Directive 80/181 / EEC

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
European Union flag

Directive 80/181 / EEC

Title: Council Directive 80/181 / EEC of December 20, 1979 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to units in metrology and repealing Directive 71/354 / EEC
Designation:
(not official) 		Unit Policy
Scope: EEA
Basis: Article 100 of the EEC Treaty
Come into effect: December 21, 1979
Replaces: Directive 71/354 / EEC
To be
implemented in national law by: 		June 30, 1981
Implemented by: Germany
Unit Ordinance
Austria
Measure and Verification Act
Reference: OJ L 39 of February 15, 1980, pp. 40-50
Full text Consolidated version (not official)
basic version
The regulation must have been implemented in national law.
Please note the information on the current version of legal acts of the European Union !

The guideline 80/181 / EWG , short units guideline or guideline on units in metrology , long guideline 80/181 / EWG of the council of December 20, 1979 on the approximation of the laws of the member states on units in metrology and repealing guideline 71/354 / EEC , is a directive of the European Union or originally the EC . It has been valid for the European Economic Area since 1994 .

The guideline prescribes the use of the international system of units (SI). There are also some units that the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM) accepts for use with the SI, as well as the full angle (without the unit symbol) and the degree (unit symbol »gon«). The Ar (unit symbol “a”), for the refractive power of optical systems the dioptre (without unit symbol) and for the length-related mass of textile fibers and yarns the tex (unit symbol “tex”) is also particularly permitted for the area of land and parcels . For the blood pressure and the pressure of other body fluids, millimeters of mercury is permitted (unit symbol »mmHg«), for the cross section the barn , for the mass of precious stones the metric carat (without unit symbol).

It is implemented in national law in Germany through the Unit Ordinance , in Austria through the Measure and Verification Act (MEG). For various units such as the mile , the pint or the ounce , special regulations apply, according to which these units are permitted in certain countries and, if applicable, for certain purposes. These special regulations were initially limited in time; after several extensions, Directive 2009/3 / EC allowed them to be used indefinitely.

scope of application

The guideline concerns measuring devices , measurements and specifications of quantities without restricting them to a specific area of ​​application. The main legal basis of the directive, Article 100 of the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community , only authorizes the approximation of those laws, regulations and administrative provisions which have a direct effect on the establishment or functioning of the common market.

Economy , public health , public safety and official traffic are expressly mentioned in the explanatory memorandum of the directive . Exceptions are maritime and aviation , where units such as foot and knot are still quite common, but only insofar as they are prescribed by international agreements. The same applies to rail traffic .

For goods and equipment that have already been placed on the market or put into operation, as well as spare parts for them, outdated units may still be used. Each member state can decide for itself whether this also applies to measuring devices.

Judgments

The Hamm Higher Regional Court confirmed a ruling by the Bochum Regional Court in 2010 that the lack of metric information for screen sizes is not anti-competitive, as the information in inches also enables the sizes to be compared.

“It is true that this designation constitutes a violation of the law on units in metrology [...] [...] According to this, length measurements must be given in meters. The relevant market is very familiar with the customs unit, which also enables the sizes to be compared, so that the consumer also has an accurate overview of the essential information on the product [...]. "

- Summary of the judgment of the OLG Hamm

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Agreement on the European Economic Area
  2. ↑ Directive 2009/3 / EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of March 11, 2009 amending Directive 80/181 / EEC of the Council on the harmonization of the laws of the member states on units in metrology
  3. ↑ Az. I-4 W 48/10
  4. ↑ OLG Hamm: The measurement of a computer screen in inches instead of centimeters is only a minor matter in terms of competition law