EP IMCO Rapporteur’s report on the Radio Equipment Directive

Published: 3 June 2013

Policies & Issues: Internal Market - Product Safety Legislation

Orgalime welcomes Ms Weiler’s Report on the Commission’s proposal for the revision of the Radio and Telecommunications’ Terminal Directive (R&TTE Directive 1999/5/EC).  This report to the European Parliament’s Internal Market and Consumer Committee (IMCO) improves significantly the Commission’s proposal. 

Therefore, we urge the European Parliament and Council to endorse the Rapporteur’s suggestions for amendments and in particular to:

  • Keep ‘communication’ as the discriminatory criterion for the definition of 'radio equipment'.  Thereby, equipment which entails a limited use of magnetic or electric fields would stay out of the Directive’s scope and continue to be successfully regulated by Electromagnetic Compatibility Directive (EMCD) and Low Voltage Directive (LVD). (amendments 1, 16, 26).
  • Preserve the scope’s clarification in relation with EMCD and LVD (amendment 15).
  • Limit the Commission’s power to define which products fall under the Directive’s scope through implementing acts. Thereby, economic operators and market surveillance authorities will enjoy greater legal stability (amendments 2, 24, 25).
  • Keep the removal of a possible product register. A register – even limited to certain products’ categories – is an ineffective market surveillance tool. It entails administrative burden for legitimate market operators and confidentiality issues (amendment 6, 27, 81).
  • Keep the alignment of the Directive both with Decision 768/2008/EC and the latest developments in the “NLF Alignment Package” and Regulation EU 1025/2012 on European Standardisation (amendments 3, 9, 10, 14, 17, 19, 20, 21, 22, 30, 31, 36, 37, 41, 44, 53, 55, 56, 57, 61, 62, 63, 64, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 77, 78, 85). In particular, several provisions which diminish unnecessary cost for economic operators should be preserved (amendments 8, 11, 32, 40, 52).

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