No L 209/34 Official Journal of the European Communities 29. 7. 81 COUNCIL DIRECTIVE of 20 July 1981 amending Council Directive 74/408/EEC on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the interior fittings of motor vehicles (strength of seats and of their anchorages) (81/577/EEC) THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, and in particular Article 100 thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the Commis- sion (1), Having regard to the opinion of the European Parlia- ment (2), Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee (%), Whereas Council Directive 74/408/EEC of 22 July 1974 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the interior fittings of motor vehicles (strength of seats and of their anchorages) (*) does not permit EEC type-approval of a vehicle concerning the strength of the seats and of their anchorages if these seats have built-in safety belt anchorages ; Whereas in the interests of road safety, Directive 74/408/EEC should be amended without delay for vehicles with seats fitted with one or more belt anchor- ages, in order to make them more comfortable to use by a larger number of adult occupants and thus increase the rate of belt wearing; whereas such an amendment has been made possible by technical progress in motor-vehicle construction, () OJ No C 87, 9. 4. 1980, p. 7. () O] No C 265, 13. 10. 1980, p. 77. () OJ No C 230, 8. 9. 1980, p. 6. () OF No L 221, 12. 8. 1974, p. 1. HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE : Article 1 Directive 74/408/EEC shall be amended as follows : 1. Article 1 (2) is replaced by the following: ‘2. This Directive does not apply to folding (tip-up) seats or to side-facing or rearward-facing seats. 2. Section 2.7 of Annex 1 is replaced by the following : ‘2.7. “Folding (tip-up) seat” means an auxiliary seat intended for occasional use and which is normally folded out of the way. Article 2 Member States shall bring into force the provisions necessary in order to comply with this Directive within six months of its notification. They shall forth- with inform the Commission thereof. Article 3 This Directive is addressed to the Member States. Done at Brussels, 20 July 1981, For the Council The President P. WALKER