Article 1 
For the purposes of this Directive: — ‘vehicle’ shall mean any motor vehicle of category M 2 or M 3 , as defined in Annex II, Part A, of Directive 70/156/EEC, — ‘bodywork’ shall mean a separate technical unit as defined in Article 2 of Directive 70/156/EEC, — ‘class of vehicle’ shall mean a vehicle which complies with the class description given in Annex I to this Directive.
Article 2 
1. With effect from 13 August 2003 Member States may not refuse EC type-approval or national type approval: — of a vehicle, — of a bodywork, — of a vehicle the bodywork of which has already been type-approved as a separate technical unit, or refuse or prohibit the sale, registration or entry into service of a vehicle or of a bodywork as a separate technical unit, on grounds relating to the provisions for vehicles used for the carriage of passengers and comprising more than eight seats in addition to the driver's seat, if the requirements of this Directive and the Annexes thereto are satisfied. 2. Paragraph 1 shall also apply to low-floor vehicles of Class I or II, type-approved before 13 August 2002 pursuant to Directive 76/756/EEC, benefiting from the 12,5 % gangway slope specified in paragraph 7.7.6.2 of Annex 1. 3. Subject to the provisions of paragraph 4 below, with effect from 13 February 2004, Member States: — shall no longer grant EC type-approval for a type of vehicle and a type of bodywork as a separate technical unit, — may refuse the registration, sale or entry into service of new vehicles and new bodyworks as separate technical units, on grounds relating to the provisions for vehicles used for the carriage of passengers and comprising more than eight seats in addition to the driver's seat, if the requirements of this Directive and the Annexes thereto are not complied with. 4. With effect from 13 February 2005, Member States may refuse the registration, sale or entry into service of new vehicles and new bodyworks as separate technical units which have been type-approved according to the provisions of paragraph 2.
Article 3 
1. Vehicles of Class I shall be accessible for people with reduced mobility including wheelchair users according to the technical provisions laid down in Annex VII. 2. Member States shall be free to choose the most appropriate solution to achieve improved accessibility in vehicles other than those of Class I. However, if vehicles other than those of Class I are equipped with devices for people with reduced mobility and/or wheelchair users, they shall comply with the relevant requirements of Annex VII.
Article 4 
Directive 70/156/EC shall be amended as follows: 1. in Annex I: (a) the following items shall be added to item 0.2: ; (b) the following items shall be added to item 0.3: ; (c) the following items shall be added to item 0.3.1: ; (d) the following item shall be added to item 2.4.2: ; (e) the following item shall be inserted: ; (f) item 13 shall be replaced by the following: ‘ ’; 1. in Annex I: (a) the following items shall be added to item 0.2: ; (b) the following items shall be added to item 0.3: ; (c) the following items shall be added to item 0.3.1: ; (d) the following item shall be added to item 2.4.2: ; (e) the following item shall be inserted: ; (f) item 13 shall be replaced by the following: ‘ ’; 2. the following item shall be inserted in Part I of Annex III: ; 3. in Annex IV: (a) in Part I, item 52 shall be replaced by the following: Subject Directive number Official Journal reference Applicability ‘52’ ‘Buses and coaches’ ‘…/…/EC’ ‘L’ ‘M 1 ’ ‘M 2 X’ ‘M 3 X’ ‘N 1 ’ ‘N 2 ’ ‘N 3 ’ ‘O 1 ’ ‘O 2 ’ ‘O 3 ’ ‘O 4 ’ (b) in Part II, the following shall be inserted as item 52: Subject Basic Regulation number Series of amendments Supplement Corrigendum ‘52’ ‘Strength of superstructure (buses)’ ‘66’ ‘—’ ‘1 to 00’ ‘—’ 3. in Annex IV: (a) in Part I, item 52 shall be replaced by the following: Subject Directive number Official Journal reference Applicability ‘52’ ‘Buses and coaches’ ‘…/…/EC’ ‘L’ ‘M 1 ’ ‘M 2 X’ ‘M 3 X’ ‘N 1 ’ ‘N 2 ’ ‘N 3 ’ ‘O 1 ’ ‘O 2 ’ ‘O 3 ’ ‘O 4 ’ (a) in Part I, item 52 shall be replaced by the following: Subject Directive number Official Journal reference Applicability ‘52’ ‘Buses and coaches’ ‘…/…/EC’ ‘L’ ‘M 1 ’ ‘M 2 X’ ‘M 3 X’ ‘N 1 ’ ‘N 2 ’ ‘N 3 ’ ‘O 1 ’ ‘O 2 ’ ‘O 3 ’ ‘O 4 ’ Subject Directive number Official Journal reference Applicability Subject Directive number Official Journal reference Applicability ‘52’ ‘Buses and coaches’ ‘…/…/EC’ ‘L’ ‘M 1 ’ ‘M 2 X’ ‘M 3 X’ ‘N 1 ’ ‘N 2 ’ ‘N 3 ’ ‘O 1 ’ ‘O 2 ’ ‘O 3 ’ ‘O 4 ’ ‘52’ ‘Buses and coaches’ ‘…/…/EC’ ‘L’ ‘M 1 ’ ‘M 2 X’ ‘M 3 X’ ‘N 1 ’ ‘N 2 ’ ‘N 3 ’ ‘O 1 ’ ‘O 2 ’ ‘O 3 ’ ‘O 4 ’ (b) in Part II, the following shall be inserted as item 52: Subject Basic Regulation number Series of amendments Supplement Corrigendum ‘52’ ‘Strength of superstructure (buses)’ ‘66’ ‘—’ ‘1 to 00’ ‘—’ (b) in Part II, the following shall be inserted as item 52: Subject Basic Regulation number Series of amendments Supplement Corrigendum ‘52’ ‘Strength of superstructure (buses)’ ‘66’ ‘—’ ‘1 to 00’ ‘—’ Subject Basic Regulation number Series of amendments Supplement Corrigendum Basic Regulation number Series of amendments Supplement Corrigendum ‘52’ ‘Strength of superstructure (buses)’ ‘66’ ‘—’ ‘1 to 00’ ‘—’ ‘Strength of superstructure (buses)’ ‘66’ ‘1 to 00’
Amendment rationale: CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL The proposal for a Council Directive adapting certain directives in the field of free movement of goods is necessitated by the upcoming accession of the Republic of Croatia to the European Union. The Treaty concerning the accession of the Republic of Croatia to the European Union[1] was signed by all Member States of the European Union and the Republic of Croatia at Brussels on 9 December 2011. Article 3 (3) of the Treaty of Accession provides that it shall enter into force on 1 July 2013 provided that all the instruments of ratification have been deposited before that date. Article 3(4) of the Treaty of Accession enables the institutions of the Union to adopt before accession measures referred to, inter alia, in Article 50 of the Act concerning the conditions of accession of the Republic of Croatia[2]. These measures shall enter into force only subject to and on the date of the entry into force of the Treaty of Accession. Article 50 of the Act of Accession provides that where acts of the institutions adopted prior to accession require adaptation by reason of accession, and the necessary adaptations have not been provided for in this Act or its Annexes, the Council or the Commission (if the original acts were adopted by the Commission) shall adopt the necessary acts. Point 2 of the Final Act[3] refers to the political agreement on a set of adaptations to be adopted by the institutions which was reached between the Member States and Croatia in the context of the approval of the Treaty of Accession; the High Contracting Parties of the Treaty of Accession invited the Council and the Commission to adopt these adaptations before accession in accordance with Article 50 of the Act of Accession, completed and updated where necessary to take account of the evolution of the law of the Union. The present proposal covers all Council directives as well as European Parliament and Council directives which require technical adaptation by reason of the accession of Croatia in the field of free movement of goods – corresponding to negotiation chapter 1. This proposal is part of a series of proposals for Council directives by the Commission to the Council which regroup the technical adaptations to Council directives as well as to European Parliament and Council directives corresponding to negotiation chapters into separate proposals for different Council directives. This structure is designed to facilitate the transposition of the directives concerned by Member States into their respective legal orders. The package of proposals for legal acts which the Commission has transmitted to the Council is composed of this series of proposals for Council directives on the one hand, as well as of a proposal for a single Council regulation which covers the relevant European Parliament and Council regulations and decisions as well as the relevant Council regulations and decisions on the other hand. This is in line with the approach which was taken in the past in view of the accession of Bulgaria and Romania[4]. It is foreseen that all the legal acts included in this package will be published in the Official Journal of the European Union at the same date. The present proposal and the other proposals included in this package will take into account technical adaptations to the acquis which were published in the Official Journal of the European Union until 1 September 2012. The reasons for this are to provide sufficient time for the legislative processes involved on the one hand, and for the fulfilment of the ensuing transposition and notification obligations by Member States as regards directives on the other hand. Adaptations which may be necessary to the acquis published in the Official Journal of the European Union after 1 September 2012 will be foreseen in the relevant acts themselves or done at a later stage through the appropriate procedure. In addition, the Commission intends to informally provide a list of such legislation to Member States in early July 2013.
Revised version (Article 4 ):
Directive 70/156/EC shall be amended as follows: 1. in Annex I: (a) the following items shall be added to item 0.2: ‘ ’; (b) the following items shall be added to item 0.3: ‘ ’; (c) the following items shall be added to item 0.3.1: ‘ ’; (d) the following item shall be added to item 2.4.2: ‘ ’; (e) the following item shall be inserted: ‘ ’; (f) item 13 shall be replaced by the following: ‘ ’; 1. in Annex I: (a) the following items shall be added to item 0.2: ‘ ’; (b) the following items shall be added to item 0.3: ‘ ’; (c) the following items shall be added to item 0.3.1: ‘ ’; (d) the following item shall be added to item 2.4.2: ‘ ’; (e) the following item shall be inserted: ‘ ’; (f) item 13 shall be replaced by the following: ‘ ’; 2. the following item shall be inserted in Part I of Annex III: ; 3. in Annex IV: (a) in Part I, item 52 shall be replaced by the following: Subject Directive number Official Journal reference Applicability ‘52’ ‘Buses and coaches’ ‘…/…/EC’ ‘L’ ‘M 1 ’ ‘M 2 X’ ‘M 3 X’ ‘N 1 ’ ‘N 2 ’ ‘N 3 ’ ‘O 1 ’ ‘O 2 ’ ‘O 3 ’ ‘O 4 ’ (b) in Part II, the following shall be inserted as item 52: Subject Basic Regulation number Series of amendments Supplement Corrigendum ‘52’ ‘Strength of superstructure (buses)’ ‘66’ ‘—’ ‘1 to 00’ ‘—’ 3. in Annex IV: (a) in Part I, item 52 shall be replaced by the following: Subject Directive number Official Journal reference Applicability ‘52’ ‘Buses and coaches’ ‘…/…/EC’ ‘L’ ‘M 1 ’ ‘M 2 X’ ‘M 3 X’ ‘N 1 ’ ‘N 2 ’ ‘N 3 ’ ‘O 1 ’ ‘O 2 ’ ‘O 3 ’ ‘O 4 ’ (a) in Part I, item 52 shall be replaced by the following: Subject Directive number Official Journal reference Applicability ‘52’ ‘Buses and coaches’ ‘…/…/EC’ ‘L’ ‘M 1 ’ ‘M 2 X’ ‘M 3 X’ ‘N 1 ’ ‘N 2 ’ ‘N 3 ’ ‘O 1 ’ ‘O 2 ’ ‘O 3 ’ ‘O 4 ’ Subject Directive number Official Journal reference Applicability Subject Directive number Official Journal reference Applicability ‘52’ ‘Buses and coaches’ ‘…/…/EC’ ‘L’ ‘M 1 ’ ‘M 2 X’ ‘M 3 X’ ‘N 1 ’ ‘N 2 ’ ‘N 3 ’ ‘O 1 ’ ‘O 2 ’ ‘O 3 ’ ‘O 4 ’ ‘52’ ‘Buses and coaches’ ‘…/…/EC’ ‘L’ ‘M 1 ’ ‘M 2 X’ ‘M 3 X’ ‘N 1 ’ ‘N 2 ’ ‘N 3 ’ ‘O 1 ’ ‘O 2 ’ ‘O 3 ’ ‘O 4 ’ (b) in Part II, the following shall be inserted as item 52: Subject Basic Regulation number Series of amendments Supplement Corrigendum ‘52’ ‘Strength of superstructure (buses)’ ‘66’ ‘—’ ‘1 to 00’ ‘—’ (b) in Part II, the following shall be inserted as item 52: Subject Basic Regulation number Series of amendments Supplement Corrigendum ‘52’ ‘Strength of superstructure (buses)’ ‘66’ ‘—’ ‘1 to 00’ ‘—’ Subject Basic Regulation number Series of amendments Supplement Corrigendum Basic Regulation number Series of amendments Supplement Corrigendum ‘52’ ‘Strength of superstructure (buses)’ ‘66’ ‘—’ ‘1 to 00’ ‘—’ ‘Strength of superstructure (buses)’ ‘66’ ‘1 to 00’
Article 6 
The measures necessary for the adaptation to technical progress of this Directive shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure set out in Article 7(2).
Article 7 
1. The Commission shall be assisted by the Committee for Adaptation to Technical Progress set up by Article 13 of Directive 70/156/EEC (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Committee’). 2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Articles 5 and 7 of Decision 1999/468/EC shall apply, having regard to the provisions of Article 8 thereof. The period laid down in Article 5(6) of Decision 1999/468/EC shall be set at three months. 3. The Committee shall adopt its rules of procedure.
Article 8 
1. Member States shall adopt and publish the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with this Directive before 13 August 2003. They shall forthwith inform the Commission thereof. When Member States adopt these provisions, these shall contain a reference to this Directive or shall be accompanied by such reference at the time of their official publication. The procedure for such reference shall be adopted by Member States. 2. Member States shall communicate to the Commission the texts of the main provisions of national law which they adopt in the field covered by this Directive.
Article 9 
This Directive shall enter into force on the day of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities .
Article 10 
This Directive is addressed to the Member States.