Document ID: 32009L0144

DIRECTIVE 2009/144/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL
of 30 November 2009
on certain components and characteristics of wheeled agricultural or forestry tractors
(codified version)
(Text with EEA relevance)
THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 95 thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,
Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee (1),
Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty (2),
Whereas:
(1)
Council Directive 89/173/EEC of 21 December 1988 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to certain components and characteristics of wheeled agricultural or forestry tractors (3) has been substantially amended several times (4). In the interests of clarity and rationality, the said Directive should be codified.
(2)
Directive 89/173/EEC is one of the separate Directives of the EC type-approval system provided for in Council Directive 74/150/EEC, as replaced by Directive 2003/37/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 May 2003 on type-approval of agricultural or forestry tractors, their trailers and interchangeable towed machinery, together with their systems, components and separate technical units (5), and lays down technical prescriptions concerning the design and construction of agricultural or forestry tractors as regards certain components and characteristics. Those technical prescriptions concern the approximation of the laws of the Member States to enable the EC type-approval procedure provided for in Directive 2003/37/EC to be applied in respect of each type of tractor. Consequently, the provisions laid down in Directive 2003/37/EC relating to agricultural and forestry tractors, their trailers and interchangeable towed machinery, together with their systems, components and separate technical units, apply to this Directive.
(3)
The technical requirements which tractors must fulfil in pursuance of national laws concern, inter alia, their dimensions and masses, speed governors, the protection of their drive components, projections and wheels, brake control for towed vehicles, windscreens and other glazing, the mechanical coupling between tractor and towed vehicle and the location and method of affixing statutory plates and markings to the body of the tractor.
(4)
It is desirable to take into account the technical requirements adopted by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) in its corresponding regulations annexed to the Agreement of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe concerning the adoption of uniform technical prescriptions for wheeled vehicles, equipment and parts which can be fitted to and/or used on wheeled vehicles and the conditions for reciprocal recognition of approvals granted on the basis of these prescriptions (6).
(5)
This Directive is without prejudice to the obligations of the Member States relating to the time-limits for transposition into national law and application of the Directives set out in Annex VII, Part B,
HAVE ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:
Article 1
1. For the purposes of this Directive ‘tractor’ (agricultural or forestry) means any motor vehicle fitted with wheels or endless tracks and having at least two axles, the main function of which lies in its tractive power and which is specially designed to tow, push, carry or power certain tools, machinery or trailers intended for agricultural or forestry use. It may be equipped to carry a load and passengers.
2. This Directive shall apply only to tractors defined in paragraph 1 which are fitted with pneumatic tyres and have a maximum design speed of between 6 and 40 km/h.
Article 2
1. With respect to tractors which comply with the requirements laid down in this Directive, Member States shall not, on grounds relating to the subject-matter of this Directive:
(a)
refuse to grant EC type-approval or to grant national type-approval;
(b)
refuse the registration or prohibit the sale, entry into service or use of such a tractor.
By way of derogation from the provisions of the first subparagraph relating to the use of the tractor, Member States may, for reasons concerning towable mass(es), continue to apply their national provisions reflecting in particular the special requirements relating to the nature of the land relief on their territory, within the limits of the towable masses listed in point 2.2 of Annex I in so far as this does not involve alterations to the tractor or a further supplementary national type-approval.
2. With respect to tractors which do not comply with the requirements laid down in this Directive, and on grounds relating to the subject-matter of this Directive, Member States:
(a)
shall not grant EC type-approval;
(b)
may refuse to grant national type-approval.
3. With respect to new tractors which do not comply with the requirements laid down in this Directive, and on grounds relating to the subject-matter of this Directive, Member States:
(a)
shall consider certificates of conformity which accompany new tractors in accordance with the provisions of Directive 2003/37/EC to be no longer valid for the purposes of Article 7(1) of that Directive;
(b)
may refuse the registration, sale or entry into service of those new tractors.
Article 3
1. Each Member State shall grant EC component type-approval for any type of windscreen or other glass pane and/or of mechanical coupling which satisfies the construction and testing requirements laid down in Annexes III and/or IV.
2. The Member State which has granted EC component type-approval shall take the measures required in order to verify, in so far as is necessary and if need be in cooperation with the competent authorities in the other Member States, that production models conform to the approved type. Such verification shall be limited to spot checks.
Article 4
Member States shall, for each type of windscreen or other glass pane or of mechanical coupling which they approve pursuant to Article 3, issue to the manufacturer of the tractor, windscreen or mechanical coupling, or to his authorised representative, an EC component type-approval mark conforming to the examples shown in Annex III or Annex IV.
Member States shall take all appropriate measures to prevent the use of marks liable to create confusion between the type of equipment which has been granted EC component type-approval pursuant to Article 3 and equipment of other types.
Article 5
No Member State may prohibit the placing on the market of windscreens and other glass panes or mechanical couplings on grounds relating to their construction if they bear the EC component type-approval mark.
Nevertheless, a Member State may prohibit the placing on the market of windscreens and other glass panes or mechanical couplings bearing the EC component type-approval mark which do not conform to the approved type.
That Member State shall forthwith inform the other Member States and the Commission of the measures taken, specifying the reasons for its decision.
Article 6
The competent authorities of each Member State shall, within one month, send to the competent authorities of the other Member States a copy of the component type-approval certificates, models of which are shown in Annex III or Annex IV, completed for each type of windscreen and other glass pane or mechanical coupling which they approve or refuse to approve.
Article 7
1. If the Member State which has granted EC component type-approval finds that a number of windscreens and other glass panes or mechanical couplings bearing the same EC component type-approval mark do not conform to the type which it has approved, it shall take the necessary measures to ensure that production models conform to the approved type.
The competent authorities of that Member State shall advise those of the other Member States of the measures taken, which may if necessary extend, where there is a serious and repeated failure to conform, to withdrawal of the EC component type-approval.
Those authorities shall take the same measures if they are informed by the competent authorities of another Member State of such failure to conform.
2. The competent authorities of the Member States shall inform each other within one month of any withdrawal of EC component type-approval and of the reasons for such a measure.
Article 8
Any decision taken pursuant to the provisions adopted in implementation of this Directive to refuse or withdraw EC component type-approval for a windscreen or mechanical coupling, or to prohibit their placing on the market or use, shall set out in detail the reasons on which it is based.
Such decisions shall be notified to the party concerned, who shall at the same time be informed of the remedies available to him under the laws in force in the Member States and of the time-limits allowed for the exercise of such remedies.
Article 9
The amendments necessary to adapt to technical progress the requirements of Annexes I to VI shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 20(3) of Directive 2003/37/EC.
Article 10
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 11
Directive 89/173/EEC, as amended by the acts listed in Annex VII, Part A, is repealed, without prejudice to the obligations of the Member States relating to the time-limits for transposition into national law and application of the Directives set out in Annex VII, Part B.
References to the repealed Directive shall be construed as references to this Directive and shall be read in accordance with the correlation table set out in Annex VIII.
Article 12
This Directive shall enter into force on the twentieth day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
It shall apply from 1 June 2010.
Article 13
This Directive is addressed to the Member States.
Done at Brussels, 30 November 2009.

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