Negotiations between the European Parliament and the Council of the EU on the ‘Machinery and Equipment’ Regulation made considerable progress during the interinstitutional meeting on Thursday, 17 November, according to our information.
For instance, co-legislators have reportedly reached preliminary agreements on certain issues, including terminology, the specification of the European Commission’s power to adopt common specifications, and conformity assessment fees for SMEs.
A common agreement was reached on other points, such as digital instructions and the framework for updating the list of machinery subject to third-party conformity assessment; this agreement will be further developed at the technical level.
The two most controversial issues—namely the date of application and the list of machinery subject to third-party conformity assessment—are still open. Another source confided that the main issue remains that of high-risk machinery (Article 5 and Annex I). These points will be further discussed during the next interinstitutional meeting, which is most definitely scheduled for mid-December, a source confirmed to us.
Negotiations were able to be resumed after the Czech Presidency of the Council of the EU obtained a new mandate and areas of flexibility from the Permanent Representatives Committee I in early November (see EUROPE 13061/15).
To consult the summary document from the Czech Presidency of the Council of the EU: https://aeur.eu/f/40d (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)