Explanatory Memorandum to COM(2009)482 - Transportable pressure equipment - Main contents
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This page contains a limited version of this dossier in the EU Monitor.
| dossier | COM(2009)482 - Transportable pressure equipment. |
|---|---|
| source | COM(2009)482  |
| date | 18-09-2009 |
The transport of pressure equipment, e. g. tanks, receptacles, drums and cylinders, constitutes an important area of the transport of dangerous goods.
On 29 April 1999 the Council adopted a Directive on transportable pressure equipment (1999/36/EC, OJ L138 of 1/6/1999). This Directive ensures a high level of transport safety for transportable pressure equipment whilst allowing their free movement and use on the European transport market through common norms for their design, construction and subsequent checks.
For the technical requirements, the existing Directive 1999/36/EC refers to Directives 94/55/EC and 96/49/EC, which have been repealed by Directive 2008/68/EC with effect of 1 July 2009. Directive 2008/68/EC incorporates into Community legislation the requirements contained in international agreements on transport of dangerous goods by road (ADR: European Agreement concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road ), rail (RID: Regulations concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Rail ) and inland waterways (ADN: European Agreement concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Inland Waterways ).
As a result of these recent legislative developments, which in turn reflect technical developments over the last 10 years, the European Union rules have become complicated and highly difficult to understand. In addition, on a number of technical issues the interplay between European and international rules will lead to certain contradictions which would make their application even more difficult. It is therefore necessary to simplify the rules wherever possible by eliminating the contradictions and streamlining the rules. As a by-product this will lead to a considerable reduction of the volume of the legislation which benefits users as well as national authorities which are called upon to ensure their full application.
The second key objective of the proposal concerns the use of the equipment itself for transport operations in the internal market. Whereas the existing Directive 1999/36/EC already ensures the equipment's free movement and use, recent developments in Community legislation relating to the marketing of products on the single European market, i.e. the ' New Legislative Framework ' Regulation No 765/2008/EC and Decision No 768/2008/EC, should be taken into account. The ' New Legislative Framework ' sets a general framework which should, wherever possible, be applied across all industrial sectors. Its principles are appropriate for the market of transportable pressure equipment and are therefore incorporated in this proposal. Such incorporation, whilst not introducing fundamental changes, would contribute towards a key objective of the ' New Legislative Framework ' of harmonising market rules in as many industrial sectors as possible as well as simplify the use of such rules by industry.
In view of these facts it is necessary to revise Directive 1999/36/EC.
This proposal is the result of intensive consultations with the Member States and other interested parties. There is a general consensus that a revision of Directive 1999/36/EC is warranted.
The proposal focuses on a highly specified sector using transportable pressure equipment for gases and a small number of other substances. Furthermore, issues relating directly to safety, namely technical design, construction and testing provisions, are not addressed by the proposal itself, but by international agreements. Therefore the general public consultation on the proposal was not extended to these aspects.
Contents
- LEGAL ELEMENTS OF THE PROPOSAL
- BUDGETARY IMPLICATIONS
- 2. CONSULTATION OF INTERESTED PARTIES
- Subsidiarity principle
- Proportionality principle
- Choice of instrument
- 5. SIMPLIFICATION
- 6. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
- Correlation table
- European Economic Area
- Detailed explanation of the proposal
- Article 2: Definitions
- Article 3: On-site requirements
- Article 4: Obligations of manufacturers
- Article 5: Authorised representatives
- Article 6: Obligations of importers
- Article 7: Obligations of distributors
- Article 8: Obligations of owners
- Article 9: Obligations of operators
- Article 10: Cases in which obligations of manufacturers apply to importers and distributors
- Article 11: Identification of economic operators
- Article 12: Conformity of the transportable pressure equipment and its assessment
- Article 13: Reassessment of conformity
- Article 14: General principles of the Pi marking
- Article 15: Rules and conditions for the affixing of the Pi marking
- Article 16: Free movement of the transportable pressure equipment
- Article 17: Notifying authorities
- Article 18: Requirements relating to notifying authorities
- Article 19: Information obligation for the notifying authorities
- Article 20: General requirements relating to notified bodies
- Articles 21, 22, 23, 24 and 25: Procedures relating to notified bodies and notification
- Article 26: Operational obligations for notified bodies
- Article 27: Information obligations for notified bodies
- Article 28 and 29: Cooperation between notified bodies
- Article 30, 31, 32 and 33: Safeguard procedures
- Article 34: Transitional provisions
- Article 35: Adaptations
- Article 36: Committee
- Article 37: Repeal
- Article 39: Transposition
- Article 40: Entry into force
- Article 41: Addressees
The proposed Directive is to be adopted by codecision by the European Parliament and the Council. It would replace an existing Council Directive. The legal base of the proposal is Article 71of the Treaty.
Besides guaranteeing a high level of safety in transport of dangerous goods, the proposed Directive also sets out rules for maintaining the already existing internal market for the equipment needed in the transport operations by relying on general European principles specified in the so-called ' New Legislative Framework ' rules Regulation No 765/2008/EC and Decision No 768/2008/EC. Such an objective cannot be achieved by national measures only.
As there is an existing Directive, the legislative bodies of the European Union have already deemed such a measure necessary and proportional. This judgement appears well founded, since transportable pressure equipment is inherently dangerous, but they must be used for international transport of substances that are not locally available and yet are necessary, inter alia, for medical, scientific and industrial uses. Thus a European legislation guaranteeing a common level of safety and allowing efficient use of transportable pressure equipment is warranted.
The proposed measure is a Directive. Firstly, it would replace an already existing Directive. Secondly, the implementation of the measure allows Member States their own organisational choices.
Given that the provisions of the existing Directive on transportable pressure equipment are already implemented, any further budgetary implications will be minor.
THE NEED FOR SIMPLIFICATION AND CLARIFICATION IS the main reason for the Commission to propose this revision. Neither the scope, nor the measures of the existing Directive will be changed in any substantial way. This also results in minimal budgetary and other economic impacts on administration and operators.
As for the technical provisions, a central simplification objective is to remove conflicting issues between the existing Directive on Transportable Pressure Equipment and international rules on the transport of dangerous goods, in particular since these rules have already been extended to Community legislation through Directive 2008/68/EC.
The proposal simplifies existing provisions, in particular those relating to the modules on conformity assessment procedures. This dimension will be substantially streamlined and simplified in the proposal, which makes reference to the relevant international agreements. The technical rules and administrative procedures are more consistently presented in one source, i.e. in the international agreements. The proposed Directive focuses on those issues that can be treated satisfactorily only through European legislation.
As for making the equipment required for transport operations available on the market, the Community has recently adopted rules relating to the marketing of products on the EU single market (" New Legislative Framework ") which should, wherever possible, be applied across all industrial sectors. By incorporating these rules into the proposal for the specific sector of transportable pressure equipment the Commission will help to simplify the rules by not creating different, sector-specific rules where the general rules would serve the purpose.
Repeal of existing legislation
The proposal will repeal Council Directive 1999/36/EC and a number of obsolete Directives on pressure cylinders.
The Member States are required to communicate to the Commission the text of national provisions transposing the directive as well as a correlation table between those provisions and this directive.
The proposed act concerns an EEA matter and should therefore extend to the European Economic Area.
Article 1: Scope
The Article identifies safety and the integrity of the internal market as key objectives and sets out the equipment to which the Directive applies.
The Article defines a number of terms regarding transportable pressure equipment, actors and measures guaranteeing the safety of the equipment and its use on the internal market. Furthermore, the relevant terminology from the 'New Legislative Framework' is defined.
The Article details when additional requirements for transportable pressure equipment may be established .
The Article establishes the obligations of manufacturers of transportable pressure equipment in normal operation and in cases where there is a reason to believe that the equipment is not in conformity with the rules.
The Article specifies the steps to appoint an authorised representative and the tasks for such a body.
The Article establishes the obligations of importers of transportable pressure equipment in normal operations and in cases where there is reason to believe that the equipment is not in conformity with the rules.
The Article establishes the obligations of distributors of transportable pressure equipment in normal operations and in cases where there is reason to believe that the equipment is not in conformity with the rules.
The Article establishes the obligations of owners of transportable pressure equipment. Given the inherent danger of such equipment there needs to be formal obligations for guaranteeing continuing safety as long as the transportable pressure equipment is being used.
The Articles ensures that operators use only equipment that is in conformity with the rules. Where the transportable pressure equipment presents a risk the operator shall inform the owner and market surveillance authorities.
The Article specifies the cases when the importers or distributors shall have the obligations of the manufacturer, namely when they place transportable pressure equipment on the market.
The Article lays down the obligations relating to identification of actors in the supply chain of transportable pressure equipment.
The Article defines the necessary conformity assessment requirements for new transportable pressure equipment and for transportable pressure equipment previously assessed and marked under Directive 1999/36/EC and old cylinder directives. The Article also ensures that conformity assessments, reassessments, periodic inspections and exceptional checks shall be valid in all Member States.
The Article provides for the reassessment of conformity of old transportable pressure equipment not previously assessed under Directive 1999/36/EC to bring it under the scope of this Directive.
The Article specifies the relevance of the Pi marking, when a Pi marking can be affixed, the responsibilities relating to the affixing of the marking and provisions to prohibit the misuse of the marking.
The Article lays down the rules regarding the Pi marking itself, including its shape, size and the auxiliary markings of the inspection body.
The Article provides for the free movement of transportable pressure equipment in the European Union.
The Article lays down the procedures and responsibilities regarding notifying authorities.
The Article defines the conditions for guaranteeing the proper functioning of notifying authorities.
The Article ensures the transparency of assessment, notification and monitoring of notified bodies.
The Article sets out requirements relating to the capabilities of the body to carry out the tasks.
These Articles define the application and procedures for notifications, identification of notified bodies, subsequent changes to notifications and course of action in cases where there is doubt over the capacity of a notified body.
The Article sets out operational obligations for the notified bodies including mutual recognition of those bodies.
The Article sets out information obligations for the notified bodies including where there has been a refusal or withdrawal of certificates.
These Articles provide for an exchange of experience and coordination among authorities responsible for notification policy, market surveillance and notified bodies.
These Articles lay down the procedures for dealing with safety and other risks, including formal issues, at national and Community levels.
The Article provides for transitional measures through Annex II of the proposal.
Any adaptations of the annexes for technical and scientific progress will take place through the regulatory procedure with scrutiny.
The Committee set up under the Directive on the inland transport of dangerous goods (2008/68/EC) will be used for the purposes of this Directive.
The existing Directive 1999/36/EC as well as a number of obsolete directives on pressure cylinders will be repealed
Article 38: Recognition of equivalence
The Article provides for recognition of EEC pattern approvals issued under obsolete directives on pressure cylinders and for valves and accessories marked according to the Pressure equipment directive.
The standard approach on transposition is followed. The Member States shall implement the Directive by 30 June 2011, when the transitory period contained in the international agreements on transport of dangerous goods ends, to avoid conflict with the existing Directive 1999/36/EC.
A delay in the application of the Directive for equipment used by some dangerous goods is provided for in order to give a reasonable period for compliance as they were not previously under the scope of Directive 1999/36/EC.
The Directive will enter into force on the twentieth day following its publication in the Official Journal.
The Directive is addressed to the Member States.