Joint industry statement: Priorities for the Machinery Products Regulation
The Machinery Directive is unquestionably the single most important piece of legislation for the European manufacturing industry. Since its original publication in 1989, and subsequent revisions up to 2006, it has effectively provided the highest level of machinery safety in the world, successfully supported the Internal Market as well as EU competitiveness, and continuously enabled the industry to innovate and thrive. In this context, it is important that the future legislative framework retains the balance between safety and innovation whilst offering the necessary consistency for manufacturers and users alike.
To this end the co-signatories:
1. Welcome the alignment with the New Legislative Framework (NLF) and coherence with other legislation
The industry fully supports the alignment with the New Legislative Framework (NLF) as it provides coherence with other Internal Market and product safety legislative acts and improves horizontal transparency. We also support the conversion of the Directive into a Regulation, which facilitates uniform application across all European Union Member States and therefore enhances the free movement of goods. Industry also appreciates the adaptation to modern technologies, by making it possible to provide machinery documentation in a digital format instead of paper. We reiterate that these strategic objectives should also be applied to maintain coherence with the ongoing legislative proposals for the AI Act and the General Product Safety Regulation. European manufacturers in the machinery sector’s complex supply chains depend on seamless EU conformity and market access regulation for their success....