Mr. Loccufier, Chairman of the Informal Working Group, opened the session welcoming all the participants.

A list of all participants is available in Annex 1 to this Report.
Apologies for absence were received by Ms. Sakuma, Mr. Renders, and Mr. Krautscheid.

The agenda was adopted with the inclusion of document SLR-01-06 “Pending proposals (see Annex E)” under item 7.

SLR-08-04 | Draft agenda for the 8th SLR informal group session

The Report was approved without modifications.

SLR-07-12 | Report of the 7th SLR informal group session

Mr. Draper introduced document SLR-08-01 providing a comprehensive overview of objectives, the challenges and the proposed work plan on the basis of the outcome of the 7th SLR session. He also pointed out that the work done so far by the SLR was not wasted because now it can be used for the development of the new Regulations.

The document was reviewed carefully by the participants and several comments and improvements have been made. The following is a list of the most significant conclusions that were agreed by the SLR:

• It was agreed to use the term “Road illumination” instead of “Forward lighting”.
• The proper functioning of the DETA database will be fundamental for the success of the simplification work. Without DETA properly working the whole simplification job will fail.
• All the pending proposals in the pipeline will be reviewed to decide if they can be passed to GRE with the aim of being adopted by WP.29 in March 2017. The SLR will base its simplification work on the existing UN Regulations as amended by WP.29 in March 2017, therefore those proposals not adopted by WP.29 will not be taken into account for the simplification, regardless of the time they have been waiting in the pipeline.
• The new UN Regulations will be drafted on the basis of the format indicated in document SLR-08-02 (to be refined)
• The present content of R-48 will not be amended, except that all definitions (installation and devices) will be moved into section 2 “Definitions”.

SLR-08-01 | Summary and work plan of the SLR informal group

SLR-08-02 | Structure of the new lighting device regulations pursuant to the 7th SLR informal group session Updated paper on the grouping of lighting regulations under one of three new regulations as follows: Light Signaling Devices incorporating Regulations 4, 6, 7, 23, 38, 50, 77, 87, and 91 Forward Lighting Devices incorporating Regulations 19, 98, 112, [ 113 ], 119, and 123 Retro-Reflective Devices incorporating Regulations 3, 27, 69, 70, and 104

Some concerns were raised about the freezing of the Regulations, in particular with regards to the risk of blocking innovation. After a long debate it was clarified that:

• The prime objective of the SLR is to simplify the regulations so that technical innovation can be easily accommodated.
• “Frozen Regulation” means that it is no longer possible to use it for granting new approvals. However it can still be used for extension of existing approvals (e.g. Reg. 20). New Regulations will apply to new type approved devices and vehicles.
• All the existing Regulations intended for simplification will not be frozen in March 2017. They will be frozen, with appropriate Transitional Provisions, only when the new Regulations will be adopted by WP.29. The adoption of the new Regulation and the TPs to freeze the existing UN Regulations will take place at the same WP.29 session (presumably in March 2018). During this period, no more amendments to existing UN Regulations intended for simplification will be allowed and approvals for innovations may be granted using Article 6 and Schedule 7 of the 1958 Agreement (draft Rev. 3 – see WP.29/2015/40).
• R-48 will not be frozen, therefore the GRE-IWG VGL can continue its work and the text of this Regulation can still be amended to allow technical progress.
• Innovation will not be blocked but it will have to fulfil the requirements of the existing Regulations.
• Following the freezing of the existing Regulations and the entry into force of the new Regulations, the SLR will work on a longer term activity aimed at amending such new Regulations to make them technology neutral. In parallel R-48 will be rewritten with an emphasis upon performance based requirements so that innovation can be accommodated without the need for regular revisions.

A detailed planning was developed and agreed by the meeting. This is now available as document SLR-08-05.

-Structure for a new regulation to group a number of existing regulations (Rev. of SLR-07-07): This document was addressed in conjunction with the discussion on the previous item.

SLR-07-07 | Structure for a new regulation to group a number of existing lighting regulations Discussion paper on the possibility to group lighting regulations under one of three new regulations as follows:<ol><li>Light Signaling Devices incorporating Regulations 4, 6, 7, 23, 38, 50, 77, 87, and 91</li><li>Forward Lighting Devices incorporating Regulations 19, 98, 112, 123, and 119</li><li>Retro-Reflective Devices incorporating Regulations 3, 27, 69, 70, and 104</li></ol>.

SLR-08-02 | Structure of the new lighting device regulations pursuant to the 7th SLR informal group session Updated paper on the grouping of lighting regulations under one of three new regulations as follows: Light Signaling Devices incorporating Regulations 4, 6, 7, 23, 38, 50, 77, 87, and 91 Forward Lighting Devices incorporating Regulations 19, 98, 112, [ 113 ], 119, and 123 Retro-Reflective Devices incorporating Regulations 3, 27, 69, 70, and 104

This item was not discussed.

SLR-08-03 | Proposal for changes to the draft new regulation on light sources Amendments to the proposed text (SLR-07-11) on light sources (filament lamp, gas discharge, and LED) under the restructuring to simplify lighting regulations.

All documents under agenda item 7 were not discussed as they were intended for reference purposes only.

SLR-05-16 | SLR informal group simplified UN Regulation No. 7 Simplified lighting regulation superseding document SLR-04-02/Rev.1.

SLR-07-01 | Working draft for a simplified UN Regulation No. 48 Updated working draft prepared by Italy based upon discussions during the previous SLR informal group sessions.

SLR-07-04 | Working draft resolution on common provisions for lighting, light-signalling and retro-reflecting devices

The following steps were agreed for the initial actions:

• Mr. Rovers and Dr. Manz, in cooperation with the GRE Secretariat, will prepare a document listing all the pending proposals (starting from SLR-01-06 Annex E). This will be considered at the 9th SLR and then submitted to GRE-75 as informal paper.
• Dr. Manz will prepare for the 9th SLR meeting a first draft of the new simplified Regulations, on the basis of the structure indicated in document SLR-08-02.
• Mr. Loccufier will make a brief presentation, based on document SLR-08-05, at the 120th WP.29/AC.2 session on 7 March 2016. The target is to get an endorsement from the main stakeholders as well as collecting initial feedback and advice.
• A comprehensive SLR presentation and the structure of the new Regulations (see SLR-08-02) will be submitted to GRE-75 as
  informal documents.

A detailed task list with responsibilities and time deadlines was distributed as document SLR-08-06.

No other business was discussed.

The following meeting schedule was agreed by the group:

• 9th IWG SLR meeting – Brussels on 29 Feb / 1 March 2016
  • The meeting will be held at the CLEPA Headquarters and, if possible, a WebEx / Teleconference facility will be provided too. The meeting will be held on 29 February from 10:00 to 17:00 hrs and on 1 March from 9:00 to 13:00 hrs.
• 10th IWG SLR meeting – Brussels on 14-15 April 2016
• 11th IWG SLR meeting – Brussels on 9-10 June 2016