Strasbourg, 09/07/2002 (Agence Europe) - With the adoption at first reading of the report by Rainer Wieland (CDU), the European Parliament added over 80 amendments to a proposal of directive intended to simplify and update the two existing directives on safety rules and standardisation for machinery and lifts. "The aim of the proposal is to improve legal security by clarifying the scope of the text and by removing the ambiguity that has led to different interpretations", stressed Commissioner Antonio Vitorino during the debate on behalf of the Commission. He recalled that the machinery sector represented a value of EUR 300 billion in 1998, with 2.2 million qualified jobs, and that the EU is the world's largest exporter in the sector.
The EP's amendments, of a technical nature, essentially aim to clarify the text, which the rapporteur considers confused. "A fully unmarked text, i.e. the complete republication of the directive, would certainly have demanded a greater effort from interested parties", Rainer Wieland does not hesitate to state in his explanatory statement. He specifies that "only the undeniable fact that the Commission's proposals contain the germ of a real improvement has restrained your rapporteur from rejecting the proposal in its entirety on the ground of fundamental shortcomings in the legislative procedure".
The Parliament takes a firm stance in an amendment to the recitals against the Commission's will to adopt measures for implementing the directive by simple consultation procedure. "It is not acceptable for the Commission to be given extended powers under pretext of updating if only to update the provisions of substantive law", say the MEPs.
On substance, the Parliament specified the scope of the directive and the definition of "machinery" and "lifts", mainly excluding fairground and theme park machinery (and, in a recital, inviting the Commission to present a text for this material), tractors and vehicles (covered by other directives), military equipment, and machinery used in theatres. MEPs strengthened the provisions intended to avoid an abusive use of EC conformity labelling. They make it an obligation for Member States to establish a relevant authority to monitor compliance with the requirements of the directive for the maintenance and use of the machinery.
Several parliamentary amendments "improve the quality of the Commission proposal and could be included in a revised proposal" mainly those specifying the scope of the text, said Antonio Vitorino. He announced that the Commission is preparing to launch a study on the question of fairground and theme park equipment. It is, moreover, preparing a communication for the autumn on the functioning of the "new approach" for standardisation and "we do not wish to intervene in the debate on comitology until this new communication", he said. "The concrete application of the current Machinery Directive has demonstrated a need for a procedure that goes through a regulatory committee, in order to resolve technical questions that do not threaten the democratic control of the Parliament", he assured. The Commission also rejects the amendments concerning the creation of a market surveillance authority.