Council Directive 84/538/EEC of 17 September 1984 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the permissible sound power level of lawnmowers

COUNCIL DIRECTIVE of 17 September 1984 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the permissible sound power level of lawnmowers (84/538/EEC)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, and in particular Article 100 thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (1),
Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament (2),
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee (3),
Whereas the technical requirements with which lawnmowers must comply under the terms of the national laws concern, inter alia, their noise emission ; whereas these requirements differ from one Member State to another whereas, through their disparities, they hamper trade within the European Community;
Whereas these obstacles to the establishment and operation of the common market can be reduced or even removed if the same requirements are adopted by all the Member States in place of their existing laws;
Whereas the main objective of the provisions of this Directive is to ensure protection against nuisances due to noise by reducing the inconvenience caused by the noises emitted by lawnmowers;
Whereas it is therefore necessary to determine at Community level the permissible upper limits for noise emissions from lawnmowers and a common method for measuring such emissions;
Whereas it is desirable to bring to the attention of the consumer the acoustic quality of lawnmowers ; whereas an effective method of informing the consumer is to require that each lawnmower should be marked with the level of its acoustic force ; whereas it is, however, pointless to require this mark on lawnmowers which are not noisy by construction, such as electric lawnmowers with a small cutting-width;
Whereas the conformity of lawnmowers with this Directive may be presumed by virtue of the certificate of conformity issued by the manufacturer, or by the importer resident in the Community ; whereas the Member States must recognize such certificates as conclusive evidence, thus ensuring the free movement of lawnmowers throughout the Community;
Whereas, without prejudice to Articles 169 and 170 of the Treaty, it is advisable, within the framework of cooperation between the competent authorities of the Member States, to lay down provisions to help resolve disputes of a technical nature regarding the conformity of production models with the requirements of this Directive;
Whereas it should be expressly confirmed that those concerned must have available to them appropriate legal remedies in respect of decisions taken by the appropriate national authorities for purposes of implementing this Directive;
Whereas technical progress requires prompt adjustment of the technical requirements specified in this Directive ; whereas, in order to facilitate implementation of the measures required for this purpose, a procedure should be prescribed for establishing dose cooperation between the Member States and the Commission within the committee established by Article 5 of Council Directive 79/113/EEC of 19 December 1978 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the determination of the noise emission of construction plant and equipment (4), as amended by Directive 81/1051/EEC (5),  (1) OJ No C 86, 2.4.1979, p. 9. (2) OJ No C 127, 21.5.1979, p. 80. (3) OJ No C 247, 11.10.1979, p. 19. (4) OJ No L 33, 8.2.1979, p. 15. (5) OJ No L 376, 30.12.1981, p. 42.