Explanatory Memorandum to COM(2004)672 - Accession of the EC to UNECE Regulation No. 94 on provisions concerning the approval of vehicles with regard to the protection of the occupants in the event of a frontal collision and Regulation No. 95 on provisions concerning the approval of vehicles with regard to the protection of the occupants in the event of a lateral collision - Main contents
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This page contains a limited version of this dossier in the EU Monitor.
| dossier | COM(2004)672 - Accession of the EC to UNECE Regulation No. 94 on provisions concerning the approval of vehicles with regard to the ... |
|---|---|
| source | COM(2004)672  |
| date | 15-10-2004 |
By Council Decision 97/836/EC of 27 November 1997, the EC became a contracting party to the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe's (UN/ECE's) Revised 1958 Agreement on 24 March 1998 and acceded to 78 regulations appended to that Agreement. That Decision took effect on 24 March 1998.
Article 3 i of that Decision states, in particular, that the Community may decide to implement a regulation to which it had not acceded when it acceded to the revised Agreement if the Council approves that regulation by a qualified majority after receiving the assent of the EP.
UN/ECE Regulation No. 94 on provisions concerning the approval of vehicles with regard to the protection of the occupants in the event of a frontal collision and UN/ECE Regulation No. 95 on provisions concerning the approval of vehicles with regard to the protection of the occupants in the event of a lateral collision are aimed, in particular, at removing technical barriers to the trade in motor vehicles between the contracting parties while ensuring a high level of safety for vehicle occupants.
Those Regulations were not included in the list of regulations recognised by the EC that is contained in Annex II to Decision 97/836/EC, as they differed to a substantial degree from the requirements of the EC at the time of the EC's becoming a contracting party to the UN/ECE Agreement. Since then Regulations 94 and 95 have been amended. Regulation No. 94 now contains the same technical requirements and specifications as contained in EC Directive 96/79/EC on frontal impact tests. Regulation No. 95 contained the same technical requirements and specifications as EC Directive 96/27/EC on lateral impact tests until recently and its latest revision makes use of a more technically advanced impact barrier, which is considered desirable. For these reasons, there seems to be consensus among the Member States that it would now be desirable for the EC to accede thereto.
It is also provided that the Regulations concerned shall be incorporated into the approval system for motor vehicles.
It should be stressed that the EC will take its decision regarding accession to those Regulations on the basis of the documents that are available in the official languages of the UN/ECE (English, French and Russian). As the EC has become party to the 1958 UN/ECE agreement, it is required to observe the procedures provided for in that agreement. Therefore only the French and English versions of Regulation No. 94 and Regulation No. 95 have been appended. Translations of these regulations will be published at a later date.
2. Contents of the proposal for a decision
The purpose of the proposal for a decision is to enable the Community to accede to UN/ECE Regulation No. 94 on provisions concerning the approval of vehicles with regard to the protection of the occupants in the event of a frontal collision and Regulation No. 95 on provisions concerning the approval of vehicles with regard to the protection of the occupants in the event of a lateral collision.