Road safety: protection of pedestrians, changes to the front of vehicles (amend. Directive 70/156/EEC)

The committee adopted the report by Herman VERMEER (ELDR, NL) broadly approving the proposal, subject to a number of amendments under the 1st reading of the codecision procedure: - the new directive should be one element of a broader package of measures by industry and the Member States, based on exchanges of best practice, to deal with pre-crash, in-crash and post-crash safety of pedestrians and other vulnerable road users; - the Commission should examine the feasibility of extending the scope of the directive to vehicles with a permissible mass of up to 3.5 tonnes; - the feasibility assessment which the Commission is required to carry out by 1 July 2004 should be carried out by independent experts and should be based on practical tests and independent scientific studies; - if, as a result of the feasability assessment, it is deemed necessary to adapt the Directive's provisions to include a combination of passive and active measures, the Commission should submit a proposal to amend the directive under a full codecision procedure involving Parliament and Council; - if the adaptation of the directive is restricted to the introduction of alternative passive measures, then such adaptation may be carried out by the Committee for Adaptation to Technical Progress; - to clarify the reporting requirements, it should be stipulated that the Commission shall report to the Council and Parliament before 1 April 2006, and every two years thereafter, on the results of its monitoring of the progress made by the industry in the area of pedestrian protection. �