Regulation (EC) No 78/2009 of the European Parliament and of the CouncilShow full title

Regulation (EC) No 78/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council

of 14 January 2009

on the type-approval of motor vehicles with regard to the protection of pedestrians and other vulnerable road users, amending Directive 2007/46/EC and repealing Directives 2003/102/EC and 2005/66/EC

(Text with EEA relevance)

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 95 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee(1),

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty(2),

Whereas:

(1) The internal market comprises an area without internal frontiers in which the free movement of goods, persons, services and capital must be ensured. To that end a Community type-approval system for motor vehicles is in place. The technical requirements for the type-approval of motor vehicles with regard to pedestrian protection should be harmonised to avoid the adoption of requirements that differ from one Member State to another and to ensure the proper functioning of the internal market.

(2) This Regulation is one of the separate regulatory acts in the context of the Community type-approval procedure under Directive 2007/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 September 2007 establishing a framework for the approval of motor vehicles and their trailers, and of systems, components and separate technical units intended for such vehicles (Framework Directive)(3). In order to achieve the aims set out in recital 1 of this Regulation, Annexes I, III, IV, VI and XI to Directive 2007/46/EC should be amended.

(3) Experience has shown that legislation concerning motor vehicles has often been of a highly detailed technical content. It is therefore appropriate to adopt a regulation instead of a directive in order to avoid discrepancies between transposing measures and an unnecessary level of legislation in the Member States, as there will be no need for transposition into national legislation. Therefore, Directive 2003/102/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 November 2003 relating to the protection of pedestrians and other vulnerable road users before and in the event of a collision with a motor vehicle(4) and Directive 2005/66/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 October 2005 relating to the use of frontal protection systems on motor vehicles(5) which provides requirements for the installation and use of frontal protection systems on vehicles and thus a level of protection for pedestrians, should be replaced by this Regulation in order to ensure consistency in this area. This implies that Member States repeal the transposing legislation of the repealed Directives.

(4) The requirements for the second phase of implementation of Directive 2003/102/EC have been shown not to be feasible. In this respect, Article 5 of that Directive requested the Commission to submit any proposals necessary to overcome the problems of feasibility of these requirements and possibly make use of active safety systems, whilst ensuring there was no reduction in the safety levels provided to the vulnerable road user.

(5) A study commissioned by the Commission shows that pedestrian protection can be significantly improved by a combination of passive and active measures which afford a higher level of protection than the previously existing provisions. In particular, the study shows that the active safety system ‘brake assist’, combined with changes to passive safety requirements, would significantly increase the level of pedestrian protection. Providing for the obligatory installation of brake assist systems in new motor vehicles is therefore appropriate. However, this should not replace, but rather complement, high-level passive safety systems.

(6) Vehicles equipped with collision avoidance systems may not have to fulfil certain requirements laid down in this Regulation to the extent that they will be able to avoid collisions with pedestrians rather than merely mitigate the effects of such collisions. After assessing whether such technology can effectively avoid collisions with pedestrians and other vulnerable road users, the Commission may present proposals amending this Regulation to allow for the use of collision avoidance systems.

(7) With the increasing number of heavier vehicles being used on urban roads, it is appropriate that provisions on pedestrian protection apply not only to vehicles of maximum mass not exceeding 2 500 kg, but also, after a limited transitional period, to vehicles of categories M₁ and N₁ exceeding that limit.

(8) In order to enhance the protection of pedestrians at the earliest possible stage, manufacturers who wish to apply for a type-approval in compliance with new requirements before they become mandatory should be able to do so under the condition that the necessary implementing measures are already in force.

(9) The measures necessary for the implementation of this Regulation should be adopted in accordance with Council Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying down the procedures for the exercise of implementing powers conferred on the Commission(6).

(10) In particular, the Commission should be empowered to adopt technical provisions for the application of the test requirements and implementing measures based on the results of monitoring. Since those measures are of general scope and are designed to amend non-essential elements of this Regulation, inter alia, by supplementing it with new non-essential elements, they must be adopted in accordance with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny provided for in Article 5a of Decision 1999/468/EC.

(11) In order to ensure a smooth transition from the provisions of Directives 2003/102/EC and 2005/66/EC to this Regulation, the application of this Regulation should be deferred by a certain period after its entry into force.

(12) Since the objective of this Regulation, namely the realisation of the internal market through the introduction of common technical requirements concerning pedestrian protection, cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States and can therefore, by reason of its scale, be better achieved at Community level, the Community may adopt measures, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty. In accordance with the principle of proportionality, as set out in that Article, this Regulation does not go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve that objective,

HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

(1)

OJ C 211, 19.8.2008, p. 9.

(2)

Opinion of the European Parliament of 18 June 2008 (not yet published in the Official Journal) and Council Decision of 16 December 2008.

(3)

OJ L 263, 9.10.2007, p. 1.

(4)

OJ L 321, 6.12.2003, p. 15.

(5)

OJ L 309, 25.11.2005, p. 37.

(6)

OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23.