European Commission clarifies citation of harmonised standard on “quick couplers”

On 13th April, the European Commission (EC) published a new implementing decision listing new references to harmonised standards for machinery in support of Directive 2006/42/EC.

Back in 2021, CECE sent two letters to the EC about the amendment of EN 474-1:2006+A6:2019 on Earth-moving machinery. The first letter asked for a prompt citation of this amendment, which CEN published already in 2019. The second letter reacted to the citation of this standard in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) on 14th October 2021, our members identified two issues that needed to be addressed: a lack of a transitional period and readdress the warning accompanying the citation.

This new EC implementing decision corrects and adapts the previous citation to address CECE’s concerns. It adds two notes under EN 474-1:2006+A6:2019 clarifying which parts of the standard do not provide presumption of conformity to Visibility – Operator’s field of view and Quick couplers. Specifically:

Notice 1:This publication does not concern clause 5.8.1 Visibility – Operator’s field of view of this standard, but only in relation with EN 474-5:2006+A3:2013 requirements for hydraulic excavators, the application of which does not confer a presumption of conformity to the essential health and safety requirements 1.2.2 and 3.2.1 of Annex I to Directive 2006/42/EC.

Notice 2: With regards to Annex B.2 – Quick couplers, the harmonised standard EN 474-1:2006+A6:2019 does not confer a presumption of conformity to the essential health and safety requirements 1.1.2 b), 1.1.2 c) and 1.3.3 of Annex I to Directive 2006/42/EC when applied in combination with EN 474-4:2006+A2:2012 requirements for backhoe loaders and EN 474-5:2006+A3:2013 requirements for hydraulic excavators.

In addition, the implementing decision introduces a transitional period for the application for EN 474-1:2006+A5:2018. Therefore, the EC republished the reference to EN 474-1:2006+A5:2018 in the OJEU for a limited time period. For reasons of legal certainty, the EC informs that the publication of the reference to harmonised standard EN 474-1:2006+A5:2018 should cover also the period prior to the entry into force of this Decision.

CECE members are satisfied with this new decision, as it will provide a clarity regarding the notes in the OJEU and fair transition period between amendments 5 and 6. In practice, EN 474-1:2006+A5:2018 gives presumption of conformity from 15th October 2021 to 11th October 2022.