WRITTEN QUESTION P-0253/04 by Geoffrey Van Orden (PPE-DE) to the Commission. The Construction Products Directive.
Date: 2004-01-27
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EC conformity marking, approximation of laws, building industry, drafting of EU law, single market

27.3.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 78 E/947

(2004/C 78 E/1002)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0253/04

by Geoffrey Van Orden (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(27 January 2004)

Subject: The Construction Products Directive

DG Enterprise is presently consulting EU Member States prior to making recommendations to the
1.
European Parliament
is
understood that the timescale for this project has now been extended. Can the Commission please advise
us of the reason for the delay and the new timetable for completing the project?

the Construction Products Directive 89/106/EEC (1).

for the revision of

It

2. While the majority of EU Member States are requiring CE marking of products to indicate
compliance with the Construction Products Directive,
it is understood that four Member States are
interpreting the directive differently and are not requiring mandatory CE marking. Can the European
Commission please confirm that this anomaly will be removed and that all EU Member States will have to
introduce a mandatory requirement for CE marking to indicate compliance with the directive?

Prior to CE marking, the Construction Products Directive requires attestation that the products
3.
conform to the requirements of harmonised European Norms. However,
it is recognised that the CE
marking is not a quality mark. For good reasons, quality marking continues to be required and the fire
protection and security industry is working with relevant Notified Bodies within EU Member States in an
attempt to have the testing necessary for quality marking in one Member State recognised in all other
Member States. This will reduce overall product introduction costs and therefore benefit the EU as well as
making European products more competitive on world markets. Will the Commission support the fire
protection and security industry in achieving this ‘one stop testing’ objective?

(1) OJ L 40, 11.2.1989, p. 12.

Answer given by Mr Liikanen on behalf of the Commission

(18 February 2004)

The Commission plans to carry out a revision of the Construction Products Directive, Council Directive
laws, regulations and administrative
89/106/EEC of 21 December 1988 on the approximation of
provisions of the Member States relating to construction products (hereafter the CPD), but so far it has
not made any commitments or established any specific timetable for this task.

The aim of the revision of the CPD should be to improve its functioning. The preparatory work for the
revision should detect the existing problems and draw from the experience gathered. This work has been
carried out during 2003. The timetable for preparing recommendations for its amendment will be fixed as
soon as the extent of changes to be made in the system is known.

The Commission is aware that the CPD does not expressly require CE marking and that its text suggests
that CE marking is only a prerequisite for obtaining the benefits offered by the CPD. The Commission has
always pleaded that the CE marking be affixed as soon as the conditions for its application exist, that is
when the harmonised technical specifications are in place. It has conducted a dialogue in the framework of
the Standing Committee on Construction in order to come to a uniform interpretation, which would
substantially facilitate the role of the market surveillance authorities. However, the Commission did not
find it opportune to initiate legal actions before the Member States had the chance to apply the CPD
correctly and before a consensus on a uniform interpretation of the CPD is reached.

This aspect would also have to be examined within the framework of a revision of the CPD.

The only mark required for those construction products, for which harmonised technical specifications
exist, is the CE marking. Any other marking may only be voluntary.

C 78 E/948

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

27.3.2004

The information accompanying the CE marking shows the performance of the product, or how good the
product is in relation to the relevant characteristic covered by the harmonised technical specification. The
CE marking is a single mark necessary to access freely the Internal Market. A product may bear voluntary
marks only if they provide an added value and are not liable to cause confusion with the CE marking.
Initiatives taken in the voluntary certification field should be exclusively market driven. The Commission
does not intend to intervene in this field, unless quality marks were to impair the Internal Market.

(2004/C 78 E/1003)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0284/04

by Joachim Wuermeling (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(5 February 2004)

Subject: BEUC

The European consumers’ organisation BEUC regularly publishes expensive brochures printed in four
colours on glossy paper, which promote the Commission’s proposals in the field of consumer protection.
For example, I am aware of the brochures on the Consumer Credit Directive and the Directive on health
information on foodstuffs.

1.

Does the Commission subsidise these publications from the EU budget?

2. What institutional funding does the BEUC receive from the EU budget?

Does the Commission believe that it is the BEUC’s task to support the Commission’s proposals with

3.
such forms of advertising?

4. What view does the Commission take of the allegation, made by Dr Beate Kohler-Koch on 15 May
2003 in Berlin, that the consumer associations are being exploited for the Commission’s public relations
work?

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(4 March 2004)

The Commission does not grant any specific Community funding for the production of publications

1.
by the BEUC.

Every year, following a call for proposals, the Commission awards operational grants to European
2.
consumer organisations. This leads to a greater involvement of these organisations in Community policies,
one of the three key objectives of the Strategy for Consumer Policy (2002-2006) which is supported by
the Parliament. Moreover, this form of financial support has a clear legal basis in the provision for
financing consumer-oriented activities (1). This total funding cannot exceed 50 % of the expenditure for
eligible activities.

The total Community funding to be awarded to the BEUC under these operational grants amounts to
EUR 1 172 790 in 2004.

Furthermore, the Commission regularly, and following a call for proposals, grants subsidies to specific
projects which aim to promote consumer interests in Member States (Articles 2 C and 6 of Decision
No 283/1999 and action 18 of Decision No 20/2004, aforementioned).

Following the call for proposals published in September 2002 (2), the project ‘European Consumer Law
Group’ submitted by the BEUC was selected (Community contribution requested: EUR 56 422,79).

The subsidies awarded will be published shortly on the Internet site of the Directorate-General for Health
and Consumer Protection.