L 189/12 Official Journal of the European Communities 18.7.2002 DIRECTIVE 2002/49/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 25 June 2002 relating to the assessment and management of environmental noise THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Commu- nity, and in particular Article 175(1) thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the Commission ('), Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee (%), Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions (°), Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty (*), and in the light of the joint text approved by the Conciliation Committee on 8 April 2002, Whereas: (1) It is part of Community policy to achieve a high level of health and environmental protection, and one of the objectives to be pursued is protection against noise. In the Green Paper on Future Noise Policy, the Commission addressed noise in the environment as one of the main environmental problems in Europe. (2)  Inits Resolution of 10 June 1997 (°) on the Commission Green Paper, the European Parliament expressed its support for that Green Paper, urged that specific measures and initiatives should be laid down in a Direc- tive on the reduction of environmental noise, and noted the lack of reliable, comparable data regarding the situa- tion of the various noise sources. (3) A common noise indicator and a common methodology for noise calculation and measurement around airports were identified in the Commission Communication of 1 December 1999 on Air Transport and the Environment. This communication has been taken into account in the provisions of this Directive. (4)  Certain categories of noise emissions from products are already covered by Community legislation, such as Council Directive 70/157[EEC of 6 February 1970 on 1 () 0J C 337 E, 28.11.2000, p. 251. () O] C 116, 20.4.2001, p. 48. () O] C 148, 18.5.2001, p. 7. (*) Opinion of the European Parliament of 14 December 2000 (O] C 232, 17.8.2001, p. 305), Council Common Position of 7 June 2001 (O] € 297, 23.10.2001, p. 49) and Decision of the European Parlia- ment of 3 October 2001 (O] C 87 E, 11.4.2002, p. 118). Decision of the European Parliament of 15 May 2002 and Decision of the Council of 21 May 2002. () O] C 200, 30.6.1997, p. 28. the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the permissible sound level and the exhaust system of motor vehicles (°), Council Directive 77/311/ EEC of 29 March 1977 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the driver- perceived noise level of wheeled agricultural or forestry tractors (), Council Directive 80/51/EEC of 20 December 1979 on the limitation of noise emissions from subsonic aircraft () and its complementary directives, Council Directive 92/61/EEC of 30 June 1992 relating to the type-approval of two or three-wheel motor vehicles () and Directive 2000/14/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 8 May 2000 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the noise emission in the environment by equipment for use outdoors ('9). (5)  This Directive should inter alia provide a basis for devel- oping and completing the existing set of Community measures concerning noise emitted by the major sources, in particular road and rail vehicles and infrastructure, aircraft, outdoor and industrial equipment and mobile machinery, and for developing additional measures, in the short, medium and long term. (6)  Certain categories of noise such as noise created inside means of transport and noise from domestic activities should not be subject to this Directive. (7 In accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty, the Treaty objectives of achieving a high level of protection of the environment and of health will be better reached by complementing the action of the Member States by a Community action achieving a common understanding of the noise problem. Data about environmental noise levels should therefore be collected, collated or reported in accordance with comparable criteria. This implies the use of harmo- nised indicators and evaluation methods, as well as criteria for the alignment of noise-mapping. Such criteria and methods can best be established by the Community. () OJ L 42, 23.2.1970, p. 16. Directive as last amended by Commis- sion Directive 1999/101/EC (O] L 334, 28.12.1999, p. 41). () OJ L 105, 28.4.1977, p. 1. Directive as last amended by Directive 97/54/EC (O] L 277, 10.10.1997, p. 24). (®) OJ L 18, 24.1.1980, p. 26. Directive as last amended by Directive 83/206/EEC (O] L 117, 4.5.1983, p. 15). () OJ L 225, 10.8.1992, p. 72. Directive as last amended by Directive 2000/7/EC (O] L 106, 3.5.2000, p. 1). () OJ L 162, 3.7.2000, p. 1.