CELEX: 51978PC0134
Language: en
Date: 1978-04-03
Title: Proposal for a COUNCIL DIRECTIVE adapting to technical progress the Council Directive of 19 November 1973 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to material measures of length (submitted to the Council by the Commission)

ARCHIVES HISTORIQUES
DE LA COMMISSION
COLLECTION RELIEE DES
DOCUMENTS "COM"
COM (78) 134
Vol. 1978/0047
 ---pagebreak--- Disclaimer
Conformément au règlement (CEE, Euratom) n° 354/83 du Conseil du 1er février 1983
concernant l'ouverture au public des archives historiques de la Communauté économique
européenne et de la Communauté européenne de l'énergie atomique (JO L 43 du 15.2.1983,
p. 1), tel que modifié par le règlement (CE, Euratom) n° 1700/2003 du 22 septembre 2003
(JO L 243 du 27.9.2003, p. 1), ce dossier est ouvert au public. Le cas échéant, les documents
classifiés présents dans ce dossier ont été déclassifiés conformément à l'article 5 dudit
règlement.
In accordance with Council Regulation (EEC, Euratom) No 354/83 of 1 February 1983
concerning the opening to the public of the historical archives of the European Economic
Community and the European Atomic Energy Community (OJ L 43, 15.2.1983, p. 1), as
amended by Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1700/2003 of 22 September 2003 (OJ L 243,
27.9.2003, p. 1), this file is open to the public. Where necessary, classified documents in this
file have been declassified in conformity with Article 5 of the aforementioned regulation.
In Übereinstimmung mit der Verordnung (EWG, Euratom) Nr. 354/83 des Rates vom 1.
Februar 1983 über die Freigabe der historischen Archive der Europäischen
Wirtschaftsgemeinschaft und der Europäischen Atomgemeinschaft (ABI. L 43 vom 15.2.1983,
S. 1), geändert durch die Verordnung (EG, Euratom) Nr. 1700/2003 vom 22. September 2003
(ABI. L 243 vom 27.9.2003, S. 1), ist diese Datei der Öffentlichkeit zugänglich. Soweit
erforderlich, wurden die Verschlusssachen in dieser Datei in Übereinstimmung mit Artikel 5
der genannten Verordnung freigegeben.
 ---pagebreak---  COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
                                                   COM(78)134 final .
                                                   Brussels , 3 April 1973
                               Proposal for a
                              COUNCIL DIRECTIVE
           adapting to technical progress the Council Directive
           of 19 November 1973 on the approximation of the laws
            of the Member States relating to material measures
                                 of length
                ( submitted to the Council "by the Commission)
CQM(78 ) 134 final .
 ---pagebreak---                              EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
 I.    Genera I
     The Council Directive ( 73/ 262 / EEC ) on the approximation of the Laws of the
     Member States relating to material measures of lenght was adopted on 19
     November 1973 .
     Since its adoption , the Commission has received from Member States and
     from the European Tools Committee ( Comite europeen de I'outillage - CEO )
     which links the industries concerned several requests for adaptation
     of this directive to technical progress . ,
     These requests were , justified mainly on the grounds that new measures of
     lenght which are not covered by the Directive have appreared on the
     European market and that new methods of manufacture must also be taken
     into consideration in order that the text of the European legislation
     may acquire a broader scope . In view of these requests and on the basis
     of information collected on this subject , the competent Commission depart­
     ments have , over the past two years , organized meetings of government
     experts with the close - collaboration of representatives of industry .
     ♦
II . Procédure                                               ,
     The Council Directives may , after some years of application prove to be
     out of date with respect to current manufacturing techniques in the field
     of the instruments concerned , since technical progress is sometimes so
     fast that , both at national and at internatioaal level , legal texts are
     overtaken by events .                        "
     Aware of this fact , in 1969 when a general programme for the elimination
     of technical barriers to trade was Isid down , the Council passed a
     resolution concerning the adaptation of directives to technical progress .
     This resolution , which was-adopted on 28 May 1969 , was published on page 8
     of the Official Journal of 17 June 1969 .
     Furthermore articles 17 , 18 and 19 of the Council Directive of 26 July 1971
     on provisions relating to both measuring instruments and methods of metro­
     logical control ( 71 / 316/ EEC ) introduced this procedure and provided for the
     setting up of a Committee for Adaptation to Technical progress .
     In the light of the various data and having regard to the procedure laid
     down , the competent Commission departments have , as a result of the meetings
     held with the national experts , prepared a draft directive adaptating to
     technical progress' the directive relating to material measures of lenght .
                                                                 • • •/ ■ • •
 ---pagebreak---       The final text drawn up by the competent Commission departments met not
     only with the agreement of the industries concerned but also with almost
     the unanimous approval of the national experts who had taken part in the
     preparation of the draft . It was not possible to attain complete unanimity ,
      since the experts from one Member State had indicated that while they were ;
      in agreement with the proposed amendments , they would have liked others
     to be introduced as well and thought that the proposal did not go far
     enought . Their additional proposals , however did not meet with the approval
     of the other experts , and the Commission departments thought it better to
     drop them .
     In these circumstances and in order to avoid any delay in the updating of
     this Council Directive , the Commission representative transmitted the draft
     to . each Member State with in the time limit laid down in the Committee 's
    own rules of procedure .                           <
     During this period , two comments were sent to the Commission 's departments .
     One of these concerned the new text of Section 4.1 reexceeding the princi­
    pal scale marks , which 0 ne delegation was unable to accept because of the
    difference in interpretation to which this new provision was liable to give
     rise as compared with the corresponding section in International Recomman-
    dation N° 35 of the International Organization of Legal Metrology ( IOML ).
     Futhermore , one delegation considered that this proposal for adaptation
    to . technical progress was not sufficiently exhaustive .
*                                                                         *
    Opinion of the Committee
                                               \
     In view of this situation the adaptation draft was submitted on 19 January
    1978 to the appropriate Committee for adaptation to technical progress ,
    namely the Measuring Instruments Committee . The latter did not give a
    favourable opinion , since two delegations finally supported the view that
    the adaptation draft should accord with the IOML text as regards the pro­
    vision on the graduation and numbering of measures of lenght.The quali­
    fied majority was not reached and the Commission was therefore obliged to
    follow the procedure laid down by the Council Resolution of 28 May 1969 ,
    i.e. " without delay submint to the Council a proposal on the measures to
    be taken " .
                                                                  f
    Although it was not possiblej to reach a qualified majority on the draft
    submitted to the Committee , the Commission felt that the draft should be
    presented to the Council unchanged , since it remained convinced that this
    draft was , in the present state of the art ,. the best suited to meet the
    needs of industry in the Community . Any amendment to the proposed text
  ( was likely to place most of the delegations in difficulty . Moreover each of
    the individual points in the draft had Deen approved by the majority of
    the delegates .
 ---pagebreak---                                     - 3 -
                                                                *
IV . Conclusions and proposals .
     In view of the foregoing considerations it is hereby proposed that , in
     accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 3 Cb ) of the Council
     Resolution of 28 May 1969 and of Article 19 ( 3 ) ( b)of the Council Direc­
     tive of 26 July 1971 relating to down measuring instruments and methods
     of metrological control , the Commission should submit to the Council the
     proposal for a directive attached hereto .               '
 ---pagebreak---                                   COUNCIL DIRECTIVE
              adapting to technical progress the Directive 71 / 316 / EEC
              on the approximation of the laws of the Member States
              relating to material measures of length
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES ,
Having regard to the . Treaty establishing the European Economic Community ,
Having regard to Council Directive 71 / 316 / EEC of 26 July 1971 on the
approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to common
provisions for both measuring instruments and methods of metrological
          (1)
control       , as amended by the Act of Accession , and in particular Articles
17 , 18 and 19 thereof ,
Having regard to Council Directive 73 / 362 / EEC of 19 November 1973 on the
approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to material measures
   * .
of length
          ^ (2) ,
                                    .                i
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission ;                          *
Whereas , since the preparation and adoption of Directive ■      73 / 362 / EEC ,
new material measures of length have been developed and whereas the said
Directive should therefore be amended to take account of technical
progress ;
Whereas on 19 January 1978 the Commission submitted a proposed amendment to
the Committee on the adaptation to Technical Progress of the Directives
concerning the elimination of technical barriers to trade in measuring
instruments for its opinion ;      whereas , no opinion having been delivered ,
the Commission , in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 19(3 ) ( b )
of Directive 71 / 316 / EEC , proposed to the Council the measures to be adopted ,
 ( 1 ) OJ No L 202 , 6.9.1971 , p. 1 .
 ( 2 ) OJ No L 335 , 5.12.1973 / p. 56 .
 ---pagebreak---                                             - 2 -
HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE :
                                         Article 1
In the Annex to Directive 73 / 362 / EEC items 3.6 ., 4:1 ., 5.1 ./ 6 . 3 ./, 7.1 ./
7.2 ./ 7.3 ./ 8 / 9.1 / 9 . 2 . and 9.4 are hereby amended in accordance with the Annex
 hereto .  Item 9.5 is deleted .
                                         Article 2
1 . Member States shall adopt the laws , regulations and administrative
    provisions needed in order to comply with this Directive in such a
    manner that these provisions shall take effect one year after the
    date of notification of this Directive and shall forthwith inform the
                                                                        ψ
    Commission thereof .
2 . Member States shall communicate to the Commission the texts of the
    provisions of national law which they adopt in the field covered by
                                 ι        .  ·. ■
    tins Directive .
                                      ■                                              «
                                         Article 3
This Directive is addressed to the Member States .
                                                  Done at Brussels /
                                                  For the Counci l
 ---pagebreak---                        ΑΗΝΞΧ
Tape measures shall be made so that when the tape is stretched
 out on a flat surface its edges are practically straight and
parallel .
 Along their nominal length , measures of length shall carry clear ,
regular and indelible graduation and numbering, in such a way
that they enable a sure , simple and unambiguous reading to be
made .
However , some non-numbered scale marks may extend beyond the
principal scale marks .
The nominal length of the measures - shall be one of the folloiiring
valúes : 0.5 – 1 – 1.5 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 6 – 7 – 8 – 9 – metres ,
 or a complete multiple of 5 metres .
 All these incriptions shall be given visibly and legibly,
 starting at the beginning of the measure .
However, in agreement with the national authority concerned,
certain inscriptions may appear on an integral part of the
instrument .    In this case , the EEC pattern approval certificate
 shall state where these incriptions are to be placed.
Furthermore , where the width of the measure of length does not
 enabl ^ the EEC pattern approval sign to appear legibly, that
 sign may appear , notwithstanding the provisions in 3.1 . of
Annex I to the Council Directive ( 71 /316/ESC ) of 26 July 1971 , and ,
 on the approximation of the laws of the . Member States relating    '
to common provisions for both measuring instruments and methods
 of metrological control , and in accordance with 3.5 - of this
Annex, in the form of the following signs , arranged in                  »
 succession :
– the stylized letter .c-
– the distinguishing letter(s ) of the Member State which has
   granted EEC pattern approval
– the last , two digits of the year - of EEC pattern approval
– the reference number of the EEC pattern approval ( e.g. ,^ F 75-5345 )
 ---pagebreak---                                       - 2 -
 7.     Maximmn permisslblø arrora
7.1     The measures of length defined in this Directive shall "be
        divided into three classes, designated I, II and III, according
        to their degree of accuracy.
        In EEC initial verification of measures of length , the maximum permis­
        sible error , plus or minus         •
        a ) on the nominal length and
        b ) on the distance between any two non-consecutive scale marks ,
        shall be expressed as a function of the length in question by a formula
        in the form (a + bL ) millimetres ,in which :
      – L is the length in question, rounded up to the next whole
         metre above ;
      – ♦ a* and ,V are coefficients fixed for each class of accuracy
         according to the following table:
           Class of accuracy                      a          [       y             I
                      I                                    / i
                                                 0.1                0.1
                                                             i
                     11        '    '            0.3                0.2
                   III                           0.6                0.4
            t
7.2.1 The maximum permissible error, plus or minus , on the length of
                             ι
      the intervals not exceeding 1; cm shall be fixed for each class
      of accuracy according to the following table :
        Length * 1 * of the ~                  Maximum permissible error in milli–
       Interval in question               _ metres for class of accuracy
                                                              11         III     ;
                   ■     .       ir                      :
              i' ^=-1 mm   -      '           ' 0.1 , .        0.2       0.3 ,
        1mm<^ i ^1 cm                           0.2            0.4       0. ó
      In the case of intervals exceeding 1 cm, the maximum permissible
      error shall be expressed as a function of the length of the
      interval by the formula (a + bL)mm, where the values of the
      parameters are equal to those given in 7-1 • and where L is the
      length in question, rounded up to the next whole metre above .
 ---pagebreak---                                          - 3 -
  7 . 2P 2   The maximum permissible difference between "the lengths     i   of
             two consecutiv e intervals not exceeding 1cm shall be fixed
             for each class of accuracy according to the following table :
               Length i of the                 Maximum permissible difference in
               interval in question            millimetres for class of accuracy
                                                  I           II           III
                       i / 1 mm                 0.1           0r 2         0.3
               1mm ^ i ^1 cm                    0.2           0.4          0.6   '
             In the case of intervals exceeding 1 cm, the maximum permissible
             difference between the lengths     i   of two consecutive intervals
             shall be expressed as a function of the length of the interval           ^
             by ^the formula (a + bL)mm, as defined in 7-2.1 .
  7.3        However for an     end or composite measure of Length the maximum permissible
             error, plus or minus , on the length of the terminal interval
             bounded by a surface shall be increased:
       '     – by 0.1 mm for measures of class I
           ■ – by 0.2 mm for measures of class II
             - by 0.3 mm for measures of class III
             Moreover , the provisions set out in items 7.1 and 7.2.2 do not apply :
             - when one of the ; n.on consecutive scale-marks as referred to in item
                7.1 b ) is formed by a surface , and
             - when one' of the two' consecuti ve' scale-marks as referred'to in item 7.2.2
                is a terminal interval bounded by an end .
8.           Verification marks .      .
             Every measure of length shall be constructed in such a way that
             it is able to receive the verification marks laid down by
             Council Directive 71/316/EEC of 26 July 1971 on the approximation
             of the laws of the Member States relating to common provisions
• '          for both measuring instruments and methods of metrological
             c ont roi .
 ---pagebreak---                                     -4 -
        A place near the beginning of the measure shall be provided for
        this purpose on the measure itself or on an integral additional
        device .
                            • *
9.1     Fibre glass and plastic end, line or composite tape measures
        Nominal length between 0.5 and 100 metres .
        The tractive force , of about 20 IT, shall be shown on the measure .
        The free ends of end and composite measures shall be provided
        with a band or tip resistant to wear. *
        These measures shall belong to classes of accuracy I, II or III .
9.2     Measures made in one piece , rigid or semi–rigid, in metal or
        other material                      "
        Mominal length between 0.5 and 5 metres .
        The reference temperature may, in some cases , be other than 20 C.
        These measures also include dipsticks used for checking the
        level of liquids .
        The end of a rigid dipstick shall be provided with a butt or
        tip resistant to impact and wear .    It shall not cause sparking •
         on impact .      ~                                                  '
        These measures shall , belong to classes of accuracy I or II .
9.4 '    Steel tape" measures
9.4.1    End, line or composite measures on a winder .
         Nominal length between 0.5 and 10 metres ; the blades of measures
         between 5 and 10 metres shall be of cambered cross-section. ,
         These measures may be contained in a case, one of whose dimensions
         may be included in the part used for measuring, particularly for
         measuring internal dimensions ; the free end of these measures
 , :  ■  shall be provided with a fixed or sliding hook or tongue .
         These measures shall belong to classes of accuracy I or II .
 ---pagebreak---                                         5 -
9.4.2  End. or line measures , designed for measuring lengths greater
       than the nominal length of the measure .
       Nominal length: 5 , 10, 20, 50, 100 or 200 metres .
       The tractive force , of about 50 N, shall be shown on the measure .
       These measures shall be equipped with handles or rings at the
       two ends .
       If the handles are included in the nominal length , they shall be
       constructed in such a way that their jointing does not introduce
       any inaccuracy of measurement .
       These measures shall belong to classes of accuracy I or II .
9.4.3  Line or composite measures on a winder not designed for the
       measuring of lengths greater than the nominal length .
       Nominal length between 5 and 200 metres .
       The reference temperature may, in' certain cases, be other than 20°C .
       The tractive force of about 50 N shall be shown on the measure .
       The free end shall include a handle , ring or hook which shall not be
       included in the nominal length .
       These measures shall belong to classes of accuracy I or II .
9.4 .4  Composite dip-tapes with sinkers , used for checking the level of
       liquids .
        Nominal length between 5 and 50 metres .
                    '  .       .         ...                             --0
       The reference temperature may, xn certain cases , be other than 20 C.
       The tractive force , sufficient to extend the tape correctly, must
       be shown on the measure .    This tractive force shall be exerted
        on the measure with the aid of a sinker which must bear an
        indication of its mass .
       The principal scale mark, beginning the scale , shall be
       constituted by the base of a sinker of appropriate shape and of a
       material not liable to cause sparking on impact .
       The sinker shall be attached to the tape in a fixed or detachable
       way so that this attachment or jointing does not introduce any
       inaccuracy of measurement .
 ---pagebreak---                               _ 6 -
The entire length of the tape shall be graduated in millimetres and
the graduation shall continue on one flat side of the sinker .
The other end of the measure may be equipped with a winder .
These measures shall "belong to classes of accuracy I or II,
however, the maximum permissible error of the instrument in
position for use with the sinker shall never be less than 0.6 mm.