98/376/EC: Council Recommendation of 4 June 1998 on a parking card for people with disabilities
Date: 1998-06-04
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: Council of the European Union, EC recommendation, facilities for people with disabilities, harmonisation of standards, parking area

12. 6. 98

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L 167/25

II

(Acts whose publication is not obligatory)

COUNCIL

COUNCIL RECOMMENDATION

of 4 June 1998

on a parking card for people with disabilities

(98/376/EC)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community, and in particular Article 75(1) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal
submitted by the Commission,

for a recommendation

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

Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the
Regions (2),

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

(1) Whereas the reciprocal recognition of a parking card
for people with disabilities based on a standardised
Community model was advocated by the Commis-
sion in its communication on a medium term social
forwarded to the
(1995-97),
action programme
Council,
the Economic
and Social Committee and the Committee of the
Regions on 12 April 1995, and also on its report of
26 November 1993 to the Council on the measures
to be taken in the Community regarding the accessi-
bility of transport to persons with reduced mobility;

the European Parliament,

(2) Whereas,

in the spirit of

the resolution of

the
Council and of the representatives of the Govern-
the Member States meeting within the
ments of
Council of 20 December 1996 on equality of oppor-
tunity for people with disabilities, all people with
disabilities should be entitled to additional concrete
measures aimed at improving their occupational and
social integration;

(3) Whereas a mode of transport other than public trans-
port constitutes, for many people with disabilities,
the only means of getting about independently for
purposes of occupational and social
integration;
whereas,
in certain circumstances and with due
regard to road safety, it is only right that people with
disabilities should be enabled, by means of a parking
card for such people, to park as near to their destina-
tion as possible; whereas people with disabilities
should thus have the opportunity to avail themselves
of the facilities provided by the said parking card
throughout the Community in accordance with the
national rules applying in the country in which they
happen to be;

(4) Whereas, in view of the fact that parking cards for
people with disabilities may come within the remit
of regional and local authorities, the Committee of
the Regions should be consulted;

(1) OJ C 174, 17. 6. 1996, p. 27.
(2) OJ C 42, 10. 2. 1997, p. 27.
(3) Opinion of the European Parliament of 13 December 1996
(OJ C 20, 20. 1. 1997, p. 386), Council common position of
19 December 1997 (OJ C 62, 26. 2. 1998, p. 4) and Decision
of the European Parliament of 30 March 1998 (OJ C 138, 4. 5.
1998).

(5) Whereas, in accordance with the principle of subsid-
iarity, Community action is appropriate to promote
the understanding and mutual recognition of parking
cards for people with disabilities and to facilitate
freedom of movement for people with disabilities;

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(6) Whereas

it

is desirable that

there should be a
Community-model parking card, recognised mut-
ually by the Member States, for people with disabil-
ities;

(7) Whereas the definition of disability and the rules for
assigning parking cards to persons with disabilities
are the responsibility of the Member States;

(8) Whereas Member States should introduce certain
security features to prevent forgery or counterfeiting
of the parking card;

(9) Whereas the European Conference of Ministers of
Transport (ECMT) has already adopted a resolution
encouraging the provision and reciprocal recognition
of parking cards for people with disabilities (ECMT
resolution of 22 April 1997);

(10) Whereas full information should be provided to card
holders on the conditions for using the card in the
Member States,

Hereby RECOMMENDS Member States to:

1. introduce a parking card for people with disabilities,
issued to them in accordance with the respective
national provisions, on the basis of the standardised
Community model described in the Annex, which may
be used in parallel with the parking cards issued in the
Member States, according to the terms laid down in
paragraph 5;

2. recognise, as from 1 January 1999, the parking cards
for people with disabilities introduced by each Member

State in accordance with the standardised Community
model, so that cardholders may benefit from the asso-
ciated parking facilities available in the Member State
in which they happen to be;

3. grant the parking card to people whose disability leads

to reduced mobility;

4. provide, on the basis of a technical fact sheet prepared
by the Commission, an overview of the conditions of
use in the different Member States of the European
Union when issuing a parking card to people with
disabilities
the persons
concerned;

request of

and at

the

5. take the necessary steps to ensure that standardised
Community model parkings cards for people with
disabilities are available by 1 January 2000 at the latest;

recommendation notwithstanding, models ex-
This
isting in Member States before 1 January 2000 may
continue to be used on the territory of such Member
States beyond that date until their replacement;

6. inform the Commission, before 1 July 2000, of the

action take pursuant to this Recommendation.

Done at Luxembourg, 4 June 1998.

For the Council

The President

D. BLUNKETT

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ANNEX

Provisions on the Community-model parking card for people with disabilities

A. The overall dimensions of the Community-model parking card for people with disabilities shall be:

— height: 106 mm,

— width: 148 mm.

B. The colour of the parking card shall be light blue, except for the white wheelchair-user symbol, which

shall have a dark blue background.

C. The parking card for people with disabilities shall be plastic-coated, with the exception of the space

reserved for the holder’s signature on the left-hand side of the reverse.

D. The parking card for people with disabilities shall be divided vertically into two parts on both the front

and reverse.

The left-hand side of the front shall contain:

— the wheel-chair user symbol in white on a dark blue background,

— the date of expiry of the parking card,

— the serial number of the parking card,

— the name and stamp of the issuing authority/organisation;

The right-hand side of the front shall contain:

— in capital letters, the words ‘Parking card for people with disabilities’ in the language(s) of the
Member State issuing the card; after a suitable space, the words ‘Parking card’ shall appear in small
type in the other languages of the European Union,

— the words ‘European Communities’ model’ in the language(s) of the Member State issuing the card,

— as background, the distinguishing code of the Member State issuing the parking card, as follows:

B:
Belgium
DK: Denmark
Germany
D:
Greece
EL:
Spain
E:
France
F:
Ireland
IRL:
Italy
I:
L:
Luxembourg
NL: Netherlands
A:
Austria
Portugal
P:
FIN: Finland
S:
Sweden
UK: United Kingdom

surrounded by the ring of 12 stars symbolising the European Union.

The left-hand side of the reverse shall contain:

1. the holder’s surname;

2. the holder’s forename(s);

3. the holder’s signature or other authorised mark, if allowed under national legislation;

4. the holder’s photograph.

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The right-hand side of the reverse shall contain:

1. the statement:

‘This card entitles the holder to the special local parking facilities available in the Member State
concerned’;

2. the statement:

‘When in use, the card is to be displayed at the front of the vehicle in such a way that the front of the
card is clearly visible for checking purposes’.

E. With the exception of the right-hand side of the front, entries shall be shown in the language(s) of the

Member State issuing the parking card.

If a Member State wishes to make the entries in a national language other than one of the following:
Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Italian Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, it shall
draw up a bilingual version of the card using one of the aforementioned languages, without prejudice to
the other provisions of this Annex.