Brussels, 12/02/2001 (Agence Europe) - The European Parliament will be stating its view this week at second reading on amendment of the European directive on type-approval of vehicles for the transport of more than eight passengers, in addition to the driver. The report by Bill Miller proposes that the plenary give up the radical approach adopted by the EP at first reading, which consisted of deleting all the technical specifications from the directive's annexes and instructing a technical working group to formulate them. This approach was rejected by the Commission and in the Council's common position. In contrast, the rapporteur proposes eight amendments to facilitate access by the disabled to buses. He calls in particular for authorisation of type-approval for buses with low floors and an aisle slope of 12.5%, as they already exist in certain Member States.
This is one of the many amendments of the 1970 directive (70/156) on approval of motor vehicles, which establishes technical specifications generally based on the international regulations of the UN Economic Commission for Europe. The specifications are optional, but the Commission is considering coming forward with a proposal for a compulsory type-approval system, recalls the rapporteur in the explanatory statement.