom of the nuclide 12C. Note: The prefixes and their symbols listed in 1.3 may be used in conjunction with these two units and with their symbols. 4. UNITS AND NAMES OF UNITS PERMITTED IN SPECIALISED FIELDS ONLY Quantity Unit Name Symbol Value Vergency of optical systems dioptre (*) 1 dioptre = 1 m-1 Mass of precious stones metric carat 1 metric carat = 2 × 10-4 kg Area of farmland and building land are a 1 a = 102 m2 Mass per unit length of textile yarns and threads tex (*) tex (*) 1 tex = 10-6 kg · m-1 Blood pressure and pressure of other body fluids Millimetre of mercury mm Hg (*) 1 mm Hg = 133,322 Pa Effective cross-sectional area Barn b 1 b = 10-28 m2 Note: The prefixes and their symbols listed in 1.3 may be used in conjunction with the above units and symbols, with the exception of the millimetre of mercury and its symbol. The multiple of 102a is, however, called a ‘hectare’. 5. COMPOUND UNITS Combinations of the units listed in Chapter I form compound units. CHAPTER II LEGAL UNITS OF MEASUREMENT REFERRED TO IN ARTICLE 1(b), PERMITTED FOR SPECIFIC USES ONLY Field of application Unit Name Approximate value Symbol Road traffic signs, distance and speed measurement mile 1 mile = 1 609 m mile yard 1 yd = 0,9144 m yd foot 1 ft = 0,3048 m ft inch 1 in = 2,54 × 10-2 m in Dispense of draught beer and cider; milk in returnable containers pint 1 pt = 0,5683 × 10-3 m3 pt Transaction in precious metals troy ounce 1 oz tr = 31,10 × 10-3 kg oz tr The units listed in this Chapter may be combined with each other or with those in Chapter I to form compound units. (1) Special names for the unit of power: the name volt-ampere (symbol ‘VA’) when it is used to express the apparent power of alternating electric current, and var (symbol ‘var’) when it is used to express reactive electric power. The ‘var’ is not included in CGPM Resolutions. (2) The two symbols ‘l’ and ‘L’ may be used for the litre unit (Sixteenth CGPM (1979), Resolution 5). (3) Unit listed in the International Bureau of Weights and Measures booklet as among the units to be permitted temporarily. Note: The prefixes and their symbols listed in 1.3 may be used in conjunction with the units and symbols contained in the Table in 1.4. (4) The character (*) after a unit name or symbol indicates that it does not appear in the lists drawn up by the CGPM, CIPM or BIPM. This applies to the whole of this Annex. (5) No international symbol exists. Note: The prefixes listed in 1.3 may only be used in conjunction with the names ‘grade’ or ‘gon’ and the symbol ‘gon’.