12/03/2003 (Agence Europe) - In its adoption of the report by Swedish Socialist Ewa Hedkvist Petersen, the European Parliament approved without modification the Council's common position on amending the 1999 directive to bring closer together legislation on obligatory seatbelt use in vehicles under 3.5 tonnes. Although it provides for various exemptions of five or six years, the text introduces a general obligation for all children to wear a seatbelt or another safety device.