In the context of the ongoing study on the review of the Machinery Directive, FEM submitted its contribution to the European Commission’s public consultation and also to the questionnaire targeted to industry associations in mid-December 2016.
FEM confirmed that the Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC has had an overall positive impact over the last ten years, significantly improving the level of safety for machinery users.
One of its greatest benefits is the effectiveness of the essential health and safety requirements in ensuring that machinery placed on the market is safe and also giving manufacturers the necessary legal certainty about their compliance obligations. Moreover, the use of harmonised standards is an uncontested advantage helping manufacturers fulfill the essential requirements and ensure a level playing field via a single standardisation procedure instead of 28 national standards.
In terms of conformity assessment, FEM members restated their strong support to the principle of self-certification.
FEM was however critical about the market surveillance activities in Europe which are insufficiently coordinated and even absent in certain cases, mostly because of the lack of manpower, as well as financial and administrative gaps in national jurisdictions. This results in lack of action in identifying unsafe machinery and removing them from the market.
