Document ID: 32000L0003

COMMISSION DIRECTIVE 2000/3/EC
of 22 February 2000
adapting to technical progress Council Directive 77/541/EEC relating to safety belts and restraint systems of motor vehicles
(Text with EEA relevance)
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,
Having regard to Council Directive 70/156/EEC of 6 February 1970 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the type-approval of motor vehicles and their trailers(1), as last amended by Directive 98/91/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council(2),
Having regard to Council Directive 77/541/EEC of 28 June 1977 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to safety belts and restraint systems of motor vehicles(3), as last amended by Commission Directive 96/36/EC(4), and in particular Article 10 thereof,
Whereas:
(1) Directive 77/541/EEC is one of the separate directives of the EC type-approval procedure which has been established by Directive 70/156/EEC. Consequently, the provisions laid down in Directive 70/156/EEC relating to vehicle systems, components and separate technical units apply to Directive 77/541/EEC.
(2) In the light of technical progress it is possible to improve the protection provided for passengers by requiring the installation of three-point belts with retractors for all seats of motor vehicles of category M1.
(3) By Council Decision 97/836/EC(5), the Community acceded to the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) Agreement concerning the adoption of uniform technical prescriptions for wheeled vehicles, equipment and parts which can be fitted and/or used on wheeled vehicles and the conditions for reciprocal recognition of approvals granted on the basis of these prescriptions, done at Geneva on 20 March 1958, as revised on 16 October 1995.
(4) With its accession to the revised Agreement, the Community acceded to a defined list of regulations established pursuant to that Agreement. That list includes UN/ECE Regulation No 44 concerning the approval of restraining devices for child occupants of power-driven vehicles (child restraint system).
(5) It is expedient to include requirements relating to the protection of children and therefore amend the Annexes to Directive 77/541/EEC by incorporating specific requirements for child restraint systems based on UN/ECE Regulation No 44. For the sake of clarity the full text of the Annexes to Directive 77/541/EEC should be replaced.
(6) The measures provided for in this Directive are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee on the adaptation to technical progress established by Directive 70/156/EEC,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:
Article 1
The Annexes to Directive 77/541/EEC are replaced by the texts set out in the Annex to this Directive.
Article 2
1. With effect from 1 October 2000, no Member State may, on grounds relating to safety belts and restraint systems:
- refuse, in respect of a type of motor vehicle, safety belt, restraint system or child restraint system, to grant EC type-approval, or national type-approval, or
- prohibit the registration, sale or entry into service of vehicles, or the sale or entry into service of safety belts, restraint systems or child restraint systems,
if the safety belts and restraint systems or child restraint systems in question meet the requirements of Directive 77/541/EEC as amended by this Directive.
2. With effect from 1 October 2001 Member States:
- shall no longer grant EC type-approval, and
- may refuse to grant national type-approval,
for a type of vehicle, if the requirements of Directive 77/541/EEC as amended by this Directive as regards child restraint systems and the installation of safety belts in all seating positions in M1 vehicles including, where fitted, integrated child restraint systems, are not fulfilled.
However, the requirement for three-point belts in all seating positions in M1 vehicles shall apply with effect from 1 April 2002. Until this date, the seat belt fitment requirements for M1 vehicles shall be those prescribed in Annex XV to Directive 77/541/EEC.
3. With effect from 1 October 2002, Member States:
- shall consider certificates of conformity which accompany new vehicles of category M1 pursuant to Directive 70/156/EEC as no longer valid for the purpose of Article 7(1) of that Directive and refuse the registration, sale or entry into service of new vehicles which are not accompanied by a valid certificate of conformity pursuant to Directive 70/156/EEC, except where the provisions of Article 8(2) of that Directive are invoked,
- may refuse the registration, sale or entry into service of new vehicles of category N1 and M2 having a mass not greater than 3,5 tonnes as regards, when fitted, integrated child restraint systems,
on grounds relating to safety belts and restraint systems if the requirements of Directive 77/541/EEC as amended by this Directive are not fulfilled.
However, the requirement for three-point belts in all seating positions in M1 vehicles shall apply with effect from 1 October 2004. Until this date, the seat belt fitment requirements for M1 vehicles shall be those prescribed in Annex XV to Directive 77/541/EEC.
4. With effect from 1 January 2001 the requirements of Directive 77/541/EEC as amended by this Directive relating to integrated child restraint systems, where fitted as original equipment to a vehicle, shall apply for the purposes of Article 7(1) of Directive 70/156/EEC.
Article 3
1. Member States shall bring into force the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with this Directive by 30 September 2000 at the latest. They shall forthwith inform the Commission thereof.
When Member States adopt those provisions, they shall contain a reference to this Directive or be accompanied by such reference on the occasion of their official publication. Member States shall determine how such reference is to be made.
2. Member States shall communicate to the Commission the text of the main provisions of national law which they adopt in the field covered by this Directive.
Article 4
This Directive shall enter into force on the 20th day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.
Article 5
This Directive is addressed to the Member States.
Done at Brussels, ... 2000.

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