Car industry: global technical regulations for wheeled vehicles, equipment and parts. Parallel Agreement UN/ECE
PURPOSE: the proposal for a decision concerns the approval
by the European Community of the Agreement concerning the establishing of
global technical regulations for wheeled vehicles, equipment and parts which
can be fitted and/or be used on wheeled vehicles (‘Parallel Agreement’).
CONTENT: the technical regulations applying in the automotive sector are
currently harmonised internationally under the 1958 UN/ECE Revised Agreement
concerning the adoption of uniform technical prescriptions for wheeled
vehicles, their equipment and partsand
the conditions for reciprocal recognition of approvals granted on the basis
of these prescriptions. The Parallel Agreement, which operates in the
framework of the UN/ECE, concerns the establishing of global technical
regulations for wheeled vehicles and the equipment and parts which can be
fitted or used on wheeled vehicles. It has the same scope as the 1958
Agreement as regards the issues to be regulated and it will operate in
parallel. The Agreement creates a mechanism to establish global technical
regulations of this type in a global registry by consensus vote of
contracting parties present and voting. The aim is to develop regulations
that achieve high levels of safety, environmental protection, energy
efficiency and anti-theft performance. The Agreement also creates a framework
allowing national and regional regulations to be listed in a compendium of
candidate technical regulations after an affirmative vote by one-third of the
contracting parties. These candidate regulations will be used to prepare
harmonised global technical regulations. The Commission proposes the approval
by the Community of this Agreement which will enter into force on 26/10/1999
if eight countries or regional economic integration organisations, which must
include the