Proposal for a European Parliament and Council Directive amending Council Directive 80/181/EEC on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to units of measurement
Date: 1999-02-04
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: approximation of laws, consumer information, international standard, weights and measures

C  89/8

EN

Official  Journal  of  the  European  Communities

30.3.1999

Proposal  for  a  European  Parliament  and  Council  Directive  amending  Council  Directive
80/181/EEC  on  the  approximation  of  the  laws  of  the  Member  States  relating  to  units  of
measurement

(1999/C  89/02)

(Text  with  EEA  relevance)

COM(1999)  40  final  —  99/014(COD)

(Submitted  by  the  Commission  on  6  February  1999)

THE  EUROPEAN  PARLIAMENT  AND  THE  COUNCIL  OF
THE  EUROPEAN  UNION,

are  disallowed  after  31  December  1999;  whereas
supplementary indications in non-legal units should
therefore  be  authorised  for  a  further  period;

Having  regard  to  the  Treaty  establishing  the  European
Community,  and  in  particular  Article  100a  thereof,

Having  regard  to  the  proposal  from  the  Commission,

5.  Whereas  the  application  of  Directive  80/181/EEC
should  be  re-examined  and 
the  appropriate
measures taken towards the use of a global system;
whereas the procedure of Article 18 of the Council
Directive  71/316/EEC (3),  should  apply  where
appropriate,

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social
Committee,

Acting  in  accordance  with  the  procedure  to  in  Article
189b  of  the  Treaty,

HAVE  ADOPTED  THIS  DIRECTIVE:

1.  Whereas  at  international  level  the  19th  General
Conference  on  Weights  and  Measures  (1991)
extended  the  list  of  SI  prefixes  to  be  used  for
multiples  and  submultiples  of  SI  units;

2.  Whereas 

the 

International  Organisation 

for
Standardisation  (ISO)  has  revised  the  principles
and  rules  regarding  quantities  and  units  as  laid
down 
international  standard  ISO  31;
whereas rules for the practical use of the SI system
are  given  by  the  international  standard  ISO  1000;

in  the 

3.  Whereas 

the 

text 

of  Council  Directive
80/181/EEC (1),  as 
last  amended  by  Directive
89/617/EEC (2)  should  be  brought  into  line  with
these  international  agreements  and  standards;

4.  Whereas certain third countries do not accept onto
their  market  products  marked  exclusively  in  the
legal  units  established  by  Directive  80/181/EEC;
whereas  companies  exporting  to  these  countries
will  be  disadvantaged  if  supplementary  indications

Article  1

Directive  80/181/EEC  is  hereby  amended  as  follows:

1.  In  Article  3(2):

‘31  December  1999’  is  replaced  by  ‘31  December
2009’.

2.  The  following  Article  6a  is  added:

‘Article  6a

Issues concerning the implementation of this directive,
in  particular,  the  matter  of  supplementary
and 
indications shall be further examined, and if necessary
the appropriate measures adopted in accordance with
the  procedure  of  Article  18  of  Council  Directive
71/316/EEC (*).

(*) OJ  L  202,  6.9.1971,  p.  1.’

(1)  OJ  L  39,  15.2.1980,  p.  40.
(2)  OJ  L  357,  7.12.1989,  p.  28.

(3)  OJ  L  202,  6.9.1971,  p.  1.

30.3.1999

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Official  Journal  of  the  European  Communities

C  89/9

3.  The  Annex  is  amended  as  follows:

‘Unit  of  plane  angle

(a)  In  Chapter  I,  the  text  under  the  table  in  point

1.1.1  is  replaced  by  the  following:

‘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”.’

(b) The  definitions  of  the  SI  supplementary  units
following  the  table  in  point  1.2.1  is  replaced  by
the  following:

The  radian  is  the  angle  between  two  radii  of  a
circle  which  cut  off  on  the  circumference  an  arc
equal  in  length  to  the  radius.

(International  standard  ISO  31  —  1:  1992).

Unit  of  solid  angle

The  steradian  is  the  solid  angle  of  a  cone  which,
having its vertex in the centre of a sphere, cuts off
on the surface of the sphere an area equal to that
of  a  square  with  sides  of  length  equal  to  the
radius  of  the  sphere.

(International  standard  ISO  31  —  1:  1992).’

(c)  The  table  in  point  1.3.  is  replaced  by  the  following:

‘Factor

Prefix

Symbol

Factor

1024

1021

1018

1015

1012

109

106

103

102

101

yotta

zetta

exa

peta

tera

giga

mega

kilo

hecto

deca

Y

Z

E

P

T

G

M

K

H

da

10−1

10−2

10−3

10−6

10−9

10−12

10−15

10−18

10−21

10−24

(d) Point  3.  is  replaced  by  the  following:

Prefix

deci

centi

milli

micro

nano

pico

femto

atto

zepto

yocto

Symbol

d

e

m
µ

n

p

f

a

z

y’

‘3.  UNITS  USED  WITH  THE  SI,  THE  VALUES  OF  WHICH  IN  SI  ARE  OBSTAINED

EXPERIMENTALLY

Quantity

Unit

Name

Symbol

Definition

energy

elektron  volt

eV

mass

unified  atomic
mass  unit

u

The  electron  volt  is  the  kinetic  energy
acquired  by  an  electron 
in  passing
through a potential difference of 1 volt in
vacuum

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.’

C  89/10

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Official  Journal  of  the  European  Communities

30.3.1999

Article  2

Article  3

Member States shall bring into force the laws, regulations
and  administrative  provisions  necessary  to  comply  with
this  Directive  on (1).  They  shall  forthwith  inform  the
Commission  thereof.

Without  prejudice  to  Directive  80/181/EEC,  Member
States  shall,  after  31  December  1999,  authorise  or
continue  to  permit  the  use  of  the  supplementary
indications  referred  to  in  Article  3  of  that  Directive.

When  Member  States  adopt  these  provisions,  they  shall
contain  a  reference  to  this  Directive  or  shall  be
accompanied  by  such  reference  at  the  time  of  their
official  publication.  Member  States  shall  lay  down  the
procedure  for  such  reference.

Article  4

This  Directive  shall  enter  into  force  on  the  20th  day
following  its  publication  in  the  Official  Journal  of  the
European  Communities.

(1)  12  months  after  the  adoption  of  this  Directive.