CELEX: 51988PC0751
Language: en
Date: 1988-12-15
Title: PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL DIRECTIVE AMENDING DIRECTIVE 80/181/EEC ON THE APPROXIMATION OF THE LAWS OF THE MEMBER STATES RELATING TO UNITS OF MEASUREMENT

7. 2. 89                               Official Journal of the European Communities                                No C 31/7
              Proposal for a Council Directive amending Directive 80/181/EEC on the approximation of the
                                laws of the Member States relating to units of measurement
                                               COM(88)    751 final — SYN 171
                                    (Submitted by the Commission on 22 December 1988)
                                                        (89/C 31/07)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,                               '(b) those listed in Chapter II of the Annex, only in
                                                                             those Member States where they were authorized
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European                         on 21 April 1973 and until a date to be fixed by
Economic Community, and in particular Article 100A                           those Member States;
thereof,
                                                                         (c) those listed in Chapter III of the Annex, only in
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,                           those Member States where they were authorized
                                                                              on 21 April 1973 and until a date to be fixed by
In cooperation with the European Parliament,                                 those Member States. This date may not be later
                                                                             than 31 December 1994;
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and                         (d) those listed in Chapter IV of the Annex, only in
Social Committee,                                                             those Member States where they were authorized
                                                                             on 21 April 1973 and until a date to be fixed by
Whereas Council Directive 80/181/EEC ('), as amended                         those Member States. This date may not be later
by Directive 85/1/EEC (2), provides that a definitive                        than 31 December 1999.'
date be fixed for the legal use of the imperial units of
measurement listed in Chapter III of the Annex thereto;            2. In Article 3:
whereas, for some imperial units and for specific uses, it
has appeared necessary to allow the Member States                      — in paragraph 2, '31 December 1989' is replaced by
concerned to fix the appropriate date until which those                     '31 December 1999',
units are legal units of measurement;                                  — paragraph 5 is deleted.
Whereas the troy ounce is the specific unit universally            3. In Article 5, '1 March 1974' is replaced by '15 May
used for bullion dealing; whereas it is therefore necessary            1983'.
to include it in Section 4 of Chapter I of the Annex, for
this specific use only;                                            4. In Article 6, the second paragraph is deleted.
Whereas Article 3 of Directive 80/181/EEC allows new               5. The Annex is amended in accordance with the Annex
final dates to be set for the use of supplementary indi-               hereto.
cations,
                                                                                              Article 2
HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:                                        Member States shall bring into force the laws, regu-
                                                                   lations and administrative provisions necessary to comply
                          Article 1                                with this Directive on 1 July 1990. They shall forthwith
                                                                   inform the Commission thereof.
Directive 80/181/EEC is hereby amended as follows:
                                                                                              Article 3
 1. In Article 1, points (b) and (c) are replaced by the
    following:                                                     This Directive is addressed to the Member States.
(») OJ No L 39, 15. 2. 1980, p. 40.
O OJ No L 2, 3. 1. 1985, p. 11.
 ---pagebreak--- No C 31/8                                 Official Journal of the European Communities                                       7. 2. 89
                                                                 ANNEX
          The Annex to Directive 80/181/EEC is hereby amended as follows:
           1. (a) in Section 4 of Chapter I, the following is added to the table:
                                                                                 Unit
                        'Quantity
                                                     Name                    Symbol                         Value
               Mass of bullion                    Troy ounce                  oz tr              1 oz tr = 31,10 x 10" 3 kg'
              (b) The note is hereby replaced by the following:
                   'The prefixes and their symbols listed in 1.3 may be used in conjunction with the above units and
                   symbols, with the exception of the millimetre of mercury and the troy ounce and their symbols. The
                   multiple of 102 a is, however, called a "hectare".'
          2. Chapter II is replaced by the following text:
                                                              'CHAPTER II
                       Legal units of measurements, referred to in Article 1 (b), permitted for specific uses only
                                                                                        Unit
                           Field of application
                                                                  Name                 Authorized value            Symbol
               Road traffic signs, distance and speed          Mile              1 mile  =    1 609 m                mile
               mesaurement                                     Yard
                                                               Foot
                                                               Inch
                                                                                 1 yd
                                                                                 1 ft
                                                                                 1 in
                                                                                         =
                                                                                         =
                                                                                         =
                                                                                             0,9144 m
                                                                                             0,3048 m
                                                                                             2,54 x 10"2 m
                                                                                                                     \t
                                                                                                                     in
               Dispense of draught beer and cider;             Pint              1 pt = 0,5683 x 10"3 m3             Pt
               milk in returnable containers
               Land registration                              Acre               1 ac = 4 047 m2                     ac
              Until the date to be fixed under Article 1 (b), the units listed in Chapter II may be combined with each
              other or with those in Chapter I to form compound units.'
          3. Chapter IV, as given below, is added:
                                                             'CHAPTER IV
                     Legal units of measurements, referred to in Article 1 (d), permitted in specialized fields only
                                                                                        Unit
                           Field of application
                                                                  Name                Approximate value            Symbol
              Marine navigation                            Fathom               1 fm = 1,829 m                    fm
                                                                                                         3   3
              Beer, cider, waters, lemonades and           Pint                 1 nt = 0,5683 x 10" m             Pt
              fruit juices in returnable containers        Fluid ounce          lfl.oz = 28,41 X 10- 6 m 3        fl. oz
                                                                                                         3
              Goods sold loose from bulk                   Ounce                1 oz = 28,35 x 1 0         kg     oz
                                                           (avoirdupoids)
                                                           Pound                1 lb = 0,4536 kg                  lb
                                                                                                           6
              Gas supply                                   Therm                1 therm = 105,506 x 10 J          therm
             Until the date to be fixed under Article 1 (d), the units listed in Chapter IV may be combined with each
             other or with those in Chapter I to form compound units.'