WRITTEN QUESTION E-1448/01

by Mogens Camre (UEN) to the Commission

(17 May 2001)

Subject: Translation of regulations concerning the transport of dangerous goods

The new international regulations concerning the transport of dangerous goods have not yet been translated into Danish.

In Denmark, the regulations are only available in English. This makes it impossible for many Danish drivers to follow these regulations and for the police to monitor compliance with the regulations.

It is even harder for Danes to familiarise themselves with the regulations concerning rail transport since these are only available in French, a language only few Danes speak.

Would the Commission ensure that the new regulations concerning the transport of dangerous goods are translated into Danish by the date on which they are scheduled to come into force?

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(17 July 2001)

The new rules for the transport of dangerous goods are given in Commission Directives 2001/6/EC(1) and 2001/7/EC(2) for rail and road transport respectively and they came into force as of 1 July 2001 with a delay of implementation until the end of year 2002. These directives are already published, but the detailed technical requirements of their Annexes will be published as soon as they have been translated into all the official languages of the Union.

These technical Annexes of nearly 1 000 pages each are nearly identical to the technical requirements of international agreements, namely the European Agreement concerning International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road under the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (ADR) and Regulations concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Rail (RID). Considering the size of the texts and conscious of the problems generated by the translations, the international agreements provide 18 months for the entry into force of the legislation. The same applies to the Community directives which state that Member States are required to implement both texts at least by 31 December 2002 (except for radioactive substances). Before that date the official Community translations will be available for all the languages.

In addition, irrespective of the availability of the text in Danish (or other languages of the Member States), every Member State may decide to implement the new rules only on 31 December 2002 and on the other hand, must accept until the 1 January 2003 on its territory the transport of dangerous goods, performed using the rules in force before 1 July 2001. During the period between 1 July 2001 and 31 December 2002 both sets of rules may be applied. The situation is the same internationally with third countries when using ADR and RID: there is the possibility to use either the old rules or the new rules. The safety of transport is guaranteed both ways and the transition period does not cause legal uncertainty.

In any case the Commission would like to assure that the Danish text will be available at the same time as the other language versions and this before the last date of implementation of the Directives, i.e. 31 December 2002.

(1) Commission Directive 2001/6/EC of 29 January 2001 adapting for the third time to technical progress Council Directive 96/49/EC on the approximation of the laws of the Member States with regard to the transport of dangerous goods by rail (OJ L 30, 1.2.2001).

(2) Commission Directive 2001/7/EC of 29 January 2001 adapting for the third time to technical progress Council Directive 94/5/EC on the approximation of the laws of the Member States with regard to the transport of dangerous goods by road (OJ L 30, 1.2.2001).