Transport of dangerous goods by road: standards, European agreement ADR annexes

The committee adopted the report (codecision procedure, 1st reading) by Dieter-Leberecht KOCH (EPP/ED, D) approving the Commission proposal subject to a few amendments. The report welcomed the proposal, the aim of which was to overcome the problem of the delays in the standardisation work carried out by the European Committee for Standardisation (CEN) and the resulting short-term problems of application of Directive 94/55/EC on the approximation of the laws of the Member States regarding the transport of dangerous goods by road. As the dates laid down in the directive could not be met, the Commission was proposing three categories of amendments. The committee agreed with this approach, arguing that inaction on the Community's part would require the Member States to amend their national legislation for a very brief period, until the CEN had completed its work, which would cause unnecessary cost and uncertainty. It therefore recommended that Parliament take on board the (purely technical) amendments proposed by the Commission. The committee adopted inter alia an amendment introducing a new provision to take into account the climate in the northern parts of the EU where temperatures can be lower than minus 20 degrees centigrade (in order to maintain the current safety level in Finland), and also adopted an amendment on commitology. �