Directive 1999/103/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 January 2000 amending Council Directive 80/181/EEC on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to units of measurement
Date: 2000-01-24
Institutions: Council of the European Union, European Parliament
Subjects: ISO, approximation of laws, harmonisation of standards, international standard, metrology, weights and measures

9. 2. 2000

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 34/17

DIRECTIVE 1999/103/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL

of 24 January 2000

amending Council Directive 80/181/EEC on the approximation of the laws of the Member States
relating to units of measurement

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 95 thereof,

Having regard to the opinion from the commission (1),

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee (2),

Acting in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 251 of the Treaty (3),

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

At international level the 19th Conférence générale des poids et mesures (1991) extended the list of
SI prefixes to be used for multiples and submultiples of SI units.

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

The text of Council Directive 80/181/EEC (4) should be brought into line with these international
agreements and standards.

Certain third countries do not accept on to their market products marked exclusively in the legal
units established by Directive 80/181/EEC; companies exporting their products to these countries
will be disadvantaged if supplementary indications are disallowed after 31 December 1999; supple-
mentary indications in non-legal units should therefore be authorised for a further period.

The application of Directive 80/181/EEC should be re-examined and the appropriate measures taken
with a view to the use of a global system; the procedure of Article 18 of Council Directive
71/316/EEC (5), should apply where appropriate,

HAVE ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:

Article 1

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

1. In Article 3(2),

‘31 December 1999’ shall be replaced by ‘31 December 2009’.

2. The following Article shall be added:

‘Article 6a

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 adopted in accordance
with the procedure referred to in Article 18 of Council Directive 71/316/EEC (*).

(*) OJ L 202, 6.9.1971, p. 1.’

(1) OJ C 89, 30.3.1999, p. 8.
(2) OJ C 169, 16.6.1999, p. 1.
(3) Opinion delivered on 15 December 1999 (not yet published in the Official

December 1999.

Journal). Council Decision of 16

(4) OJ L 39, 15.2.1980, p. 40. Directive as last amended by Directive 89/617/EEC (JO L 357, 7.12.1989, p. 28).
(5) OJ L 202, 6.9.1971, p. 1.

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Official Journal of the European Communities

9. 2. 2000

3. The Annex shall be amended as follows:

(a) In Chapter I, the text under the table in point 1.1.1 shall be 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 shall be replaced

by the following:

‘Unit of plane angle

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 shall be replaced by the following:

‘Factor

1024

1021

1018

1015

1012

109

106

103

102

101

Prefix

yotta

zetta

exa

peta

tera

giga

mega

kilo

hecto

deca

Symbol

Factor

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

Prefix

deci

centi

milli

micro

nano

pico

femto

atto

zepto

yocto

Symbol

d

c

m

µ

n

p

f

a

z

y’

(d) Point 3 shall be replaced by the following:

‘3. UNITS USED WITH THE SI, WHOSE VALUES IN SI ARE OBTAINED EXPERIMENTALLY

Quantity

Name

Symbol

Definition

Unit

Energy

Electronvolt

eV

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

Mass

Unified
mass unit

atomic

u

The unified atomic mass units 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.’

9. 2. 2000

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 34/19

Article 2

Member States shall bring into force the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to
comply with this Directive before 9 February 2001. They shall forthwith inform the Commission thereof.

When Member States adopt these measures, 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.

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

Article 3

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

Article 4

Done at Brussels, 24 January 2000.

For the European Parliament

The President

N. FONTAINE

For the Council

The President

J. GAMA