WRITTEN QUESTION E-1293/01

by Bernd Lange (PSE) to the Commission

(3 May 2001)

Subject: Light fittings supplied without connecting terminals (EN 60598-1/A13)

On 30 January 2001, the Commission published in the Official Journal an opinion within the framework of Council Directive 73/23/EEC relating to electrical equipment designed for use within certain voltage limits(1). In that opinion, the Commission comes to the conclusion that electrical equipment manufactured in compliance with the EN 60598-1:1997 and EN 60598-1:1997/A13:1999 might still fail to comply with the essential requirement of the Low Voltage Directive. The opinion was delivered in response to a complaint to the Commission lodged by France concerning failure to supply connecting terminals with light fittings.

The Commission has been unable to find any acceptable solution to this problem since France lodged the complaint on 12 May 1995. Since then, one German company in particular has been put at a huge disadvantage. The facts of the case clearly demonstrate that France has erected a technical barrier to trade, all the more so since the relevant standard (EN 60598-1/A13) was adopted by the Cenelec Standardisation Committee TC 34Z by 17 votes to 1 (France voted against) and since products made in France and in other EU countries may continue to be sold in France without connecting terminals! What is more, no safety hazards have, to date, been proved. Live cables protrude only from ceilings or walls and are usually protected by connecting terminals. An additional connecting terminal - to be supplied with the light fitting - would simply be a further item to be added to Europe's refuse mountain and does not constitute common practice in Europe. Without waiting for a the findings of a risk assessment procedure, the European Commission has issued a recommendation to the Member States which takes no account whatsoever of the facts of the case - which are themselves the result of installation instructions which vary from one Member State to another.

1. Given this situation, will the Commission withdraw its opinion published on 30 January 2001 until a solution acceptable throughout the EU is found and grant manufacturers an appropriate transitional period until an EU-wide solution is presented?

2. What is the Commission's attitude to this decision, which was not coordinated with Cenelec, which makes a laughing stock of the risk assessment procedure agreed by the Commission, Cenelec and industry?

(1) OJ C 29, 30.1.2001, p. 2.

Answer given by Mr Liikanen on behalf of the Commission

(19 June 2001)

The Honourable Member's question concerns notification of a safeguard clause in accordance with Article 9 of Council Directive 73/23/EEC of 19 February 1973 on the harmonisation of the laws of Member States relating to electrical equipment designed for use within certain voltage limits(1), as amended by Council Directive 93/68/EEC of 22 July 1993(2) - known as the Low Voltage Directive.

It has become clear in this context that the harmonised standard EN60598-1 on light fittings does not fully meet the safety objectives of the Low Voltage Directive. In 1998, the Commission asked the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardisation (Cenelec) to amend the standard in question. Adopted in 1999, amendment 13 to this standard did not provide the necessary guarantees that electrical equipment manufactured in accordance with it conforms to the essential requirements of the Directive. Under these circumstances, and absent an amendment that takes account of the safety concerns of the national market surveillance authorities and of the Commission, it is essential that the Commission's opinion is upheld.

The Commission would inform the Honourable Member that the draft opinion has been submitted to the national market surveillance authorities for consultation and that these authorities have welcomed the proposed approach. This opinion does not rule out the possibility of a subsequent amendment to the harmonised standard to bring it in line with the requirements of the Directive and to take account of the opinions expressed by all the parties concerned.

The Commission will continue to encourage Cenelec to reach a suitable technical solution. Furthermore, it will bring up this subject again with the national authorities at the next meeting on the Low Voltage Directive under the administrative cooperation procedure, in order to ensure uniform application of the Directive on this point.

(1) OJ L 77, 26.3.1973.

(2) OJ L 220, 30.8.1993.