Brussels, 05/02/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 5 February, the European Parliament approved the updating of eight product safety related directives. This is, above all, about harmonisation of legal standards for protection systems and apparatus used in explosive atmospheres, explosives for civilian use, manual weighing instruments, electromagnetic accounting, electric materials used within certain voltage limits, lifts and their safety component parts, simple pressure recipients and measuring instruments. This harmonisation package was put forward by Zuzana Roithova MEP (EPP, Czech Republic), who was eager for product labelling to be clearer and more readable. She also avoided creating too much red tape for manufacturers during their exchanges with the market monitoring authorities. This monitoring has been stepped up, particularly in the e-commerce field and grants the authorities the power of introducing penalties.
European Commissioner for Industry, Antonio Tajani welcomed the alignment of the directives that now offer manufacturers greater certainty and added: “Thanks to the increased legal certainty, manufacturers can now better organise their manufacturing processes, enhance the quality and safety of products and invest in innovation”. (MD/transl.fl)