Brussels, 22/09/2015 (Agence Europe) - The Luxembourg Presidency of the Council of the EU and representatives of the European Parliament reached interinstitutional agreement on Tuesday 22 September on three draft regulations improving the safety of a number of products, such as protective clothing, water heaters and funiculars.
“I am pleased that we were able to reach an agreement today which will ensure consumers and professionals are protected by the equipment they use, wherever it was manufactured”, Vicky Ford (ECR, UK), who chairs the internal market and consumer protection committee, said in a Parliament press release.
The political agreement, which has yet to be endorsed by the member states and MEPs, concerns the inclusion, in three regulations, of legislative provisions, building on a 2008 reform, that relate to obligations incumbent on economic operators and national bodies responsible for ensuring compliance with safety standards. The three regulations cover personal protective equipment (life jackets, bicycle helmets or sunglasses), gas appliances (such as portable cookers and boilers) and cableway installations (such as funiculars, gondolas and aerial tramways). However, some “artisanal products for private use, dishwashing gloves and certain types of sportswear” will not be covered by the new rules, Ford said. Umbrellas, too, will not fall within the rules.
Manufacturers will also face less red tape thanks to a simplified procedure for renewing certification of conformity with health and safety rules, on condition that no changes have been made to the technical specifications of the product.
The legislative package on product safety and market surveillance remains at a standstill in the Council over the issue of compulsory labelling of origin of products (“Made in …”) (see EUROPE 11323). The European legislator has, therefore, included provisions in the regulations that will allow national market surveillance authorities to withdraw an unsafe product from the market, if it presents a risk to people's health and safety. Agreement on the package would require the three texts to be amended, a Parliamentary source said. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)