Brussels, 27/06/2001 (Agence Europe) - The Parliament and Council reached an agreement, in the framework of the conciliation procedure, over the Directive on the type approval of passenger transport vehicles with more than eight seats. The Council finally rallied to the Parliament's amendments which, by adopting the Bill Miller report last February, insisted for buses to be equipped with ramps or a lifts, in order to facilitate access to the bus for the handicapped (see EUROPE of 13 February). The EP could adopt the Directive next week in plenary, hoped Mr Miller. Based on the recommendations from the UN Economic Commission for Europe, this Directive specifies safety standards (vehicle stability, number of emergency exits, etc.). These technical specifications are optional, but the Commission is considering presenting a system of obligatory type approval.
The European Disabled Forum (EDF) welcomes this decision, after 9 years of active campaigning. It is a great victory for our movement, which will benefit handicapped persons, but also the aged, women with children and people with luggage, underlines the EDF President, Yannis Vardakastania.