From Machinery Directive to Machinery Regulation – why is it important for rental companies?

In April 2021, the European Commission proposed to revise the EU Machinery Directive and replace it with a ‎Machinery Regulation. The proposal for the Regulation is available here.‎

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The legislative process on the Machinery Regulation is now ongoing. If there are no major delays, the Regulation ‎could possibly enter into force in 2023, after which there will be an additional 30 or 48 months before it is applied.‎

The EU Machinery Directive, which is in force today, is a guarantee that the rental products included in the scope of ‎the Directive are designed and manufactured in a way that allows them to be operated safely and present no danger ‎to persons or property in “normal use”. For rental companies, the Directive is a guarantee that a piece of equipment ‎purchased in one ‎member state is compliant with safety requirements wherever it will be used inside the EU. It also ‎‎guarantees that there is no additional check if the piece is moved to another EU member state.‎

‎What’s new in the draft Machinery Regulation?

As EU directives need to be transposed into national law to be implemented in each EU member state, the shift ‎from Machinery Directive to Machinery Regulation will reinforce uniform application and implementation of the ‎legislation across the EU. EU regulations are directly applicable across the EU without national transposition. ‎They have binding legal force throughout every member state and enter into force on a set date in all member ‎states.‎

The updated legislation will take into account new technologies such as artificial intelligence and cybersecurity.

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The new Regulation will provide clarification of definitions and scope (for instance, distributors are defined as ‎anyone who places machinery on the market or puts it into service - which includes rental companies). It will ‎also update the list of high-risk machines.‎

The regulation introduces the concept of “substantial modification” that defines conditions under which a renovated ‎machine is not considered a new or different one.‎

When it comes to instruction manuals, the Regulation will allow for delivering only a digital version of instructions. ‎This will save costs for both the equipment manufacturer and the rental company.‎

It should be noted that sustainability requirements are not in the scope of the draft Regulation.‎

This topic is followed by ERA’s Technical Committee. If you want to know more about the committee or if you wish to receive more information about the Machinery Regulation, please do not ‎hesitate to contact the ERA Secretariat at era@erarental.org.