Metrology

The Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection adopted the report by Anja WEISGERBER (EPP, DE) on the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council repealing Council Directives 71//317/EEC, 71/347/EEC, 71/349/EEC, 74/148/EEC, 75/33/EEC, 76/765/EEC, 76/766/EEC, and 86/217/EEC regarding metrology.

It recommended that the European Parliament’s position at first reading under the ordinary legislative procedure (formerly known as the codecision procedure) should be to amend the Commission proposal as follows:

- to avoid any legal uncertainty, Members consider it necessary to provide the possibility of including provisions referring to the measuring instruments covered by the Directives being repealed in the general Measurements Instruments Directive (2004/22/EC);

- Members consider that Member States should be given more time to investigate whether repealing the Directives will lead to legal uncertainty which makes European harmonisation of rules necessary. Therefore only Directive 71/349/EEC will be repealed with effect from 1 January 2011. The other seven Directives (Directives 71/317/EEC, 71/347/EEC, 74/148/EEC, 75/33/EEC, 76/765/EEC, 76/766/EEC and 86/217/EEC) will be repealed with effect from 1 May 2014, but only after analysing the possible consequences in context with the broader review of the basic legal instrument in this field, the "Measurement Instruments Directive" (2004/22/EC);

- by 30 April 2011, the Commission shall, on the basis of reports provided by the Member States, evaluate whether the measuring instruments falling within the scope of the repealed directives need to be included in the scope of Directive 2004/22/EC. The Commission shall submit a report to the European Parliament and to the Council, accompanied, if appropriate, by a legislative proposal to that effect;

- lastly, an amendment stipulates that EEC pattern approvals and EEC certificates issued until 31 December 2010 under Directive 71/349/EEC shall remain valid. EEC pattern approvals and EEC certificates issued until 30 April 2014 under the Directives 71//317/EEC, 71/347/EEC, 71/349/EEC, 74/148/EEC, 75/33/EEC, 76/765/EEC, 76/766/EEC, and 86/217/EEC shall remain valid.