Proposal for a Council Decision with a view to accession by the European Community to the 1958 Revised Agreement concerning the adoption of uniform conditions of approval and reciprocal recognition of approval for motor vehicle equipment and parts
Date: 1996-01-12
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: UNO, accession to an agreement, approximation of laws, motor vehicle, technical regulations, vehicle parts

COMMISSION  OF THE  EUROPEAN  COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 12.01.1996 
COM(95) 723  final 

96/0006 (AVC) 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL DECISION 

with a view to accession by the 
European Community to the 1958 Revised Agreement  concerning 
the adoption of uniform conditions of approval and reciprocal 
recognition of approval for motor vehicle equipment and parts 

(presented by the Commission) 

ACCESSION BY THE COMMUNITY TO THE REVISED  1958 AGREEMENT 
CONCERNING THE ADOPTION OF UNIFORM CONDITIONS OF 
APPROVAL AND RECIPROCAL RECOGNITION OF APPROVAL 
FOR MOTOR VEHICLE EQUIPMENT AND PARTS 

EXPLANATORY  MEMORANDUM 

1. 

Historical  background: 

1.1 
The Agreement signed  on 20 March  1958 on the adoption of uniform  conditions 
of approval and reciprocal recognition of approval for motor vehicle equipment and parts 
under  the  aegis of  the United  Nations  Economic  Commission  for  Europe  (UN/ECE),  is 
intended to lay down the uniform technical requirements needed for the approval of parts 
and  equipment  with  which  motor  vehicles  are  made,  together  with  the  reciprocal 
recognition of approvals granted on that basis by the States having signed by Agreement, 
the final aim being to facilitate trade and liberalize the trade in motor vehicles among the 
parties to the contract. 

1.2 
Hitherto  24  States  have  been  contracting  parties  to  that  Agreement,  these 
consisting of the Member  States of the European Union, apart from  Ireland, of Hungary, 
the  Czech  Republic,  the  former  Yugoslavia,  Croatia,  Norway,  Romania,  Poland,  the 
Russian  Federation,  Slovakia  and  Slovenia,  which  thus  makes  it  a  purely  European 
agreement despite the involvement,  as observers, of the United  States, Canada  (members 
of the Economic  Commission for Europe), Australia, Japan and  South Africa  (countries 
permitted to take part in the ECE's activities).  It should be noted in this  connection  that 
Japan recently announced its decision to sign the Agreement and that Korea is examining 
this option.  Other countries also seem interested. 

1.3 
The  executive  structure  of  the  Agreement  comprises  a working  party  on  motor 
vehicle  design  - Working Party  (WP)  29  - whose main  function  is to  involve  specialist 
technical  experts  in  the  specific  regulations  annexed  to  the  Agreement,  and  also  the 
amendments  to those regulations  which  enable the  latter  to be  adapted  to  technological 
progress.  This  working  party  meets  for  that  purpose  three  times  a  year  while  the 
specialist  experts  meet six times  a year  in  order to prepare the meetings  of the  working 
party. 

1.4 
Thus,  since  1958, implementation  of  that  Agreement  has  led  to  the  adoption  of 
roughly  100 specific  regulations that,  in all, cover all of the equipment and parts  needed 
for  the  granting  of  an  overall  national  approval  for  a  type  of  vehicle  by  each  of  the 
signatories.  Moreover,  in view of the rapid  pace of  technical  progress  in this  area,  it  is 
clear that each regulation has itself been  frequently  amended,  thus  enabling the  original 
regulation  to be adapted  to constant  changes  in the technologies  available.  It should  be 
added  that  these  regulations  and  amendments  are  adopted  on  the  basis  of  optional 

harmonization,  which  means  that  each  contracting  party  has  the  option  of  adopting 
differing  national requirements while at the same time being obliged to accept vehicles 
originating in another Contracting Party in accordance with the UN/ECE rules. 

The outcome over the last three decades has thus been broadly positive since the 
1.5 
work carried out within this forum has gradually enabled an exhaustive body of technical 
rules to be built up which constitute genuine international  harmonization serving  as a 
basis for vehicle approval throughout Europe.  It will also be noted  in this connection 
that certain countries not having signed the Agreement nevertheless unilaterally  accept 
the UN/ECE regulations, thus bearing witness to the consideration given to this work. 

In  1989 an internal Economic Commission for Europe working party was made 
1.6 
responsible  for  holding  discussions  in  order  to  begin  the  process  of  revising  the 
Agreement.  It  emerged  that  the  operation  of  the  initial  Agreement  required  certain 
changes in order to  add weight to the technical  harmonization  activities  carried  out in 
this connection and to adapt that structure to new realities, and in particular the wish of 
the European Union to become involved as a legal entity in its own right. 

By  a  Council  Decision  of  8 November 1990  the  Commission  was  authorized, 
1.7 
under Article  113 of the Treaty to negotiate the involvement of the Community within 
the UN/ECE under  a revised  Agreement.  Consequently  a Committee  113 on  "motor 
vehicles" was formed for that purpose. ; 

1.8 
Thus the revised  1958 Agreement was adopted by the working party (WP 29) at 
its meeting on 8-11 October 1994, and its entry into force is planned for  October 1995, 
or in other words nine months after the text had been lodged with the Secretariat of the 
United Nations by a contracting party, in this instance France.  In terms of substance the 
amendments  made  to  the  original  agreement  will  be  clarified  in  the  section  below 
concerning the Community's reasons for accession. 

2. 

Community accession to the 1958 revised Agreement - justification: 

2.1  Henceforth Article 6(1) of the thus-revised Agreement provides that the regional 
economic integration organizations to which the Member States have transferred  powers 
in  the  area  covered  by  the  Agreement  have  the  option  of  becoming  signatories. 
Moreover, it is stated that on this assumption the number of votes within the organization 
is equal to the sum of the UN Member States of which it comprises, which means that 
the Community could thus have 15 votes. 

2.2  Accession by the Community to the Agreement,  as envisaged  in  1989 and now 
proving  possible,  in  reality  caters  for  two  complementary  concerns:  (a)  the  need  to 
bolster that Agreement to make it into a world focus for the technical harmonization of 
motor  vehicles  and  (b)  the  coherence  needed  between  the  law-making  activities  in 
Geneva and those being conducted at Community level. 

International harmonization 

2.3 
It should be stressed with regard to the part played by the  1958 Agreement in the 
technical  harmonization of motor vehicles that, in view of the constantly  growing trade 
not  only  in  Europe  but  also  between  Europe  and the  rest  of  the  world  (Japan,  China, 
Korea, Latin America,  Central  and East European countries), the work already  done  in 
this  area should  now  be  enhanced  in order to  extend  its  scope  and  influence  to  States 
other than just those in Europe.  With this in mind it is clear that Community accession as 
such, together with new voting conditions which we will describe in detail further on, the 
potential  for  accession by all of the UN  Member  States (whereas the initial  Agreement 
was restricted  solely  to members  of the Economic  Commission  for Europe, or in other 
words geographical Europe, the United States and Canada), will boost the efficiency  and 
influence,  at  world  level,  of  the  techmcal  work  carried  out  in  Geneva.  That  greater 
importance should also provide greater ease of access to third-country markets. 

2.4 
In coordination  with  the  motor  industry  the  Commission  has  thus  made  major 
efforts  to remove  technical  barriers to the marketing of European cars on third-country 
markets.  Access  to those markets (Japan, Korea, for example) would be eased if those 
countries themselves  became parties to the  Agreement.  A  multilateral  approach  offers 
long-term prospects of the best results concerning access to third markets and is the most 
efficient  approach despite the fact that, under certain circumstances, bilateral agreements 
on the mutual  recognition  of  vehicle  regulations  could be examined,  more particularly 
against a backdrop of easier accession to the Agreement by those countries in the longer 
term. 

This outlook  is all the more important since those adopting opposite  approaches 
2.5 
towards  the  technical  harmonization  of  vehicles,  i.e.  the  European  countries  which 
advocate approval by the public authorities and, primarily, the United States which prefer 
the concept of self certification, are currently locked in fierce combat in order to promote 
their respective  systems  throughout the world  in the hope  of  thus  extending  their  own 
system  and  so  easing  their  own  access  to  these  new  markets.  It  should,  however,  be 
stressed that at world level the very great majority of type approval is conducted by the 
relevant national authorities as opposed to  self-certification. 

2.6  Moreover, discussions on the long-term aim of a genuine world forum within the 
Economic  Commission  for  Europe  are  also  imminent  following  the  tabling  of  a  US 
proposal to that end.  However, these future discussions will have no impact on the entry 
into force of the Revised Agreement. 

The  coherence  needed  between  harmonization  via  the  UN/ECE  regulations  and  that 
deriving from Community Directives: 

The second  reason for  the Community's favouring  accession to the  1958 Revised 
2.7 
Agreement  lies  in  the  need  for  coherence  between  the  law-making  activities  in  both 
Geneva and Brussels.  Indeed,  it should  first  of  all be stressed  that Annex IV, Part II  to 
framework  Directive 92/53/EEC  on  Community  type  approval  of  vehicles  already 
provides  for  equivalence  between  a  certain  number  of  UN/ECE  regulations  and  the 
corresponding  Community  Directives.  However,  that  "theoretical"  equivalence  may 
actually be provided from  1  January  1996, on which  date the Directive referred  to  above 
becomes mandatory with regard to private vehicles. 

2.8 
It  should  be  pointed  out  in  this  connection  that  the  coherence  between 
international  and  Community  harmonization  has become  difficult  over the  last  15 years 
owing to the very rapid pace of technological  progress in the motor vehicle industry  and 
thus  to  increasing  amounts  of  more  law  making.  It  is  therefore  clear  that  Community 
harmonization,  at least  as regards  certain  separate technical units, has  lost some  ground 
to  the  UN/ECE. regulations,  which  sometimes  means  that  the  equivalence  of  the  two 
levels of regulation is theoretical. 

This  coherence  is  also  proving  necessary  with  the  prospect  of  a  changeover  to 
2.9 
total  harmonization  on  1  January  1996  in  that,  starting  from  that  date,  all  of  the 
Community  Directives  on  passenger  cars,  which  have  hitherto  been  optional,  now 
become mandatory  in all the Member States.  Technical Jiarmonization in the  passenger 
vehicle  field  is  then  covered  solely  by  Community  powers  and  the  Member  States  no 
longer  have  the  option  of  adopting  different  regulations  at  national  level.  Total 
coherence between those UN/ECE regulations  to be  applied  by the Member  States, and 
the  Community  regulations  themselves  therefore  becomes  essential  for  this  category  of 
vehicle. 

2.10  Moreover,  it  should  be  stressed  that,  hitherto,  the  decision  to  make  and  prepare 
proposals concerning sensitive matters such as those on pollutant or noise emissions  take 
place  specifically  in  Community  terms  whereas  the  more  technical  files  generally  take 
shape  in  Geneva  and  lead  to  the  adoption  of  a  regulation  or  amendment  before  being 
adopted at Community level via a Directive.  Although this current division of legislative 
work  between  the ECE  and  the  Community  has  worked  well  in  general  terms,  there  is 
still  a  risk  that  a  technical  decision  taken  in  Geneva  could  exert  "pressure"  on  the 
Community,  with  adverse  effects  on the functioning  of the Community  procedure.  It is 
thus  essential  to  eliminate  this  ambiguous  situation  and that all  decisions to be taken  in 
Geneva should previously be prepared  as part of a Community procedure.  Moreover,  its 
appeal would  reside  in the  automatic  incorporation,  into the  Community's  body  of  law, 
of  the  ECE  regulations  to  which  the  Community  intends  to  accede  thus  perceptively 
easing  and  speeding  up  the  implementation  of  the  new  regulations,  and  enabling  it  to 
remain  in  step  with  advances  in  technological  progress.  This  system  also  has  the 
advantage of avoiding legislative duplication within both the Community  and the United 
Nations as far as possible. 

In  any  case  it is clear that the preparation  of  Community  Directives  on  sensitive 

2.11 
subjects  such  as  pollutant  and  noise  emission  or  certain  specific  safety  problems -
regulations  on  side  and  frontal  impact,  for  example  -  will  continue  to  fall  within  the 
Community's powers.  However, the Community will henceforth use its cooperation with 
Geneva as a means of promoting its own regulations in these areas.  This promotion  will 
become  more  important  since  reciprocal  recognition  at  world  level  is  currently  very 
important  for  American  manufacturers  who  are  anxious  to  have  their  vehicles  easily 
approved by third countries. 

The new voting conditions: 

2.12  Finally,  a  third  substantial  amendment  of  the  Agreement  must  be  mentioned. 
This  confirms  the  voting  conditions  applying  to  the  adoption  of  new  UN/ECE 
regulations,  and  to  subsequent  amendments.  Indeed,  the  initial  system  offers  scope  for 
adopting a new regulation if presented by two Contracting Parties, the others then having 
the option  of  implementing  this or not.  In  addition  the adoption  of  an amendment  was 
subject  to  unanimity  on  the  part  of  the  Contracting  Parties  implementing  the  base 
regulation.  The amendments to the original agreement made in this connection make the 
preparation  of  a draft  regulation  or amendment  subject  to a two-thirds  majority,  which, 
essentially,  means  that  the  new  draft  will  have  been  supported  by  the  majority  of  the 
Contracting  Parties  and  will  therefore  be  implemented  more  widely  and  dependably. 
The adoption of this project will, in itself, be considered to be défait accompli unless, not 
more than six months after  its notification,  at least a third of the Contracting Parties have 
notified  the  Secretariat-General  of  their  opposition.  Therefore,  on  the  assumption  that 
this threshold  is not reached, the regulation or  amendment thus adopted  is binding upon 
those Contracting Parties who have accepted  it.  These new voting  conditions  also  help 
to  bolster  the  regulative  work  carried  out  in  Geneva  in  that,  as  opposed  to  the  current 
situation, the Contracting Parties are now obliged to signal their opposition  and  not,  any 
longer,  their  acceptance  of  the  new  provisions  adopted.  It  will  be  noted  that,  as  the 
composition  of  the  Contracting  Parties  now  stands,  the  European  Union  could  hold  an 
absolute majority  as a result of the 15 votes assigned to it and, before the accession of the 
other Contracting Parties, to a blocking minority. 

3. 

Fundamental  aspects of the decision to accede: 

3.1 
Under the Council Decision whereby the latter has authorized  the Commission to 
negotiate  the  revision  of  the  Agreement  in  order  to  envisage  Community  involvement, 
this  decision  on  accession  is  also based  on  Article  113 of  the  Treaty  on  common  trade 
policy.  Indeed,  as we  stated  above, the  1958 UN/ECE  Agreement  is  intended  to  make 
the  trade  in  vehicles  between  the  Contracting  Parties  easier  in  such  a  way  that  trade 
cannot  be  impeded  by  technical  difficulties  arising  from  the  design  of  the  vehicles 
concerned.  Therefore  Article  113,  in  combination  with  the  relevant  provisions  of 
Article 228, has been adopted as the legal basis for accession by the Community. 

The choice of this legal basis means that the Agreement will henceforth lie within 
3.2 
a  common  trade-policy  context,  thus  constituting  exclusive  Community  powers. 
However,  in view  of the specifically  technical  nature of the discussions  taking place  in 
Geneva, in particular at the level of the preparatory meetings of specialist experts, it has 
proved  necessary  to  initiate  mixed  involvement  by  the  Community  and  its  Member 
States during the preparatory meetings, the Community being involved exclusively in the 
final  negotiations  as  the  sole  spokesman.  It  should  be  noted  that  where  this  double 
involvement in the preparatory work constitutes a departure from the conventional rules 
for  applying  Article  113,  involvement  by  the  Member  States  is  not  contained  in  the 
actual body of the decision on accession, but is mentioned in the annex that is intended to 
regulate  the  practical  conditions  applying  to  involvement  by  the  Community  and  the 
Member States. 

3.3 
It should also be noted that the right to vote within the Agreement bodies is only 
held  by  the  Community  and  not  by  the  Member States,  as  provided  for  in  the 
conventional procedures for implementing Article 113. 

Finally, under Article 1 (5) of the Revised Agreement, the Community intends to 
3.4 
restrict  its  initial  accession  to  the  implementation  of  a  restricted  list  of  UN/ECE 
regulations and not to all such regulations far in existence, while maintaining the option 
of  subsequent  accession  to  these. •.  That position  is intended  to  restrict  accession  to  a 
specific  list of UN/ECE regulations - as already stated in detail in Annex IV, part n,  to 
Directive 92/53/EC - which it considers to be essential to the proper functioning  of the 
vehicle approval procedure, while reserving its position as regards the other regulations 
currently in force in certain Member States.  In this connection this Decision provides for 
a  specific  procedure  authorizing  the Member States  implementing  those  regulations  to 
continue  to  be  involved  in  their  management  and  development,  subject  to  prior 
notification of the Commission, which itself will notify the European Parliament, and to 
possible  rejection  by  the  latter.  That  specific  procedure  on  regulations  to  which  the 
Community  currently  does  not  subscribe,  will  enable  (a)  the  development  of  certain 
specific  aspects  of  the motor vehicle  regulations  not to be frozen  at international  level 
and (b) the Community's interests and more particularly, the compatibility between those 
activities and the Community vehicle approval system to be monitored. 

4. 

Conclusion: 

4.1 
In view of the above thinking accession by the Community to the  1958 Revised 
Agreement  forms  part  of  a  bifurcated  logic  applying  to  both  international  interest  in 
promoting  harmonization  via  the  UN/ECE,  and a purely  Community  interest  enabling 
the  existing  vehicle  approval  machinery  to  be  improved,  thus  ensuring  cohesion  with 
advances in technical progress. 

4.2 
It  is  clear that  since  Community  approval  regarding  passenger  cars  will  become 
mandatory  on  1  January  1996 and  that the most  finely-tuned  system  is being  sought  for 
that  date,  Community  accession  would  be  desirable  on  entry  into  force  of  the  Revised 
Agreement or, if appropriate, as quickly as possible following that entry into force. 

Proposal for a Council Decision with a view to accession by the 
European Community to the 1958 Revised Agreement concerning 
the adoption of uniform conditions of approval and reciprocal 
recognition of approval for motor vehicle equipment and parts 

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

Having  regard  to  the  Treaty  establishing  the  European  Community  and  in  particular 
Article  113  thereof,  in  conjunction  with  Article 228 (2),  first  sentence,  (3)  second 
indent, and (4); 

Having regard to the proposal by the Commission;1 

Having received the assent of the European Parliament;2 

Whereas,  in  its  Decision  of  23 October  1990,  the  Council  had  authorized  the 
Commission to take part in the negotiations concerning the revision of the  1958 United 
Nations Economic Commission for  Europe (ECE) Agreement concerning the adoption 
of  uniform  conditions  of  approval  and  reciprocal  recognition  of  approval  for  motor 
vehicle equipment and parts (hereinafter  referred  to as the "Revised Agreement"); 

Whereas, as a result of those negotiations, the European Community  has the option of 
becoming  a contracting  party  to  the  Revised  Agreement  in  its  capacity  as  a  regional 
economic  integration body  to which its Member States have transferred  powers  in the 
area covered by the Agreement; 

Whereas  accession  to  that  Agreement  constitutes  an  aim  of  common  trade  policy  in 
accordance with Article 113 of the Treaty  to remove technical barriers  to the trade in 
motor  vehicles  between  the  contracting  parties;  whereas 
involvement  by  the 
Community  will  add  weight  to  the  harmonization  activities  conducted  under  that 
Agreement  and  will  thus  permit  easier  access  to  third-country  markets;  whereas  that 
involvement  must  result  in  the  establishment  of  coherence  between  the  instruments 
referred  to as  "regulations" adopted under the Revised Agreement and Community law 
in this area; 

Whereas the approval of motor  vehicles and technical harmonization are conducted on 
the basis  of  directives  concerning  vehicle  systems,  components  and  separate  technical 
units under Article  100a on the establishment  and operation of the internal market and 
that,  from  1  January  1996 in respect of  Category Ml  vehicles,  the harmonization will 

1 
2 

OJ C No 
OJ C No 

be  total  and  mandatory  under  framework  Directive 70/156/EEC  and  the  separate 
directives on this category of vehicle; 

Whereas signing  of  the Agreement  by  the  European  Community  requires  amendments 
to instruments adopted  in accordance  with the procedure provided  for  in Article 189b; 
whereas the assent of the European Parliament is therefore required; 

Whereas  the  instruments  referred  to as  "regulations"  adopted  within  the  bodies  under 
the  Agreement  will  bind  the  European  Community  on  expiry  of  a  six-month  period 
following  their  notification  if  the  Community  has  not  made  known  its  opposition  to 
these;  whereas  it  should  therefore  be stipulated  that  the Community  vote  concerning 
such instruments should be preceded by a decision adopted in accordance with the same 
procedure as that applying to the conclusion of  the Agreement,  if those instruments do 
not constitute a simple adaptation to technical progress; 

Whereas,  however,  assuming  that  the  adoption  of  a  regulation  of  this  type  merely 
constitutes  an  adaptation  to  technical  progress,  the  Community  vote  may  be  decided 
upon by the Commission,  assisted by a committee consisting of  representatives  of  the 
Member States; 

Whereas,  in  view  of  its  technical  nature,  the  Community  position  concerning  the 
preparation of the "regulations" may be established by the Commission; 

Whereas  the  Agreement  provides  for  a  simplified  procedure  for  its  amendment; 
whereas  a  form  of  decision  making  at  Community  level  should  be  instituted  which 
takes account of the constraints of that procedure; 

Whereas,  as  required  by  the  Revised  Agreement  any  new  contracting  party  has  the 
option,  when  lodging  its  instruments  of  accession,  of  declaring  concomitantly  that  it 
intends not to be bound by certain UN/ECE regulations; whereas that contracting party 
shall  give  details;  whereas  the  Community  wishes  to  make  use  of  that  provision  in 
order  (a) to accede  immediately  to the list of  regulations  considered  to be essential  to 
the  proper  functioning  of  the  vehicle  approval  system,  as  defined  earlier  in 
Directive 92/53/EEC3  and  (b) in view  of  their  importance  as  regards  the approval  of 
vehicles at Community level and,  likewise,  at international level to examine  the scope 
for subsequently acceding to other regulations on a case by case basis; 

Whereas  that  accession  does  not prejudice  the option  of  repealing  the  regulations  set 
out  in  the  list  accepted  by  the  Community,  as  provided  for  in  Article 1  (6)  of  the 
Revised Agreement; 

Whereas, where the Community accedes not to all of the UN/ECE regulations, but to a 
defined  list of regulations  considered essential  to the proper  functioning  of  the vehicle 

Annex IV, part II, to Directive 92/53/EEC. 

approval  procedure,  those  Member  States  subscribing  to  the  regulations  to  which  the 
Community  does  not  accede  should  be  permitted  to  continue  to  manage  and  develop 
these  in accordance  with  a procedure  applying  to prior  notification  of  the  Commission, 
in order  to forestall  incompatibility  with  the Community  vehicle approval  system; 

Whereas,  in  pursuance  of  Article 234  of  the  Treaty,  Member  States  shall  ensure  that 
there  is  currently  no  incompatibility  between  the  UN/ECE  regulations  signed  earlier, 
but  to  which  the  Community 
is  not  acceding,  and  the  corresponding  current 
Community  regulations. 

HAS ADOPTED THE  FOLLOWING  DECISION: 

Article 1 

The  European  Community  shall  accede  to  the  Revised  1958 United  Nations  Economic 
Commission  for  Europe  Agreement  concerning  the  adoption  of  uniform  conditions  of 
approval  and reciprocal  recognition of  approval  for  motor vehicle equipment and parts. 
The wording  of  the Revised Agreement  is appended  to this Decision. 

Article  2 

The President  of  the  Council  shall be  authorized  to designate the person  empowered  to 
lodge the instrument  of accession as required  by Article 6(3) of the Revised  Agreement 
following  the entry  into force  of that  Agreement. 

Article  3 

In  pursuance  of  Article  1(5)  of 

1. 
the  European 
Community  shall  state  that  its  accession  will  be  restricted  to  implementation  of  the 
UN/ECE regulations  listed  in Annex I to this  Decision. 

the  Revised  Agreement 

2. 
In pursuance  of  Article  1(6)  of  the  Revised  Agreement  the  Community  may,  in 
accordance  with  the  provisions  of  Article  113  of  the  Treaty,  decide  to  repeal  a 
UN/ECE  regulation  that  it has previously  accepted. 

Article  4 

The  Community's  position  with  regard  to  the  preparation  of  the  UN/ECE 

1. 
regulations  shall be established by the  Commission. 

10 

The  Community  shall vote  in favour  of  adopting  any draft  UN/ECE  regulation 

2. 
or a draft amendment to a regulation 

where,  if an existing regulation is being adapted to technical progress,  the draft 
has  been  approved  in  accordance  with  the  procedure  set  out  in  Article  13  of 
Directive 70/156/EEC as amended by Directive 92/53/EEC;4 

in  all  other  instances,  where  on  a  proposal  from  the  Commission  and  on 
receiving the assent of the European Parliament,  the Council has approved the draft by 
a qualified majority; 

3. 
On  the  assumption  that  the  Community  votes  in  favour  of  a  regulation  or 
amendment  to  a  regulation,  the  decision  shall  also  state  whether  that  regulation  or 
amendment  is  mandatory  or optional  within the  European  Union,  depending  upon the 
vehicle category to which it applies. 

The Commission shall then amend Annex IV to Directive 70/156/EEC,  together 

4. 
with the separate directives concerned,  as appropriate. 

Article 5 

The proposed amendments to the Agreement submitted to the contracting parties 
1. 
on  behalf  of  the  Community  shall  be  adopted  by  the  Council  acting  on  a  qualified 
majority,  on  a proposal  from  the  Commission  and  having  received  the  assent  of  the 
European Parliament. 

2. 
The  decision  whether  to  raise  an  objection,  or  otherwise,  to  the  proposed 
amendments  to the Agreement put forward  by  other  contracting  parties  shall  be  taken 
in  accordance  with  the  procedure  followed  in  order  to  conclude  this  Agreement. 
Where  that procedure  has  not  been  completed  a  week  before  expiry  of  the  deadline 
provided for  in Article  13(2) of  the Agreement  the Commission will  state an objection 
to the amendment,  on behalf of the Community,  before that deadline expires. 

Article 6 

1. 
Those  Member States  subscribing  to  the  regulations  to  which  the  Community 
does  not accéder may  continue  to  manage  and develop  these  by  adopting  amendments 
reflecting  technical progress.  However,  a Member State shall giye prior notice thereof 
to  the  Commission,  which  will  satisfy  itself  that  there  is  no  incompatibility  in  the 
longer  term with  the  Community  approval  system  and with  the  Community's  aims  in 
this  area.  On  this  assumption  the  Commission  may,  within  a  period  of  six  months 

OJEC L 225,10.8.1992, p. 1. 

11 

following  notification  and in accordance with the procedure provided  for  in Article 13 
of Directive 92/53/EEC,  decide to suspend the involvement of those Member States in 
the work in progress on the regulation or regulations concerned. 

2. 
Likewise,  any  new  draft  acceptance,  by  a  Member State,  of  a  regulation  to 
which  the  Community  has  not  acceded  shall  be  subject  to  prior  notification  of  the 
Commission  which,  within a six-month  period,  may  decide  to block  that  intention  in 
accordance with the procedure set out in Article  13 of Directive 92/53/EEC. 

Done at Brussels, 

For the Council 

The President 

12 

ANNEX I 

1.  With regard to motor  vehicles,  the  European Community  intends  to  restrict  its 
accession  to  the  revised  1958  Agreement  to  the  recognition  and  approval  of  the 
UN/ECE regulations set out in the following  list. 

Basic Regulation 
number 
1 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

16 

17 

Series of  amendments 

Subject 

01 

02 

02 

01 

02 

04 

01 

02 

03 

08 

03 

04 

04 

Head Lamps (inch  R2 lamps) 

Reflex  reflector 

Rear registration plate lamp 

Head Lamps (Sealed Beam) 

Direction  indicators 

End-outline/front-side/rear-side/stop  lamps 

Head lamps (H,, H2, H3) HB3,  HB4, and/or H7 

Radio  suppression 

Door latches and hinges 

Behaviour of steering device under impact 

Braking 

Seat belt anchorages 

Seat belts 

Seat strength 

17/25 

04/03 

Head  restraints 

18 

19 

20 

21 

23 

01 

02 

02 

01 

Anti-theft 

Front fog  lamps 

Head lamps (H,) 

Interior  fittings 

„ Reversing  lamps 

13 

24 

26 

28 

30 

31 

37 

38 

39 

43 

45 

46 

48 

49 

51 

54 

58 

59 

64 

71 

73 

77 

79 

83 

84 

03 

02 

02 

02 

03 

01 

01 

01 

02 

02 

01 

Diesel smoke 

Exterior projections 

Audible warning 

Tyres, motor vehicles and their 
trailers 

Head lamps (halogen sealed beam) 

Filament lamps for use in approved 
lamp units 

Rear fog lamps 

Speedometer 

Safety glass 

Head lamp cleaners 

Rear view mirrors 

Installation of lighting and light 
signalling 

devices 

Diesel emission 

Sound levels 
Tyres, commercial vehicles and 
their trailers 

Rear protective device 

Replacement  silencing systems 

Tyres, temporary use spare 
wheels/tyres 

Field of vision, Agricultural tractors 

01 

Lateral protection 

14 

Parking lamps 

Steering  effort 

A V 

i 

91 

Side marker lamps 

Apart from those  concerning  pollutant  and  noise  emissions,  the  UN/ECE  regulations 
listed above, replace the technical annexes to the relevant separate EC Directives where 
the latter possess the.same scope.  However,  the additional directive provisions, such 
as  those  concerning  fitting  requirements  or  the  approval  procedure,  remain  in  force 
where compatible with the provisions of the UN/ECE regulations. 

In line with the provisions  of Directive 70/156/EEC,  the UN/ECE regulations  set out 
in  the  list  above  will  become  mandatory  on  1  January  1996  in  respect  of  the  Ml 
categories. 

The  implementation  of  the  UN/ECE  regulations  on  pollutant  and  noise  emissions 
remains  optional  within  the  Union.  Thus  the  Community  undertakes  to  accept  a 
vehicle  from  a  non-member  country  that  complies  with  those  regulations,  while  the 
Community Directives on pollutant and noise emissions continue to be the only form of 
regulation to be applied by the Member States of the Commumty when type approval is 
granted in that area.  Moreover,  it is clear that, assuming that the UN/ECE regulations 
differ from the relevant directives, the Community may decide to extricate itself from 
its  reciprocal-recognition  obligation  in  this  area  by  withdrawing  from  the  UN/ECE 
regulations)  concerned,  in  line  with  Article  1(6)  of  the  Revised  Agreement  and 
Article 3 of this Decision. 

2. 
The  Community  is  restricting  its  accession,  in  respect  of  two  or  three-wheel 
motor vehicles, to the following  list of UN/ECE regulations,  in the version covered by 
the successive amendments in force on the date of accession of the Community: 

Regulation  No 53  concerning  the  installation  of  lighting  and  light  signalling 

devices 

Regulation No 60 on controls activated by the driver,  including identification of 

the controls, warning lights and indicators 

Regulation No 74 on the installation of lighting and light-signalling devices 

Regulation No 78 on the braking of category-L vehicles. 

15 

These regulations replace the technical annexes  to the relevant  separate  EC directives, 
where  the  latter  have  the  same  scope.  However,  the  additional  provisions  of  the 
directives,  such  as  those  concerning  fitting  requirements  or  the  approval  procedure, 
will  remain  in  force  where  they  are  compatible  with  the  provisions  of  the  UN/ECE 
regulations. 

16 

The Council  and the  Commission have  agreed  as follows  in  order  to  regulate  the 
involvement  of  the  Community  and  the  Member  States  in  the  1958  Revised 
Agreement 

The  European  Community  and  the  Member States  shall  be  involved  in  the  form  of 
contracting parties to the Agreement in accordance with the following rules: 

1. 

Eligibility 

The  Community  and  Member States  may  appoint  candidates  to  carry  out  eligible 
functions  under  the  Agreement.  The  Community  and  the  Member States  shall 
undertake to put forward a single candidate to the full extent that this is possible. 

Negotiations  and  preparatory  work  preceding  the  adoption  of  regulations  or 

2. 
amendments to existing regulations to which the Community accedes: 

During the preparatory  work on the regulations within the administrative committee or 
any other committee or working party,  the Commission shall consult experts from the 
Member States  before  establishing  the  Community  position  in  accordance  with 
Article 4(1) of the Decision by the Community  to accede to the Agreement,  and shall 
invite the representatives  of  the  Member  States  to  explain  the  Commission's  position 
during  the preparatory  work and to provide  technical  support  for  this.  Following  that 
preparatory  stage the Commission  shall represent  the Community  within WP29 as the 
Community's sole spokesman, in accordance with Article  113 of the Treaty, in order to 
adopt  a  final  position  on  the  adoption  of  any  new  regulation  or  amendment  to  an 
existing regulation. 

3. 

Adoption of the ECE regulations and of amendments to existing regulations 

The Commission shall exercise the right to vote for  the Community  within the bodies 
set up under the Agreement.  The Member States shall not vote. 

The  Community  institutions  shall  undertake  to  speed  up  their  activities  as  far  as 
possible in order not avoidably to delay the vote within the ECE.  For this purpose the 
Commission  shall  submit  its proposal,  as  required  by  Article 4(2)  of  the  Decision  as 
soon as all of the essential components of the draft  ECE regulation have been supplied. 

4. 

Amendments to the Agreement 

Only the Community may put forward amendments to the Agreement. 

The  Member States  shall  align  their  position  with  that  expressed  by  the  Community 
with regard  to the amendments  tabled by  other  contracting parties  in accordance  with 
Article 13 of the Agreement. 

17 

ISSN 0254-1475 

COM(95) 723 final 

DOCUMENTS 

EN 

07 

Catalogue number  : CB-CO-95-761-EN-C 

ISBN 92-77-98680-8 

Office for Official  Publications of the European Communities 

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