MEPs to vote on a proposal on transport of dangerous goods

MEPs are set to vote on 19 April on a draft report amending the Directive on the transportation of dangerous goods, or transportable pressure equipment. The initial legislative document aims to set out detailed rules concerning transportable pressure equipment to enhance safety and ensure free movement of such equipment within the Community.

The main reason for the Commission to propose this revision is the need for simplification and clarification. A central simplification objective is to remove conflicting issues between the existing Directive on Transportable Pressure Equipment and international rules on the transport of dangerous goods, in particular since these rules have already been extended to Community legislation through Directive 2008/68/EC.

The proposal simplifies existing provisions, in particular those relating to the modules on conformity assessment procedures. This dimension will be substantially streamlined and simplified in the proposal, which makes reference to the relevant international agreements. The technical rules and administrative procedures are more consistently presented in one source, i.e. in the international agreements. The proposed Directive focuses on those issues that can be treated satisfactorily only through European legislation.

As for making the equipment required for transport operations available on the market, the Community has recently adopted rules relating to the marketing of products on the EU single market ("New Legislative Framework") which should, wherever possible, be applied across all industrial sectors (see COD/2007/0029 and COD/2007/0030). By incorporating these rules into the proposal for the specific sector of transportable pressure equipment the Commission will help simplify the rules by not creating different, sector-specific rules where the general rules would serve the purpose.

 
Parliament's Transport and Tourism Committee published its draft report on the proposal on 28 January 2010. After the first reading of the document on 26 March, a tabled legislative report was issued. MEPs from the responsible committee will vote on the amendments at the next EP plenary sitting on 19 April.

Commission/Council initial legislative document: Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council of …. on transportable pressure equipment

Draft Report on the Proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on transportable pressure equipment