Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Council Directive 92/24/EEC relating to speed limitation devices or similar speed limitation on-board systems of certain categories of motor vehicles
Date: 2003-06-13
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: bus, carriage of goods, commercial vehicle, motor vehicle, road safety, safety device, speed control

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES

Brussels, 13.6.2003
COM(2003) 350 final

2003/0122 (COD)

Proposal for a

DIRECTIVE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL

amending Council Directive 92/24/EEC relating to speed limitation devices or similar
speed limitation on-board systems of certain categories of motor vehicles

(presented by the Commission)

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

1.

Objective of the Proposal

Directive 92/24/EEC is one of the separate directives within the framework of motor vehicle
type-approval and is relating to speed limitation devices or similar speed limitation on-board
systems  of  certain  categories  of  motor  vehicles  (lorries  and  buses).  The  objective  of  the
proposal  is  to  amend  the  scope  of  this  directive  to  lighter  commercial  vehicles  like  small
buses and good transport vehicles above 3.5 tonnes maximum mass.

2.

Legal Basis

The measures are proposed on the basis of Article 95 of the EC Treaty. The measures form
part of the European type-approval system and  compliance  will  become  mandatory for  new
EC type-approvals to be issued by the national authorities after a defined transition period.

3.

Background

Directive  92/24/EEC  today  contains  the  technical  requirements  for  type-approval  of  speed
limitation  devices  and  applies  to  motor  vehicles  of  categories  N2  (medium  trucks)  and  M3
(buses  and  coaches)  with  a  maximum  mass  exceeding  10  tonnes  and  to  motor  vehicles  of
category N3 (heavy trucks). This directive is  linked with  Directive  92/6/EEC,  regulating  the
installation and use of speed limitation devices for the same categories of vehicles.

Based  on  the  positive  experience  and  to  further  promote  road  safety  and  environmental
protection  Directive 2002/85/EC  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  on  the
installation  and  use  of  speed  limitation  devices  has  been  adopted  recently.  This  Directive
extends  the  scope  of  Directive 92/6/EEC  and  introduces  speed  limitation  devices  for  all
vehicles  with  more  than  eight  seats  in  addition  to  the  driver’s  seat  used  for  the  carriage  of
passengers  (categories  M2  and  M3)  and  for  all  vehicles  used  for  the  carriage  of  goods  and
exceeding 3.5 tonnes maximum mass (categories N2 and N3).

To  allow  type-approval  of  all  vehicles  and  speed  limitation  devices  covered  by  this
amendment it is now necessary to amend the scope of the type-approval Directive 92/24/EEC
relating to the construction requirements for speed limiters accordingly.

4.

Content of the Proposal

It  is  proposed  to  extend  the  scope  of  Directive 92/24/EEC  to  cover  all  motor  vehicles  of
categories M2, M3, N2 and N3. It is therefore necessary to amend Article 1 and Annex I, item
1.1 relating to the scope of this directive. The technical requirements and administrative type-
approval provisions remain unchanged.

5.

Conclusions

This  proposal  for  a  Directive  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of the  Council  will  extend  the
harmonised  requirements  for  speed  limitation  devices  or  similar  speed  limitation  on-board
systems to all motor vehicles of categories M2 and M3 for the carriage of passengers

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2003/0122 (COD)

Proposal for a

DIRECTIVE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL

amending Council Directive 92/24/EEC relating to speed limitation devices or similar
speed limitation on-board systems of certain categories of motor vehicles

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 proposal from the Commission1,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee2,

Acting in Accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

Measures should be adopted for the purpose of ensuring the smooth functioning of the
internal market.

Council Directive 92/24/EEC of 31 March 1992 relating to speed limitation devices or
similar  speed  limitation  on-board  systems  of  certain  categories  of  motor  vehicles  is
one of the separate directives under the Community approval procedure introduced by
Council Directive 70/156/EEC of 6 February 1970 on the approximation of the laws of
the  Member  States  relating  to  the  type-approval  of  motor  vehicles  and  their  trailers;
the provisions and definitions laid down in Directive 70/156/EEC concerning vehicles,
vehicles  systems,  components  and  separate  technical  units  will  thus  apply  to  this
Directive.

Speed  limitation devices  for vehicles  used  for  the  carriage  of  passengers  and  for  the
carriage of goods having a maximum mass exceeding 10 tonnes have shown a positive
influence on road safety and reducing the severity of injuries in cases of accidents as
well as a reduction of air pollution and fuel consumption.

Council Directive 92/6/EEC on the installation and use of speed limitation devices for
certain  categories  of  motor  vehicles  has  been  extended  to  lighter  motor  vehicles  of
categories  M2  and  N2.  It  is  therefore  necessary  to  amend  the  scope  of  Directive
92/24/EEC relating to the construction requirements for speed limiters accordingly to
cover the same categories of motor vehicles.

Directive 92/24/EEC should therefore be amended accordingly,

1

2

OJ C , , p. .
OJ C , , p. .

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HAVE ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:

Article 1

Directive 92/24/EEC is hereby amended as follows:

1.

Article 1, shall be replaced by the following:

– 

– 

‘vehicle’  shall  mean  any  motor  vehicle  of  categories  M2,  M3,  N2  or  N3,  as
defined  in  Annex  II  to  Directive  70/156/EEC,  intended  for  use  on  the  road,
having at least four wheels and a maximum design speed exceeding 25 km/h;

‘speed  limitation  device’  shall  mean  a  speed-limiting  appliance  intended  for
use on a vehicle within the scope of this directive for which type-approval of a
separate  technical  unit  within  the  meaning  of  Article  9a  of  Directive
70/156/EEC  may  be  granted.  Built-in  maximum  vehicle  speed  limitation
systems, incorporated into the design of vehicles from the outset, shall meet the
same requirements as speed limitation devices.

2.

Annex I, item 1.1, paragraph 3, the first sentence is replaced by the following:

The purpose of this Directive is to limit to a specified value the maximum road speed
of  goods  vehicles  of  categories  N2  and  N3  and  of  passenger-carrying  vehicles  of
categories M2 and M3.

1.

With  effect  from  …..3,  Member  States  may  not,  on  grounds  relating  to  speed
limitation devices or similar systems

Article 2

– 

– 

refuse to grant EC type-approval or national type approval of a vehicle, a speed
limitation device or a speed limitation on-board system,

prohibit the registration, sale or entry into service of a vehicle or refuse the sale
or entry into service of a speed limitation device or a speed limitation on-board
system,

if the vehicles, speed limitation devices or speed limitation on-board systems comply
with the provisions of Directive 92/24/EEC as amended by this Directive.

With  effect  from  …..4,  the  Member  States  shall,  on  grounds  relating  to  speed
limitation  devices  or  speed  limitation  on-board  systems  prohibit  the  sale,  the
registration  or  the  entry  into  service  of  vehicles,  speed  limitation  devices  or  speed
limitation  on-board  systems  which  do  not  comply  with  the  provisions  of  Directive
92/24/EEC as amended by this Directive.

9 months after entering into force of this directive
1st  day  of  the  month  following  the  end  of  the  2nd  year  after  the  amendment  of  Directive  92/6/EEC
(COM(2001)318 final) enters into force

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2.

3

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Article 3

1.

2.

3.

Member  States  shall  adopt  and  publish,  before…..5,  the  provisions  necessary  to
comply  with  this  Directive.  They  shall  forthwith  inform  the  Commission  thereof.
They shall apply these provisions from ……6

When  the  Member  States  adopt  those  provisions,  they  shall  contain  a  reference  to
this Directive or shall be accompanied by such a  reference on the occasion of  their
official publication. Member States shall determine how such is to be made.

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

This Directive shall enter into force on the  third day  following  that  of  its  publication in the
Official Journal of the European Union.

Article 4

Article 5

This Directive is addressed to the Member States.

Done at Brussels,

For the European Parliament
The president

For the Council
The President

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6

9 months after entering into force of this directive
the day following 9 months after entering into force of this directive

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