17. 9. 96 Official Journal of the European Communities No L 235/25 COUNCIL DIRECTIVE 96/49/EC of 23 July 1996 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States with regard to the transport of dangerous goods by rail THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 75 thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the Commission ('), Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social 2 Committee (%), Acting in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 189¢ of the Treaty (%), (1) Whereas in recent years the transport of dangerous goods by rail has considerably expanded, thus increasing the risks of accidents occurring; whereas measures must therefore be raken to ensure thar such transport is carried out under the best possible conditions of safety; (2) Whereas all Member States are Contracting Parties to the Convention concerning international carriage by rail (COTIF), which, in Appendix B thereto, defines uniform rules concerning the contract for international carriage of goods by rail (CIM), Annex 1 to which constitutes the regulations concerning the international carriage of dangerous goods by rail (RID); whereas the geographical scope of the Convention extends beyond the Community; (3} Whereas the Convention does not cover the national carriage of dangerous goods by rail; whereas it is therefore important to ensure the uniform application of harmonized safety rules throughout the Community; whereas the most appropriate way of achieving this is to align the laws applied by the Member States on the RID; (4) Whereas, in compliance with the principle of subsidiarity, these laws must be approximated in order to ensure a high level of safety for national (") OJ No C 389, 31. 12. 1994, p. 15, and amended proposal forwarded on 3 Ocrober 1995 (not yet published in the Official Journal). (*) OJ No C 236, 11. 9. 1995, p. 36. (*) Opinion of the European Parliament of 13 July 1995 (O] No C 249, 25. 9. 1995, p. 138), Council common position of 8 December 1995 (O] No C 356. 30. 12. 19935, p. 34) and Decision of the European Parliament of 16 April 1996 (O] No C 141, 13. 5. 1996, p. S1). and international transport operations, to guarantee the elimination of distortions of competition by facilitating the free movement of goods and services throughout the Community and to ensure consistency with the other Community provisions; (5) ‘Whereas the provisions of this Directive are without prejudice to the commitment entered into by the Community and its Member States, in accordance with the goals set under Agenda 21, Chapter 19, at the UNCED Conference in June 1992 in Rio de Janeiro, to strive for the future harmonization of systems for the classification of dangerous: substances; (6) Whereas no specific Community legislation yet governs the safety conditions wunder which biological agents and genetically modified micro-organisms, regulated under  Directives 90/219/EEC (*), 90/220/EEC (*) and 90/676/EEDC (*) should be transported; (7) Whereas the provisions of this Directive are without prejudice to the application of other Community provisions in the field of worker safety and environmental protection; (8) Whereas the Member States must be able to apply specific traffic regulations to the transport on their territory of dangerous goods by rail; (9) Whereas, the Member States should retain the right, with regard to the transport of dangerous goods by rail, provisionally to implement rules in  conformity with the United Nations recommendations on the multimodal transport of dangerous goods, in so far as the RID is not yet harmonized with those regulations, which should facilitate the inter-modal transport of dangerous goods; {10) Whereas each Member State must retain the right to regulate or prohibit, strictly for reasons other (" Q) No L 117, 8. 5. 1990, p. 1. Directive amended by Commission Directive 94/51/EC (OJ No L 297, 18. 11. 1994, p. 29). (*y OJ No L 117, 8. 5. 1990, p. 15. Directive amended by Commission Directive 94/15/EC (O] No L 103, 23. 4. 1994, p. 20). (®) O] No L 374, 31. 12. 1990, p. 1. Directive as last amended by Commission Directive 95/30/EC (O] No L 155, 6. 7. 1995, p. 41).