Activites

• 2007/07/14 Final act published in Official Journal
  • Directive 2007/38
  • OJ L 184 14.07.2007, p. 0025
• 2007/07/11 Final act signed
• 2007/07/11 End of procedure in Parliament
• #2811
• 2007/06/25 Council Meeting
• 2007/06/25 Act adopted by Council after Parliament's 1st reading
• 2007/05/10 Results of vote in Parliament
  • Results of vote in Parliament
  • T6-0177/2007 summary

    The European Parliament adopted a resolution drafted by Paolo COSTA (EPP-ED, I) and made some amendments to the Commission’s proposal. Parliament's amendments were the result of a compromise agreement between the EPP-ED, PES, ALDE and Greens/EFA groups. The principal amendments were as follows:-the Directive will apply to vehicles of categories N2 and N3 as referred to in point 2 of Annex II to Directive 70/156/EC which are not type-approved or approved as a single vehicle under Directive 2003/97/EC ;-Parliament made some amendments to the exemptions from the directive. In this respect, the text is now aligned with the existing legislation covering new HGVs (Directive 2003/97/EC). The exemption concerns only vehicles of category N2 not exceeding 7.5 t and not vehicles N2 exceeding 7.5 tons and N3. No part mirror should be less than 2 m (+10 cm) from the ground, and the mirror must be fully visible from the driving position;-not later than 31 March 2009, all vehicles to which the Directive applies must 2 be equipped, on the passenger side, with wide angle and close proximity mirrors which fulfil the requirements for class IV and class V mirrors under Directive 2003/97/EC respectively;-by way of derogation from this, compliance with the Directive will be deemed to be achieved where vehicles are equipped, on the passenger side, with wide angle and close proximity mirrors, whose combination of fields of vision covers not less than 95% of the field of vision at ground level of the class IV and not less than 85% of the field of vision at ground level of a class V mirror under Directive 2003/97/EC;-vehicles within the scope of the legislation which, for want of available, economically viable, technical solutions, cannot be equipped with mirrors complying with the requirements above, may be equipped with supplementary mirrors and/or other devices of indirect vision, provided that the combination of such devices covers not less than 95% of the field of vision at ground level of the class IV mirror and not less than 85% of the field of vision at ground level of a class V mirror under Directive 2003/97/EC;-Member States shall communicate a list of technical solutions complying with this requirement to the Commission. The Commission shall make the information notified publicly available, via its website or any other appropriate means, to all Member States;-compliance with the requirements set out above will  be established by the proof furnished by a Member State in accordance with Article 3 of Directive 96/96/EC ;-the Commission, assisted by the committees referred to in Article 8 of Directive 96/96/EC and Article 13(1) of Directive 70/156/EEC, each within their respective remits, shall take the appropriate measures to ensure that the relevant equipment is installed and tested in order to establish its compliance and roadworthiness in accordance with the requirements of the Directive ;-four years after entry into force of the Directive, the Commission must submit a report on the implementation of the Directive together with a study on "blind spot" accidents covering all vehicles and costs incurred, with the aim of improving road safety. On the basis of a more comprehensive cost-benefit analysis, the Commission's report shall be accompanied, if appropriate, by a proposal for the revision of existing legislation;-the date set for transposition of the directive is one year after its entry into force.

• 2007/05/09 Debate in Parliament
  • Debate in Parliament
• 2007/04/03 Committee report tabled for plenary, 1st reading/single reading
  • A6-0124/2007
• 2007/03/27 Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
• 2006/12/18 Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
• #2772
• 2006/12/12 Council Meeting
  • 2772 summary

    Pending the European Parliament's first-reading opinion, the Council reached agreement on a general approach on a proposal for a Directive on the retrofitting of mirrors to heavy goods vehicles registered in the Community.

• 2006/10/05 Legislative proposal published
  • COM(2006)0570 summary

    PURPOSE: to reduce the number of accidents by retrofitting mirrors to heavy good vehicles registered in the Community.PROPOSED ACT: Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council.CONTENT: the purpose of this proposed Directive is to improve the field of indirect vision of existing (as opposed to new) heavy good vehicles. It is aimed, in particular, at vulnerable road users such as pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists, who are particularly prone to accidents with heavy good vehicles given that lorries have a lateral blind spot on the passenger’s side.  The most frequent cause of an accident is when a heavy duty driver fails to notice a pedestrian or cyclist when taking a right turn.Legislation making an improved set of mirrors mandatory from 2006/2007 is already in place. See Directive 2003/97/EC on the approximation of laws of the Member States relating to the type-approval devices for indirect vision and of vehicles equipped with these devices (COD/2001/0317). In other words, new heavy duty vehicles of more than 3.5 tons will have to be equipped with blind spot mirrors as of next year. This measure, however, does not address the risk that existing heavy good vehicles pose. There is an estimated 5 million heavy good vehicles currently in circulation to which Directive 2003/97/EC does not apply.As a result, and upon the request of both Parliament and the Member States (Belgium, the Netherlands and Denmark in particular) the Commission is proposing to extend the requirements for the lateral field of indirect vision, to the existing fleet of heavy goods vehicles.The Commission estimates that in retrofitting existing heavy vehicles with “blind spot mirrors” more than 1200 lives could be saved on European roads between now and 2020.  The current cost of fitting retro mirrors does not present a huge financial burden – (EUR 100 – EUR 150). Should, however, there be higher costs involved, the proposed Directive allows for some flexibility. Inspection authorities can, for example, accept exceptional alternative solutions in order to prevent a distortion of competition in the haulage market.

  • DG Energy and Transport, BARROT Jacques

Documents

• Legislative proposal published: COM(2006)0570
• Debate in Council: 2772
• Committee report tabled for plenary, 1st reading/single reading: A6-0124/2007
• Debate in Parliament: Debate in Parliament
• Results of vote in Parliament: Results of vote in Parliament
• Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading: T6-0177/2007
• : Directive 2007/38
• : OJ L 184 14.07.2007, p. 0025

History

(these mark the time of scraping, not the official date of the change)