CECE invites European Commission to discuss the revision of the Machinery Directive

On 30th September CECE members participated in a webmeeting with Mr Mikhail Simonov, the European Commission’s Policy Officer responsible for the Machinery Directive (MD) 2006/42/EC.

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The main goal was to exchange views on the revision of the Machinery Directive. CECE took the opportunity to reaffirm some of the main messages of the construction equipment sector, which include new technologies (for example “Artificial Intelligence”), cybersecurity/security requirements, Partly Completed Machinery (PCM), harmonised standards and format and availability of instructions.

Our takeaways from the meeting include:

- We expect that the MD will be aligned with the “New Legislative Framework” (NLF) and transformed into a Regulation;

- Technology neutral: the MD should remain technology neutral and Essential Health and Safety Requirement (EHSR) should not prescribe the use of any technology;

- Risk assessment: the discussions revolved around the risks arising after a machine is placed on the market, for example machines with unlocked Machine Learning capabilities. We reminded that we currently use narrow AI and the risk assessment already take these risks into consideration;

- Partly Completed Machinery (PCM): CECE members reaffirmed that the concept is useful and appreciated and there is no need remove it from the new legislation;

- Substantial Modification: an interpretation on the topic should be provided in EC horizontal interpretation guidelines because it affects many different Directives;

- Harmonised Standards: there are around 750 Harmonised Standards under the MD and stakeholders should be aware that any changes in the EHSR would potentially lead to their revision.

For the next steps, the EC is currently working on their own Impact Assessment Report on the MD, which will present their interpretation on the results of the recent Impact Assessment findings from the consultant. The expected timeline for the adoption of the proposal is March 2021.