Orgalime comments on the final report on the evaluation of the Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC

Within the framework of the Regulatory Fitness and Performance (REFIT) programme, the European Commission has undertaken an evaluation of the Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC. As the core EU legislation regulating mechanical engineering products, this Directive is a central fixture on the regulatory landscape for many of the companies represented by Orgalime.

The consultancy tasked with carrying out this evaluation has now published its report, identifying a number of areas for improvement. To support the evaluation process, Orgalime has released a position paper commenting on this assessment. In it, we reiterate our firm position that the Machinery Directive is performing well and delivering on its twin objectives of providing a high level of safety for machinery users and facilitating the free movement of machinery in the EU’s internal market. As Europe’s manufacturing industries need a stable economic environment to remain competitive on the internal and global markets, we urge decision makers to keep the Directive in its current form – limiting changes to minor modifications (if any are necessary at all) and being sure not to impact on the essential requirements and basic philosophy of this core piece of legislation.

Download the position paper to read our response in full.