CELEX: 51996PC0628
Language: en
Date: 1996-12-04
Title: Re-examined proposal for a COUNCIL DIRECTIVE on marine equipment

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
                                     Brussels, 04.12.1996
                                     COM(96) 628 final
                                     95/0163 (SYN)
                Re-examined proposal for a
                 COUNCIL DIRECTIVE
                  on marine equipment
(presented by the Commission pursuant to Article 189 c (d)
                     of the EC Treaty)
 ---pagebreak---  ---pagebreak---                               Explanatory memorandum
On 24 October 1996 the European Parliament adopted 3 amendments to the common position
on the above proposal which was adopted by the Council on 18 June 19%. The amendments
of the Parliament are attached to this memorandum.
In pursuance of Article 189 c, section (d) of the EC Treaty, the Commission has re-examined
its proposal and decided to accept amendment N° 1 of the European Parliament and not to
accept amendments N° 2 and 3, for the following reasons:
        Amendment N° 1 related to Article 3, paragraph 3 of the common position
        This amendment represents an improvement to the text of the common position since
        it will avoid unnecessary application of overlapping provisions to the same piece of
        radiocommunication equipment, without in any way jeopardising its safety
        performance. After in-depth re-examination of the technical Annex to this proposal,
        it was proven that compliance of radiocommunication equipment with the relevant
        safety requirements of the other EC directives is already ensured under this proposal
        when referring in Annex A to specific international testing standards to be applied to
        the radiocommunication equipment itself.
        Amendment N° 2 related to Article 9, paragraph 3a (new)
        This new paragraph proposed by the Parliament merely repeats the principle of
        independence for notified bodies which is already set out in the text of the common
        position (Annex C, paragraph 2). It is, therefore, an unnecessary duplication of such
        provisions.
        Amendment N° 3 related to Article 18 of the common position
        The regulatory Committee foreseen in the common position is the same type of
        Committee established in all the other Community measures on maritime safety. The
        common position is continuing a standard practice in this field which has to be
        maintained for reasons of consistency.
Annex 1:         Re-examined Proposal
Annex 2:         Amendments adopted by the European Parliament and not accepted by the
                 Commission
 ---pagebreak---                                        Annex 1
                              Re-examined proposal for a
                                   Council Direrrivp
                                 on marine equipment
                                   Article 3(3)
3. Notwithstanding the fact that the         3. Notwithstanding the fact that the
equipment referred to in paragraph 1         equipment referred to in paragraph 1
may   fall   within    the   scope   of      may fall within the scope          of
Directives other than this Directive         Directives other than this Directive
for the purposes of free movement,           for the purposes of free movement,
and in particular Council Directives         and in particular Council Directives
89/336/EEC of 3 May 1989 on the              89/336/EEC of 3 May 1989 on the
approximation of the laws of the             approximation of the laws of the
Member     States      relating      to      Member      States     relating    to
electromagnetic    compatibility    and      electromagnetic    compatibility  and
89/686/EEC of 21 December 1989 on the        89/686/EEC of 21 December 1989 on the
approximation of the laws of the             approximation of the laws of the
Member States relating to personal           Member States relating to personal
protective equipment, that equipment         protective equipment, that equipment
shall be subject       only   to this        shall be subject only        to this
Directive, to the exclusion of all           Directive, to the exclusion of all
others for those purposes. yhis              others for those purposes.
paragraph    shall   not    apply fco.
radiocommunications equipment.
 ---pagebreak---                                  Annex 2
Common position of the Council                 Amendments bv Parliament
                              (Amendment 2)
                          Article 9(3a) (new)
                                       ia^ The Member States shall ensure
                                       that the bodies which they appoint as
                                       notified   bodies  provide    all the
                                       necessary guarantees of independence
                                       (financial, administrative and other)
                                       from the manufacturers or suppliers
                                       ûf tllfi eouipment which thev are
                                       evaluating.
 ---pagebreak---      Common position of the Council                  Amendments bv Parliament
                                    (Amendment 3)
                                Article 18(1) and (2)
1. The Commission shall be assisted           1. The Commission shall be assisted
by ihfi committee set up by Article 12       by a committee of an advisory nature
of Council Directive 93/75/EC of 13          Composed Of the representatives of
September 1993 concerning minimum             the Member States and chaired bv the
requirements for vessels bound for or        representative of the Commission.
leaving Community ports and carrying
dangerous or polluting OQQdsJ in
accordance with the. procedure laid
down in this Article.
2. The      Commission    representative      2. The    Commission    representative
shall submit to the committee a draft         shall submit to the committee a draft
of the measures to be taken. The             of the measures to be taken. The
committee shall deliver its opinion          committee shall deliver its opinion
on the draft within a time limit             on the draft, within a time limit
which the chairman may lay down              which the chairman may lay down
according to the urgency of the              according to the urgency of the
matter.     The    opinion    shall   he     matter, if necessary bv taking a.
delivered by the majority laid down          vote.
in Article 146(2) of the Treaty in
the case of decisions Hhish the              2a^_ The opinion shall be recorded in
Council is required to adopt on a            the minutes: in addition, each Member
proposal from the Commission. Thz            State shall have the right to ask to
votes of the representatives of the          have its position recorded in the
Memhej: s_ta_fce^ allhln the   committee     minutes-
shall be weighted in the manner set
out in thai Article. The chairman            The Commission shall taKe the utmost
shall not vote.                              account of. the opinion delivered by
                                             the committee. It shall inform the
                                             committee of the manner in which its
    OJ L 247. 5.10.1993. P. 19.              opinion has been tahen into account.
                                            2ÏLL. Ihfi committee    shall meet in
                                            public. It shall publish agendas two
                                            weeks in advance of its meetings. It
                                            Shall     Publish    minutes   of   its
                                            meetings. It shall establish a public
                                            register of declarations of interest
                                            by its members-
 ---pagebreak---  ---pagebreak---                                                                   ISSN 0254-1475
                                                           COM(96) 628 final
                                              DOCUMENTS
EN                                                                       07 15
                                    Catalogue number : CB-CO-96-624-EN-C
                                                             ISBN 92-78-12547-4
Office for Official Publications of the European Communities
L-2985 Luxembourg
                                           5