United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) 'Revised 1958 Agreement': uniform technical prescriptions for wheeled vehicles, equipment and parts, and conditions for reciprocal recognition of approvals; Revision 3

The Committee on International Trade adopted the report by Bernd LANGE (S&D, DE) on the draft Council decision on the conclusion of Revision 3 of 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 and/or used on wheeled vehicles and the conditions for the reciprocal recognition of approvals granted on the basis of these prescriptions ('Revised 1958 Agreement').

The committee recommended that the European Parliament should give its consent to the conclusion of the Agreement.

In the explanatory memorandum accompanying the report, it is recalled that the automotive industry and the related auxiliary industries are a core economic sector for the European Union. The automotive sector provides jobs for 12 million people and accounts for 4% of the EU’s GDP.

The EU is among the world's biggest producers of motor vehicles and the sector represents the largest private investor in research and development. The automotive industry presents a well-integrated value chain in which almost all Member States are involved. Moreover, it offers very high added value along the entire chain and plays an important role in the Eurozone trade balance. In order to maintain the vital position of the automotive industry, the EU must strengthen the competitiveness of the EU automotive industry and preserve its global technological leadership.

International regulatory cooperation has the potential to promote a transparent, effective, procompetitive economic environment while developing and securing the highest levels of protection of health and safety.

The EU must provide support to global technological harmonisation. Common technical requirements like the UNECE framework help reduce development costs, reduce costs of production and certification and avoid duplication of administrative procedures.

It is of the utmost importance that the EU is able to present its position at the June 2016 UNECE meeting. In this sense, the Council has requested to do so and to try to vote in Plenary in May. Given that the rapporteur's will is to respect the principle of multilingualism and to give as much publicity to this consent as possible, the proposal is to vote in the June plenary.