Brussels, 07/07/2008 (Agence Europe) -In 1958 agreement of the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) on uniform technical prescriptions in the automotive sector celebrated its 50th anniversary on 1 July. This agreement has given rise to 126 regulations on issues related to security, environmental protection, energy efficiency and protection against vehicle theft. The UN-EEC agreement on electrical controls on stability allows car manufacturers to develop a single vehicle design for the entire world market.
The EU, which has been a party to the revised 1958 agreement since March 1998, has consolidated the close links which already exist between the Community directives and the UNECE regulations in the field of motor vehicles, thus allowing a European vehicle approved on the basis of the UN-EEC regulation to be sold in many other countries. At this stage, there are a total of 48 parties to the UN-EEC agreement on technical harmonisation, including South Africa, Australia, South Korea and Japan. A second agreement concluded in 1998 brought in the development of joint technical standards with countries which are not parties to the 1958 agreement, such as China, the United States in India, thus reinforcing the process of international harmonisation at UN level.
The accession of the EU to the 1958 and 1998 agreements has breathed new life into work on international regulations in the automotive sector. In order to avoid diverging legislations and a duplication of administrative procedures, a single standard at UN level helps to simplify EU legislation. The high-level group CARS 21, which was set up by the European Commission to look into ways of improving the regulatory framework of the European automotive sector (EUROPE 9361), was able to identify 38 Community directives which could be replaced by international regulations in the framework of the UNECE. "In a global world, we need global rules (...). Replacing EU law with UN-EEC rules reduces red tape and industry can adapt faster to technical developments. This UN Agreement has been increasingly relevant as we have been moving to a global world. This is a model for successful international collaboration which needs to be copied by other industrial sectors", commented Commissioner for Industry Günter Verheugen.
For information on uniform technical prescriptions:
http: //ec.europa.eu/enterprise/automotive/pagesbackground/global_harmonisation.htm (E.H./trans.fl)