DIRECTIVE 94/25/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL
of 16 June 1994
on the approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States relating to recreational craft
THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 100a thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (1),
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee (2),
Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 189b of the Treaty (3),
Whereas the internal market is to comprise an area without internal frontiers in which the free movement of goods, persons, services and capital is ensured;
Whereas the laws, regulations and administrative provisions in force in the various Member States relating to the safety characteristics of recreational craft differ in scope and content; whereas such disparities are liable to create barriers to trade and unequal conditions of competition within the internal market;
Whereas harmonization of national legislation is the only way in which to remove these barriers to free trade; whereas this objective cannot be satisfactorily achieved by the individual Member States; whereas this Directive merely lays down the requirements vital to freedom of movement for recreational craft;
Whereas this Directive should cover only recreational craft of a minimum length of 2,5 m and a maximum length of 24 m, derived from the ISO standards;
Whereas the removal of technical barriers in the field of recreational craft and their components, to the extent that they cannot be removed by mutual recognition of equivalence among all the Member States, should follow the new approach set out in the Council resolution of 7 May 1985 (4) which calls for the definition of essential requirements on safety and other aspects which are important for the general well-being; whereas paragraph 3 of Article 100a provides that, in its proposals, concerning health, safety, environmental protection and consumer protection, the Commission will take as a base a high level of protection; whereas the essential requirements constitute the criteria with which recreational craft, partly completed craft and their components when separate and when installed must comply;
Whereas, therefore, this Directive sets out essential requirements only; whereas, in order to facilitate the task of proving compliance with the essential requirements, harmonized European standards are necessary for recreational craft and their components as referred to in Annex II; whereas harmonized European standards are drawn up by private bodies and must retain their non-mandatory status; whereas, for this purpose, the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) and the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (Cenelec) are recognized as the bodies competent to adopt harmonized standards which follow the general guidelines for cooperation between the Commission and those two bodies, signed on 13 November 1984; whereas, for the purposes of this Directive, a harmonized standard is a technical specification (European Standard or harmonization document) adopted by one or other of those bodies, or by both, at the prompting of the Commission pursuant to Council Directive 83/189/EEC of 28 March 1983 laying down a procedure for the provision of information in the field of technical standards and regulations (5) and pursuant to the general guidelines referred to above;
Whereas, in view of the nature of the risks involved in the use of recreational craft and their components, it is necessary to establish procedures applying to the assessment of compliance with the essential requirements of the Directive; whereas these procedures must be devised in the light of the level of risk which may be inherent in recreational craft and their components; whereas, therefore, each category of conformity must be supplemented by an appropriate procedure or a choice between several equivalent procedures; whereas the procedures adopted comply with Council Decision 93/465/EEC of 22 July 1993 concerning the modules for the various phases of the conformity assessment procedures and the rules for the affixing and use of the CE conformity marking which are intended to be used in the technical harmonization Directives (1);
Whereas the Council has provided for the affixing of the CE marking by either the manufacturer or his authorized representative within the Community; whereas that mark means that the recreational craft and components comply with all the essential requirements and assessment procedures provided for by the Community law applying to the product;
Whereas it is appropriate that the Member States, as provided for by Article 100a (5) of the Treaty, may take provisional measures to limit or prohibit the placing on the market and the use of recreational craft or constituent products thereof in cases where they present a particular risk to the safety of persons and, where appropriate, domestic animals or property, provided that the measures are subject to a Community control procedure;
Whereas the recipients of any decision taken as part of this Directive must be aware of the reasons behind that decision and the means of appeal open to them;
Whereas it is necessary to provide for a transitional arrangement enabling recreational craft and their components manufactured in compliance with the national regulations in force at the date of adoption of this Directive to be marketed and placed in service;
Whereas this Directive does not contain any provisions directed towards limiting the use of the recreational craft after it has been put into service;
Whereas the construction of recreational craft may have an impact on the environment to the extent that the craft may discharge polluting substances; whereas it is therefore necessary to include provisions on the protection of the environment in the Directive, in so far as those provisions concern the construction of recreational craft from the point of view of its direct impact on the environment;
Whereas the provisions of this Directive should not affect Member States' entitlement to lay down, in accordance with the Treaty, such requirements as they may deem necessary concerning navigation on certain waters for the purpose of protection of the environment, the fabric of waterways and ensuring safety on waterways, provided that this does not mean that the recreational craft is modified in a way not specified in this Directive,
HAVE ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:
CHAPTER I
Article 1
1. This Directive shall apply to recreational craft, partly completed boats and components referred to in Annex II when separate and when installed.
2. 'Recreational craft' shall mean any boat of any type, regardless of the means of propulsion, from 2,5 to 24 m hull length, measured according to the appropriate harmonized standards intended for sports and leisure purposes. The fact that the same boat could be used for charter or for recreational boating training shall not prevent it being covered by this Directive when it is placed on the market for recreational purposes.
3. The following shall be excluded from the scope of this Directive:
(a) craft intended solely for racing, including rowing racing boats and training rowing boats labelled as such by the manufacturer;
(b) canoes and kayaks, gondolas and pedalos;
(c) sailing surfboards;
(d) powered surfboards, personal watercraft and other similar powered craft;
(e) original, and individual replicas of, historical craft designed before 1950, built predominantly with the original materials and labelled as such by the manufacturer;
(f) experimental craft, provided that they are not subsequently placed on the Community market;
(g) craft built for own use, provided that they are not subsequently placed on the Community market during a period of five years;
(h) craft specifically intended to be crewed and to carry passengers for commercial purposes, without prejudice to paragraph 2, in particular those defined in Directive 82/716/EEC of 4 October 1982 laying down technical requirements for inland waterway vessels (2), regardless of the number of passengers;
(i) submersibles;
(j) air cushion vehicles;
(k) hydrofoils.
Article 2
Placing on the market and putting into service
1. Member States shall take all necessary measures to ensure that the products referred to in Article 1 (1) may be placed on the market and put into service for use in accordance with their intended purpose only if they do not endanger the safety and health of persons, property or the environment when correctly constructed and maintained.
2. The provisions of this Directive shall not prevent Member States from adopting, in compliance with the Treaty, provisions concerning navigation on certain waters for the purpose of protection of the environment, the fabric of waterways, and ensuring safety of waterways, providing that this does not require modification to craft conforming to this Directive.
Article 3
Essential requirements
The products referred to in Article 1 (1) shall meet the essential safety, health, environmental protection and consumer protection requirements set out in Annex I.
Article 4
Free movement of the products referred to in Article 1 (1)
1. Member States shall not prohibit, restrict or impede the placing on the market and putting into service in their territory of the products referred to in Article 1 (1) bearing the CE marking referred to in Annex IV, which indicates their conformity with all provisions of this Directive, including the conformity procedures set out in Chapter II.
2. Member States shall not prohibit, restrict or impede the placing on the market of partly-completed boats where the builder or his authorized representative established in the Community or the person responsible for the placing on the market declares, in accordance with Annex IIIA, that they are intended to be completed by others.
3. Member States shall not prohibit, restrict or impede the placing on the market and putting into service of components referred to in Annex II and bearing the CE marking referred to in Annex IV which indicates their conformity with the relevant essential requirements where these components are intended to be incorporated into recreational craft, in accordance with the declaration, referred to in Annex IIIB, of the manufacturer, his authorized representative established in the Community or, in the case of imports from a third country, of any person who places those components on the Community market.
4. At trade fairs, exhibitions, demonstrations, etc., Member States shall not create any obstacles to the showing of the products referred to in Article 1 (1) which do not comply with this Directive, provided that a visible sign clearly indicates that such products may not be marketed or put into service until they have been made to comply.
5. Where the products referred to in Article 1 (1) are subject to other Directives concerning other aspects and which also provide for the affixing of the CE marking, the latter shall indicate that such products also fulfil the provisions of those other Directives. However, should one or more of those Directives allow the manufacturer, during a transitional period, to choose which arrangements to apply, the CE marking shall indicate that the product fulfils the provisions only of those Directives applied by the manufacturer. In this case, the particulars of those Directives, as published in the Official Journal of the European Communities, must be given in the documents, notices or instructions required by those Directives and accompanying such products.
Article 5
Member States shall presume compliance with the essential requirements referred to in Article 3 of products referred to in Article 1 (1) which meet the relevant national standards adopted pursuant to the harmonized standards the references of which have been published in the Official Journal of the European Communities; Member States shall publish the references of such national standards.
Article 6
1. Where a Member State or the Commission is of the opinion that the harmonized standards referred to in Article 5 do not fully meet the essential requirements referred to in Article 3, the Commission or the Member State shall notify the committee set up under Directive 83/189/CEE, setting out its reasons. The committee shall deliver an urgent opinion.
In the light of the opinion of the committee, the Commission shall inform Member States if the standards concerned should be withdrawn from the publications referred to in Article 5.
2. The Commission may adopt any appropriate measure with a view to ensuring that this Directive is applied practically in a uniform manner in pursuance of paragraph 3.
3. The Commission shall be assisted by a Standing Committee composed of representatives appointed by the Member States and chaired by a representative from the Commission.
The Standing Committee shall draw up its own rules of procedure.
The representative of the Commission shall submit to the Committee a draft of the measures to be taken. The Committee shall deliver its opinion on the draft within a time limit which the chairman may lay down according to the urgency of the matter, if necessary by taking a vote.
The opinion shall be recorded in the minutes; in addition, each Member State shall have the right to ask to have its position recorded in the minutes.
The Commission shall take the utmost account of the opinion delivered by the Committee. It shall inform the Committee of the manner in which its opinion has been taken into account.
4. The Standing Committee may, in addition, examine any question concerning the application of this Directive and raised by its chairman, either at the chairman's initiative or at the request of a Member State.
Article 7
Safeguard clause
1. Where a Member State ascertains that recreational craft or components referred to in Annex II and bearing the CE marking referred to in Annex IV when correctly constructed, installed, maintained and used in accordance with their intended purpose may endanger the safety and health of persons, property or the environment, it shall take all appropriate interim measures to withdraw them from the market or prohibit or restrict their being placed on the market or put into service.
The Member State shall immediately inform the Commission of any such measure, indicating the reasons for its decision, in particular where non-conformity is the result of:
(a) failure to comply with the essential requirements referred to in Article 3;
(b) incorrect application of the standards referred to in Article 5, in so far as it is claimed that those standards have been applied;
(c) shortcomings in the standards referred to in Article 5 themselves.
2. The Commission shall enter into consultation with the parties concerned as soon as possible. Where, after such consultation, the Commission finds that:
- the measures are justified, it shall immediately so inform the Member State which took the initiative and the other Member States; where the decision referred to in paragraph 1 is attributed to shortcomings in the standards, the Commission shall, after consulting the parties concerned, bring the matter before the Committee referred to in Article 6 (1) within two months, if the Member State which has taken the decision intends to maintain it, and shall initiate the procedure referred to in Article 6 (1),
- the measures are unjustified, it shall immediately so inform the Member State which took the initiative and the manufacturer or his authorized representative established in the Community.
3. Where a non-complying component referred to in Annex II or craft bears the CE marking, the appropriate measures shall be taken by the Member State which has authority over whomsoever affixed the marking; that Member State shall inform the Commission and the other Member States thereof.
4. The Commission shall ensure that the Member States are kept informed of the progress and outcome of this procedure.
CHAPTER II
Conformity assessment
Article 8
Before producing and placing on the market products referred to in Article 1 (1), the manufacturer or his authorized representative established in the Community shall apply the following procedures for boat design categories A, B, C and D as referred to in Section 1 of Annex I.
1. For categories A and B:
- for boats of less than 12 m hull length: the internal production control plus tests (module Aa) referred to in Annex VI,
- for boats from 12 m to 24 m hull length: the EC type-examination (module B) referred to in Annex VII supplemented by module C (type conformity) referred to in Annex VIII, or any of the following modules: B + D, or B + F, or G or H.
2. For category C:
(a) for boats from 2,5 m to 12 m hull length:
- where the harmonized standards relating to sections 3.2 and 3.3 of Annex I are complied with: the internal production control (module A), referred to in Annex V,
- where the harmonized standards relating Sections 3.2 and 3.3 of Annex I are not complied with: the internal production control plus tests (module Aa) referred to in Annex VI.
(b) for boats from 12 m to 24 m hull length: the EC type-examination (module B) referred to in Annex VII followed by module C (type conformity) referred to in Annex VIII, or any of the following modules: B + D, or B + F, or G or H.
3. For category D:
For boats from 2,5 m to 24 m hull length: the internal production control (module A) referred to in Annex V.
4. For components referred to in Annex II: any of the following modules: B + C, or B + D, or B + F, or G or H.
Article 9
Notified bodies
1. Member States shall notify the Commission and other Member States of the bodies which they have appointed to carry out the tasks pertaining to the conformity assessment procedures referred to in Article 8, together with the specific tasks which these bodies have been appointed to carry out and the identification numbers assigned to them beforehand by the Commission.
The Commission shall publish a list of the notified bodies, together with the identification numbers it has allocated to them and the tasks for which they have been notified, in the Official Journal of the European Communities. It shall ensure that the list is kept up to date.
2. Member States shall apply the criteria laid down in Annex XIV in assessing the bodies to be indicated in such notification. Bodies meeting the assessment criteria laid down in the relevant harmonized standards shall be presumed to fulfil those criteria.
3. A Member State shall withdraw its approval from such a body if it is established that the latter no longer satisfies the criteria referred to in Annex XIV. It shall inform the Commission and the other Member States of its action forthwith.
CHAPTER III
CE Marking
Article 10
1. Recreational craft and components as referred to in Annex II which are regarded as meeting the essential requirements referred to in Article 3 must bear the CE marking of conformity when they are placed on the market.
2. The CE marking of conformity, as shown in Annex IV, must appear in a visible, legible and indelible form on the recreational craft as in point 2.2 of Annex I and on components as referred to in Annex II and/or on their packaging.
The CE marking shall be accompanied by the identification number of the notified body responsible for implementation of the procedures set out in Annexes VI, IX, X, XI and XII.
3. The affixing of markings or inscriptions on the craft which are likely to mislead third parties with regard to the meaning or the form of the CE marking shall be prohibited. Any other markings may be affixed to the recreational craft and components as referred to in Annex II and/or on their packaging, provided that the visibility and legibility of the CE marking is not thereby reduced.
4. Without prejudice to Article 7:
(a) where a Member State establishes that the CE marking has been affixed wrongly, the manufacturer or his authorized representative established in the Community shall be obliged to end the infringement under conditions laid down by the Member State;
(b) where non-compliance continues, the Member State shall take all appropriate measures to restrict or prohibit the placing on the market of the product in question or to ensure that it is withdrawn from the market, in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 7.
CHAPTER IV
Final provisions
Article 11
Detailed grounds shall be given for any decision taken pursuant to this Directive leading to a restriction on the marketing and putting into service of products referred to in Article 1 (1). The party concerned shall be informed of the decision as soon as possible together with the means of redress available under the laws in force in the Member State concerned and the periods within which appeals must be lodged.
Article 12
The Commission shall take the necessary measures to ensure that data affecting all pertinent decisions concerning the management of this Directive are made available.
Article 13
1. Member States shall adopt and publish the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with this Directive not later than 16 December 1995. They shall immediately inform the Commission thereof.
Member States shall apply these provisions from 16 June 1996.
The Standing Committee referred to in Article 6 (3) may assume its tasks from the date of the entry into force of this Directive. Member States may take the measures referred to in Article 9 of such date.
When Member States adopt the provisions referred to in the first subparagraph, these shall contain a reference to this Directive or shall be accompanied by such a reference at the time of their official publication. The procedure for such reference shall be adopted by Member States.
2. Member States shall communicate to the Commission the text of the provisions of national law which they adopt in the field governed by this Directive.
3. Member States shall accept the placing on the market and putting into service of products referred to in Article 1 (1) which comply with the rules in force in their territory on the date of adoption of this Directive during a period of four years from that date.
Article 14
This Directive shall enter into force on the day of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.
Article 15
This Directive is addressed to the Member States.
Done at Brussels, 16 June 1994.