Common Position (EC) No 39/2000 of 27 June 2000 adopted by the Council, acting in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 251 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, with a view to adopting a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending 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
Date: 2000-06-27
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: approximation of laws, rail transport, safety standard, transport of dangerous goods, transport regulations, transport safety

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COMMON POSITION (EC) No 39/2000

adopted by the Council on 27 June 2000

with a view to adopting a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council of (cid:133)
amending 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

(2000/C 245/03)

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE
EUROPEAN UNION,

and tanks constructed on or after 1 January 1997 and
used exclusively for national transport.

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community, and in particular Article 71(1)(c) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (1),

(4) The deadlines laid down in Article 6(4) of Directive
96/49/EC regarding certain equipment should be put back;
identifying the equipment concerned and the latest date
for the application of Directive 96/49/EC should be made
subject to the procedure laid down in Article 9 thereof.

Having regard to the opinion of
Committee (2),

the Economic and Social

(5) The derogations provided for in Article 6(9), (11) and (14)
to the

of Directive 96/49/EC should be made subject
procedure laid down in Article 9 thereof.

After consulting the Committee of the Regions,

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

Whereas:

(1) Directive 96/49/EC (4)

lays down transitional provisions
which remained valid until 1 January 1999, to allow the
completion of some standardisation work by the European
Committee for Standardisation (CEN) on receptacles and
tanks. That work has not yet been completed.

(6) The measures necessary for the implementation of this
Directive should be adopted in accordance with Council
Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying down the
implementing powers
procedures
the exercise of
conferred on the Commission (5).

for

(7) The conditions to be fulfilled before a transport operation
may be regarded as an ad hoc transport operation should
be specified.

(8) Directive 96/49/EC should be amended accordingly,

(2) The transport equipment covered by the derogation
in Article 5(2)(c) of Directive 96/49/EC

provided for
should be better defined.

HAVE ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:

(3)

In order to allow the Member States to use, for a specified
period, rail wagons and tanks that do not comply with a
new provision in the Annex to Directive 96/49/EC, there
should be a transitional provision to cover rail wagons

Article 1

Directive 96/49/EC is amended as follows:

(1) OJ C 181, 26.6.1999, p. 25.
(2) OJ C 329, 17.11.1999, p. 11.
(3) European Parliament opinion of 29 October 1999 (OJ C 154,
5.6.2000, p. 365), Council Common Position of 27 June 2000 and
European Parliament Decision of (cid:133) (not yet published in the
Official Journal).

(4) OJ L 235, 17.9.1996, p. 25. Directive as

last amended by

1.

the terms

In Article 5(2)(c)
(cid:145)operating temperature of
shall be replaced by (cid:145)operating
material
temperature of materials used for plastic packaging, tanks
and their equipment intended (cid:133)(cid:146);

intended (cid:133)(cid:146)

Commission Directive 1999/48/EC (OJ L 169, 5.7.1999, p. 58).

(5) OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23.

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2. Article 6 shall be amended as follows:

(a) paragraph 3 shall be replaced by the following:

the use of wagons

(cid:145)3. Within its own territory a Member State may
authorise
constructed before
1 January 1997 which do not comply with this
Directive, but were constructed in accordance with
national provisions in force on 31 December 1996,
provided that
those wagons are maintained to the
required safety levels.

Tanks and wagons constructed on or after 1 January
1997 which do not comply with the Annex but were
constructed in accordance with the requirements of
this Directive that were applicable on the date of their
construction may continue to be used for national
transport until a date determined in accordance with
the procedure laid down in Article 9.(cid:146);

(b)

in paragraph 4:

(cid:151) in the first sentence, (cid:145)31 December 1998(cid:146) shall be
replaced by (cid:145)30 June 2001(cid:146), and in the second
(cid:145)1 January 1999(cid:146) shall be replaced by
sentence,
(cid:145)1 July 2001(cid:146),

(cid:151) the following subparagraphs shall be added:

(cid:145)The dates 30 June 2001 and 1 July 2001 shall be
put back for receptacles and tanks for which there
for
are no detailed technical
which no sufficient references to the appropriate
European standards have been added to the
Annex.

requirements or

they

Notwithstanding the
above, Member States may,
advance
the
give
provided
notification, at any time adopt provisions similar to
provisions adopted by other Member States with
reference to this paragraph.

Commission

The Commission shall examine whether the conditions
laid down in this paragraph have been met and shall
decide, in accordance with the procedure laid down in
Article 9, whether the Member States concerned may
adopt these derogations(cid:146);

(d) paragraph 10 shall be replaced by the following:

The Member States may issue authorisations,
(cid:145)10.
to carry out ad hoc
valid for their territory only,
transport operations of dangerous goods which are
either prohibited by the Annex or are performed
under conditions different from those laid down in the
Annex, on condition that
these ad hoc transport
operations are clearly defined and limited in time(cid:146);

(e) paragraph 11 shall be replaced by the following:

(cid:145)11.
Provided they give the Commission advance
notification, Member States may authorise the regular
transport on particular designated routes within their
forming part of a
territory of dangerous goods,
defined industrial process, which are either prohibited
by the provisions of
the Annex or are performed
under conditions different from those laid down in the
Annex, where such operations are of a local nature
and are tightly controlled under clearly specified
conditions.

the

and
this Directive as

The receptacles and tanks referred to in the second
the
subparagraph
application of
those
receptacles and tanks
shall be determined in
accordance with the procedure laid down in
Article 9.(cid:146);

date
regards

latest

for

shall

Commission

examine whether

The
the
requirements of the first subparagraph have been met
and shall decide, in accordance with the procedure laid
down in Article 9, whether
the Member States
concerned may authorise such transport operations(cid:146);

(c) paragraph 9 shall be replaced by the following:

(f) paragraph 14 shall be replaced by the following:

(cid:145)9.
Provided they give the Commission advance
notification no later than 31 December 2002 or until
the
two years after the last date of application of
amended versions of
the Annex to this Directive,
Member States may adopt provisions less stringent
than those in the Annex for the transport within their
territory only of small quantities of certain dangerous
goods, with the exception of substances having a
medium or high level of radioactivity.

These
discrimination.

derogations

shall

be

applied without

Provided they give the Commission advance
(cid:145)14.
notification Member
the
States may
transport of dangerous goods under conditions less
stringent than those laid down in the Annex in the
case of local transport over short distances within the
perimeters of ports, airports or industrial sites.

authorise

The Commission shall examine whether the conditions
laid down in the first subparagraph have been met
and shall decide, in accordance with the procedure laid
down in Article 9, whether
the Member States
concerned may authorise such transport operations(cid:146);

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3. Article 9 shall be replaced by the following:

(cid:145)Article 9

The Commission shall be assisted by the Committee
1.
on the Transport of Dangerous Goods set up under Article
9 of Directive 94/55/EC (1).

2. Where reference is made to this Article, Articles 5
and 7 of Decision 1999/468/EC shall apply, having regard
to the provisions of Article 8 thereof.

The period referred to in Article 5(6) of Decision
1999/468/EC shall be set at three months.

3.

The Committee shall adopt its rules of procedure.

When Member States adopt these measures, they shall contain
a reference to this Directive or shall be accompanied by such
reference on the occasion of
their official publication. The
methods of making such reference shall be adopted by the
Member States.

2. Member States shall communicate to the Commission the
text of the main provisions of national law which they adopt
in the field governed by this Directive.

Article 3

This Directive shall enter
publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.

into force on the day of

its

(1) OJ L 319, 12.12.1994, p. 7. Directive as last amended
by Directive 2000/(cid:133)/EC of the European Parliament
and of
this Official
Journal).(cid:146)

(see page (cid:133) of

the Council

Article 4

This Directive is addressed to the Member States.

Article 2

Done at (cid:133)

1. Member States shall bring into force the laws, regulations
and administrative provisions necessary to comply with this
Directive before (cid:133) (*). They shall
forthwith inform the
Commission thereof.

For the European Parliament

The President

For the Council

The President

(*) Six months after the entry into force of this Directive.

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STATEMENT OF THE COUNCIL’S REASONS

I.

INTRODUCTION

On 18 May 1999 the Commission submitted to the European Parliament and the Council a proposal
for a Directive amending 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, which is based on Article
71(1)(c) of the EC Treaty (1).

The European Parliament and the Economic and Social Committee delivered their opinions on 29
October 1999 (2) and 22 September 1999 (3) respectively.

Following the Council’s request for consultation of 7 June 1999 the Committee of the Regions
communicated by letter of 22 July 1999 its decision not to give an opinion.

On 26 June 2000, the Council adopted its Common Position pursuant to Article 251 of the EC
Treaty.

II. OBJECTIVE

The main purpose of the Commission proposal is to settle the problems arising from the application
of certain transitional provisions laid down by Directive 96/49/EC (4) which were valid until 31
December 1998.

The Commission is proposing that this time limit of 31 December 1998 should be put back, since the
CEN (European Committee for Standardisation) has fallen behind with its standardisation work on the
construction, use and conditions of carriage of receptacles for the transport of class 2 gases and tanks
(Article 6(4) of Directive 96/49/EC).

The proposal also seeks to flesh out a number of the derogations provided for in Article 6 of the
Directive and the procedure for their acceptance.

III. ANALYSIS OF THE COMMON POSITION

The Council’s Common Position is broadly in line with the Commission proposal.

The European Parliament approved the Commission proposal without amendments. The changes
made by the Common Position to the proposal are described below; the first three draw on the
amendments proposed by the European Parliament (5)
to the Commission proposal amending
Directive 94/55/EC (6), hereinafter called (cid:145)the proposal on transport by road(cid:146):

(1) OJ C 181, 26.6.1999, p. 25.
(2) OJ C 154, 5.6.2000, p. 365.
(3) OJ C 329, 17.11.1999, p. 11.
(4) Council Directive 96/49/EC of 23 July 1996 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States with regard to

the transport of dangerous goods by rail (OJ L 235, 17.9.1996, p. 25).
(5) Opinion of 18 January 2000 (not yet published in the Official Journal).
(6) Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Council Directive 94/55/EC
on the approximation of the laws of the Member States with regard to the transport of dangerous goods by road
(OJ C 171, 18.6.1999, p. 17).

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(cid:151) in the sixth recital and Article 1(3): the change to Article 9 of Directive 96/49/EC, designed to
bring the text of the Directive into line with Council Decision 1999/468/EC on committee
procedure (1) (see amendments 1 and 4 proposed by the European Parliament to the proposal on
transport by road),

(cid:151) in Article 1(1), the change to Article 5(2)(c), designed to ensure consistency between that wording
and a similar provision (new subparagraph (c)
in Article 5(3)) concerning the operating
temperature of materials used for plastic packaging, tanks and their equipment, as contained in
the Council’s Common Position on the proposal on transport by road (hereinafter (cid:145)the Common
(see European Parliament’s amendment 2 to the proposal on
Position on transport by road(cid:146)
transport by road),

(cid:151) in Article 1(2)(a), the change to Article 6(3), designed to avoid discrimination between rail wagons
and tanks constructed before or after 1 June 1997 and conforming to legislation in force on the
date of construction, and to ensure consistency between the Directive and the Common Position
on transport by road (see European Parliament’s amendment 3 to the proposal on transport by
road),

(cid:151) in Article 1(2)(c), the change to Article 6(9), designed to enable Member States to authorise
derogations for the transport of small quantities of certain dangerous goods within their territory,
subject to advance notification of those derogations to the Commission. The Common Position
also limits in time, as does the corresponding provision in the Common Position on transport by
road (Article 1(3)(d)), the period during which Member States may notify the Commission of
derogations for the transport of small quantities of certain dangerous goods within their territory.

(1) Council Decision 1999/468/EC laying down the procedures for the exercise of implementing powers conferred on

the Commission (OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23).