10.8.2000 Official Journal of the European Communities L 203/9 DIRECTIVE 2000/40/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 26 June 2000 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the front underrun protection of motor vehicles and amending Council 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 95 thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (1), Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee (2), Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty (%), Whereas: (1) By Decision 97/836/EC (*), the Council, with the assent of the European Parliament, authorised the Community to accede to the Agreement of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) concerning the adoption of uniform technical prescriptions for wheeled vehicles, equipment and parts which can be fitted to and/or be used on wheeled vehicles and the conditions for reciprocal recognition of approvals granted on the basis of these prescriptions, done at Geneva on 20 March 1958, as revised on 16 October 1995. () Through its accession to the said Agreement, the Community subscribed to a defined list of Regulations established pursuant to that Agreement. This list includes UNJECE Regulation No 93 (%). (3) In order to reduce the number of European road accident casualties, it is necessary to introduce without () 0y C 89, 30.3.1999, p. 11. () 0] C 209, 22.7.1999, p. 8. (}) Opinion of the European Parliament of 27.10.1999 (O] C 154, 5.6.2000, p. 50), Council Common Position of 27.3.2000 (O] C 178, 27.6.2000, p. 1), and Decision of the European Parliament of 17.5.2000. () OJ L 346, 17.12.1997, p. 78. (*) UN Economic Commission for Europe, document E[ECE/324. delay the measures established by UNE/ECE Regulation No 93 into the EC type-approval procedure set up by Council Directive 70/156/EEC(®), so as to improve the protection of the occupants of passenger cars and light vans from injury in the event of a collision with the front of heavy goods vehicles and to allow manufacturers of such devices and of vehicles equipped with such devices to obtain an EC type-approval if they meet the technical requirements of that Regulation. (4 In accordance with the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty, the objectives of this Directive cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States on account of the scale and effect of the action proposed in the relevant sector, and can therefore be better achieved by the Community. This Directive does not go beyond what is necessary for the attainment of its objective, namely EC type-approval. (5)  This Directive is one of the separate directives which must be complied with in order to conform to the EC type-approval procedure. Consequently, the provisions laid down in Directive 70/156/EEC relating to vehicles, vehicle systems, components and separate technical units apply to this Directive. (6)  In view of the considerable number of road accidents involving commercial vehicles having a mass of more than 3,5 tonnes, and consequently in order to increase road safety, the provisions concerning such vehicles should be made mandatory by this Directive without awaiting any further supplements to EC type-approval for this category of vehicles. (7)  Directive 70/156/EEC  should be amended in consequence, HAVE ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE: Article 1 For the purposes of this Directive: (®) O] L 42, 23.2.1970, p. 1. Directive as last amended by Directive 98/91/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 11, 16.1.1999, p. 25).