WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1846/98 by Hadar CARS to the Commission. Colour of warning lights on emergency vehicles
C 13/100 Official Journal of the European Communities EN 18. 1. 1999 Answer given by Mr Van Miert on behalf of the Commission (23 July 1998) The Commission can inform the Honourable Member that a Dutch court has requested a preliminary ruling from the Court of justice regarding inter alia the issue whether collective social agreements fall within the ambit of the Communityís competition rules (case C-115/97 Brentjens). In that case the Commission has expressed the view that agreements which are formally concluded in the framework of collective social negotiations and which relate to subjects that traditionally constitute the legitimate object of collective social agreements (notably wages, including pensions, and working conditions) fall outside the scope of Article 85 of the EC Treaty. The Commission cannot tell from the information given by the Honourable Member whether the Swedish collective agreements to which she refers are of such nature. The Honourable Member is invited to submit further information to the Commission if she so wishes. (1999/C 13/142) WRITTEN QUESTION E-1846/98 by Hadar Cars (ELDR) to the Commission (12 June 1998) Subject: Colour of warning lights on emergency vehicles Before the Second World War, it appears that the emergency vehicles of all countries had red lights. During the war, there was a switch to blue lights to make it more difficult for enemy aeroplanes to detect the vehicles. Some sources claim that the visibility of blue light is extremely poor and any motorist knows that it is difficult to make out emergency vehicles during the day. Red light, however, is highly visible and the number of road accidents could be reduced if emergency vehicles were more visible. What are the possibilities of changing the colour of warning lights to red? Answer given by Mr Kinnock on behalf of the Commission (31 July 1998) The colour of warning lights on emergency vehicles is covered by the Vienna Convention on road traffic on 1968. Article 14 of this Convention states that, for international traffic, blue lights may only be used by ápriority vehiclesí whilst orange lights may only be used by vehicles having special functions. This article also states that warning lights of other colours may be authorised by national legislation for use within the national territory. Member States are, therefore, free to use any colour they choose including red, for warning lights on emergency vehicles which operate only within their national boundaries. As to the possibility of a change in the international regime, this would require one of the contracting parties, or observer organisations, to the Vienna Convention to submit a proposal which would then be debated and voted on by the contracting parties. The Community is not a contracting party and the Commission cannot, therefore, propose to introduce this change. (1999/C 13/143) WRITTEN QUESTION E-1849/98 by Anne McIntosh (PPE) to the Commission (12 June 1998) Subject: Duty-free sales When does the Commission intend to complete its study into the social, economic and regional consequences of the loss of intra-EU duty- and tax-free sales after 1999?