8. 7. 96 Official Journal of the European Communities No L 169/1 (Act whose publication is obligatory) DIRECTIVE 96/27/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 20 May 1996 on the protection of occupants of motor vehicles in the event of a side impact and amending Directive 70/156/EEC THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 100a thereof, Having regard to Council Directive 70/156/EEC of 6 February 1970 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the type-approval of motor vehicles and their trailers('), and in particular Article 13 (4) thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (), Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee (%), Acting in accordance with the procedures laid down in Article 189b of the Treaty(*), Whereas the total harmonization of technical requirements for motor vehicles is necessary in order fully to achieve the internal market; Whereas in order to reduce the number of road accident casualties in Europe, it is necessary to introduce legislative measures for improving the protection of occupants of motor vehicles in the event of a side impact as much as possible; whereas this Directive introduces side impact test requirements, including biomechanical criteria, to ensure that a reasonable level of side impact resistance is provided; Whereas these requirements should be regarded as an interim measure and will need to be reviewed in the light (Y OJ No L 42, 23. 2. 1970, p. 1. Directive as last amended by Commission Directive 95/54/EC (O] No L 266, 8. 11. 1995, p. 1). (*) OJ No C 396, 31. 12. 1994, p. 1. (*) OJ No C 256, 2. 10. 1995, p. 18. (*} Opinion of the European Parliament of 12 July 1995 (O] No C 249, 25. 9. 1995, p. 47), Council common position of 23 November 1995 (O] No C 353, 30. 12. 1995, p. 1) and Decision of the European Parliament of 29 February 1996 (O] C No 78, 18. 3. 1996, p. 17) and Council Decision of 6 May 1996. of further research and experience gained during the first two years of type-approval tests carried out in accordance with this Directive; whereas the establishment of more stringent standards will ensure a higher level of safety in future; Whereas this Directive will be one of the separate directives which must be complied with in order to ensure the conformity of vehicles with the requirements of the EC type-approval procedure established by Directive 70/156/EEC; whereas, therefore, the provisions of Directive 70/156/EEC relating to vehicle systems, components and separate technical units apply to this Directive; Whereas the procedure for determining the seating reference point in motor vehicles is given in Annex III to Council Directive 77/649/EEC of 27 September 1977 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the field of vision of motor vehicle drivers(°); whereas it is therefore unnecessary to repeat it in this Directive; whereas reference should be made in this Directive to Council Directive 70/387/EEC of 27 July 1970 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the doors of motor vehicles and their trailers (°), Council Directive 74/483/EEC of 17 September 1974 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the external projections of motor vehicles(”), Council Directive 76/115/EEC of 18 December 1975 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to anchorages for motor-vehicle safety belts(®) and to ISO standard 6487:1987; Whereas the technical requirements of this Directive are based on United Nations Economic Commission for Europe document TRANS/SC1/WP29/396, *) OJ No L 267, 19. 10. 1977, p. 1. Directive as last amended by Commission Directive 90/630/EEC (O] No L 341, 6. 12. 1990, p. 20). (*) OJ No L 176, 10. 8. 1970, p. 5. {7) OJ No L 266, 2. 10. 1974, p. 4. Directive as last amended by Directive 87/354/EEC (O] No L 192, 11. 7. 1987, p. 43). () OJ No L 24, 30. 1. 1976, p. 6. Directive as last amended by Commission Directive 90/629/EEC (O] No L 341, 6. 12. 1990, p. 14).