CECIMO Position on the revision of the Machinery Directive

In May 2018 the European Commission published a Staff Working Paper on the evaluation of the Machinery Directive (2006/42/EC). The evaluation overall conclusion is that the Machinery Directive is fit for purpose and that it has coped well with technological developments. This is due to the “New Approach” principles underpinning the Directive. These principles establish that the Directive defines mandatory essential health and safety requirements, leaving the definition of technical details to meet those requirements to harmonised standards developed by stakeholders in line with technological developments and the state-of-the-art.