Carriage of passengers: vehicles comprising more than 8 seats or maximum length 15m (amend. direct. 70/156/EEC)

This Commission opinion is pursuant to Article 251(2) (c) of the EC Treaty, on the European Parliament's amendments to the Council's common position regarding the proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council relating to special provisions for vehicles used for the carriage of persons comprising more than eight seats in addition to the driver's seat, and amending Directives 70/156/EEC and 97/27/EC. Of the 8 amendments proposed by the Parliament in second reading, 3 are acceptable as they stand and 5 are acceptable in principle. Amendments relating to the permitted slope of the gangway over the axles of buses are in principle acceptable. A transitional period must be laid down for authorisation of this permitted slope. A period of five years following the entry into force of the Directive is proposed. With regard to the amendment on list categories of persons with reduced mobility, the defintion given in the common position was intended to be of a more general nature. The Commission stresses the importance of this definition being strictly identical to that used at international level (in particular by the United Nations' Economic Commission for Europe). The amendment relating to the wheelchair model was merged before its adoption with proposal for amendment 6. It refers to the ISO 7193 standard. This amendment is acceptable in principle. However, it must be made clear that the reference is to be used with the person occupying the wheelchair. The Commission proposal shall therefore be amended to take account of these amendments. �