WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1426/97 by Phillip WHITEHEAD to the Commission. Voltage harmonization
Date: 1997-04-23
Institutions: European Parliament, KAKLAMANIS
Subjects: electrical equipment, electricity supply, harmonisation of standards, product safety, safety standard













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91997E1426

WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1426/97 by Phillip WHITEHEAD to the Commission. Voltage harmonization  


Official Journal C 391 , 23/12/1997 P. 0084 





WRITTEN QUESTION E-1426/97 by Phillip Whitehead (PSE) to the Commission (23 April 1997)Subject: Voltage harmonizationIs the Commission aware of the discrepancy between the voltages permitted for electrical supply under CENELEC HD 472 S1 and those specified for the testing of domestic electrical appliances in the European Standards listed under the Low Voltage Directive, and that this discrepancy means that appliances may well be operating at supply voltages in excess of those for which they have been tested?What action does the Commission propose to take to encourage CENELEC to address the matter?Answer given by Mr Bangemann on behalf of the Commission (20 June 1997)In 1988, Cenelec, the European committee for electrotechnical standardisation, adopted harmonised standard HD 472 S1 (Nominal voltages for low voltage public electricity supply systems). In different steps and after a transitional period ending in 2003, the nominal voltages of all countries in the European economic area (EEA) will have evolved towards a standard voltage of 230 V +/-10%. More restrictive tolerances may be decided later on.The Commission understands that Cenelec is fully aware of the need to examine the implications of this harmonisation on the product standards, and especially on the safety standards for electrical equipment covered by Directive 73/23/EEC (low voltage Directive) ((OJ L 77, 26.3.1973. )). Although the latter certainly take into account relatively large safety margins, it seems necessary to evaluate the impact of these changes on the tests of the products. These tests are essentially based on the rated voltage, as indicated by the manufacturer, for avoiding discrepancies affecting the functional characteristics of certain products.Work is in progress at Cenelec, in close collaboration with the International electrotechnical commission (IEC), in order to consider the introduction of the necessary amendments to the standards in due time.The Commission is therefore confident that coherence between HD 472 S1 and the standards elaborated by the technical products committees and cited in the low voltage Directive will be adequately verified by the standardisation bodies involved. At this stage, it does not have any cause to intervene with Cenelec.Moreover, in the present situation, the Commission has not been informed about safety problems as a result from a lack of coherence between HD 472 S1 and the different product standards concerned. Indeed, up to now, none of the Member States has contested, through the application of the safeguard provisions laid down in the low voltage Directive, one or more of the harmonised standards to which the Directive refers. It seems therefore that Member States are of the opinion that the safety margins applied for testing provide for a correct level of overall safety of the electrical equipment.