Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament - Review of the application of the Simple Pressure Vessels Directive (87/404/EEC) in relation to the Pressure Equipment Directive (97/23/EC)
Date: 2006-03-10
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EC Directive, application of EU law, approximation of laws, drafting of EU law, pressure equipment, safety standard, technical regulations

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 10.03.2006 
COM(2006) 106 final 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION 
TO THE COUNCIL AND THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 

Review of the application of the Simple Pressure Vessels Directive (87/404/EEC) in 
relation to the Pressure Equipment Directive (97/23/EC) 

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TABLE OF CONTENTS 

SUMMARY ............................................................................................................................... 3 

1. 

INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................ 3 

Background ................................................................................................................................ 3 

Review method........................................................................................................................... 4 

2. 

REVIEW OF THE APPLICATION OF THE SIMPLE PRESSURE VESSELS 
DIRECTIVE IN RELATION TO THE PRESSURE EQUIPMENT DIRECTIVE .... 4 

General remarks ......................................................................................................................... 4 

Assemblies ................................................................................................................................. 5 

Manufacturing problems of simple pressure vessels.................................................................. 6 

Standardisation ........................................................................................................................... 6 

Pressure Equipment Directive exemptions ................................................................................ 7 

Special provisions for simple pressure vessels in an integrated Directive................................. 7 

Administrative work load........................................................................................................... 8 

Competitiveness aspect .............................................................................................................. 8 

3. 

CONCLUSIONS.......................................................................................................... 9 

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COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL AND THE 
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 

Review of the application of the Simple Pressure Vessels Directive (87/404/EEC) in 
relation to the Pressure Equipment Directive (97/23/EC) 

SUMMARY 

The Directive 97/23/EC on Pressure Equipment contains an invitation to the Commission to 
carry out a review of the application of the Directive 87/404/EEC on Simple Pressure Vessels 
in order to ascertain the need for the integration of this Directive into the Pressure Equipment 
Directive. 

The  current  Communication  implements  this  request  and  is  based  on  an  extensive 
consultation of national authorities and stakeholders. 

National authorities in charge of implementing both Directives and stakeholders, consider that 
both Directives function very well and are not in favour of a merger of the Simple Pressure 
Vessels  Directive  into  the  Pressure  Equipment  Directive.  In  particular  considerations  of  a 
technical and safety related nature, explained in detail below, plead in favour of maintaining 
two separate directives. 

On this basis the Commission concludes that there is a strong case in maintaining the Simple 
Pressure Vessels Directive and the Pressure Equipment Directive separate. 

However, this does not preclude a future initiative in the framework of a review of the PED 
and in the light of the overall review of the New Approach, which may lead to a merging into 
one single text. 

1. 

INTRODUCTION 

Background 

Simple pressure vessels1 are covered by Directive 87/404/EEC, adopted in June 1987, the first 
Directive  under  the  so-called  New  Approach.  They  cover  only  a  small  part  of  the  product 
categories  presenting  a  risk  due  to  pressure.  Only  in  1997,  the  Council  and  Parliament 
adopted an overall Directive on Pressure Equipment (97/23/EC), covering an area as wide as 
pressure cookers and complete chemical installations. This Directive contains an invitation to 
the  Commission  (recital  11)  to  carry  out  a  review  of  the  application  of  the  Simple  Pressure 
Vessels Directive in order to ascertain the need for the integration of this Directive into the 
Pressure Equipment Directive. 

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The  Simple  Pressure  Vessels  Directive  applies  to  simple  pressure vessels  manufactured  in  series.  For 
the purposes of the Directive, ‘simple pressure vessel’ means any welded vessel subject to an internal 
gauge  pressure  greater  than  0.5  bar  which  is  intended  to  contain  air  or  nitrogen  and  which  is  not 
intended to be fired. 

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At the same time, this Communication presents the Commission’s position on the resolution 
of  the  Competitiveness  Council2,  qualifying  the  possible  integration  of  the  Simple  Pressure 
Vessels Directive into the Pressure Equipment Directive as one of the Council priorities for 
legislative simplification. 

Review method 

This  Communication  is  based  on  a  series  of  consultations  of  national  authorities  and 
stakeholders that can be summarized as follows: 

– 

– 

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– 

The main platform for consultation with national authorities and stakeholders was the 
Working  Group  Pressure  organised  by  the  Commission  services,  dealing  with  this 
issue since 2003. 

In  order  to  collect  an  as  broad  view  as  possible,  the  Commission  organised  an 
internet  consultation  to  collect  stakeholder  views  and  proposals  from  the  European 
pressure sector. This consultation was announced through various channels and was 
available  on  internet  from  the  beginning  of  October  2004  until  the  end  of  January 
2005. A significant number of comments were received3. 

A  summary  and  detailed  analysis  of  the  responses  coming  out  from  the  public  enquiry, 
together with preliminary conclusions, were examined by the Working Group Pressure 
in April 2005. 

National  authorities  were  invited  to  consider  the  identified  issues  until  the  end  of 
May  2005  in  order  to  ensure  that  they  could  comment  on  any  aspects  to  be  still 
reviewed. 

2. 

REVIEW  OF  THE  APPLICATION  OF  THE  SIMPLE  PRESSURE  VESSELS 
DIRECTIVE IN RELATION TO THE PRESSURE EQUIPMENT DIRECTIVE 

General remarks 

The Simple Pressure Vessels Directive and the Pressure Equipment Directive differ in layout, 
presentation and detailed content. However, both are part of the New Approach, even if the 
Simple Pressure Vessels Directive contains various elements of the Old Approach. Both the 
Simple Pressure Vessels Directive and the Pressure Equipment Directive contain elements of 
classification, identity and marking, regulation, supervision and technical requirements. 

Merging both Directives would not imply that new product categories would be subjected to 
legislation  currently  covered  by  the  two  separate  directives,  or,  inversely,  that  products 
currently covered would cease to be covered. 

As the Simple Pressure Vessels Directive is one of the first Directives adopted under the New 
Approach, there is significant experience with its functioning. On the other hand, the Pressure 
Equipment  Directive  is  relatively  new  directive,  of  a  highly  complex  nature,  where 

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Council priorities for simplification of Community Legislation, adopted on 25th November 2004 
A summary of comments is given on 
http://europa.eu.int/comm/enterprise/pressure_equipment/index_en.htm 

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implementation  still  poses  some  problems,  and  where  there  is  very  little  accumulated 
experience  and  feedback  from  market  surveillance.  These  elements  are  critical  as  merging 
both Directives would not be an exercise of mere legislative editing, but should be based on 
substantive considerations. 

The  main  parameters  as  they  came  out  in  the  review  process  regarding  a  value  added  of 
merging  appeared  to  be  the  technical  or  safety  problems  with  simple  pressure  vessels  or 
products  containing  such  vessels,  more  or  less  significant  reduction  of  administrative  work 
load at European or national level, and economical aspects e.g. improving the competitiveness 
of European industry. 

In  this  assessment,  account  has  to  be  taken  from  the  point  of  view  expressed  by  national 
authorities  in  charge  of  implementing  both  Directives  and  stakeholders,  according  to  which 
both  Directives  function  very  well  as  regards  the  required  and  existing  legal-administrative 
infrastructure and implementation mechanisms. 

The public enquiry showed that a clear majority of the respondents is against the merger of 
the  Simple  Pressure  Vessels  Directive  into  the  Pressure  Equipment  Directive.  Those  who 
indicated  that  they  would  be  in  favour  of  merging  the  two  Directives,  did  not  provide 
substantial reasoning supporting this position. 

In  particular  consideration  of  a  technical  and  safety  related  nature  plead  in  the  opinion  of 
authorities and stakeholders against a merger of both directives. They can be regrouped under 
the following headings: 

Assemblies 

The Pressure Equipment Directive requires a global conformity assessment for “assemblies”, 
i.e. “pieces of pressure equipment assembled by a manufacturer to constitute an integrated and 
functional whole”. In particular “integration of the various components and the protection of 
an assembly against exceeding the permissible allowable limits” (e.g. maximum pressure) are 
to  be  assessed.  Under  the  Simple  Pressure  Vessels  Directive,  only  the  safety  of  the  simple 
pressure vessel itself is regulated; there are no requirements in the Directive on issues such as 
safety devices or the proper integration of simple pressure vessels into a compressor system. 

Some  responses  received  during  the  internet  consultation  suggested  that  the  lack  of  such 
requirements  under  the  Simple  Pressure  Vessels  Directive  is  potentially  dangerous.  Others 
considered that a merger of the two Directives would become unnecessarily onerous as all of 
a  sudden  a  significant  number  of  additional  devices  (mainly  compressor  devices)  would 
become subject to the global conformity assessment as assemblies. 

For  this  reason,  national  authorities  were  especially  requested  to  report  on  possible  safety 
problems encountered in the past related to incorporation and protective devices of assemblies 
comprising  a  simple  pressure  vessel.  They  were  specifically  asked  whether  there  is  need  to 
introduce the assembly concept for the simple pressure vessels. However, no safety problems 
with assembly aspects of simple pressure vessels were reported suggesting that regulation of 
these aspects would be necessary. 

Consequently, introducing the assembly concept in the Simple Pressure Vessels Directive is 
not considered to be relevant for the safety level of assemblies comprising a simple pressure 
vessel. 

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Manufacturing problems of simple pressure vessels 

Member States’ market surveillance and reports received from industry associations indicate 
that “small” simple pressure vessels, typically relatively cheep consumer products, placed on 
the  European  market  can  present  manufacturing  defaults,  which  may  in  some  cases  be 
seriously detrimental to safety. Particular attention was therefore given to the view of national 
authorities whether merging the two directives would assist market surveillance. Authorities 
were also asked to forward their assessment whether the involvement of notified bodies under 
the  Pressure  Equipment  Directive  would  have  a  positive  impact  on  the  safety  of  simple 
pressure vessels. As a matter of fact, under the Simple Pressure Vessels Directive vessels are 
subject  -  as  a  specific  main  category  -  to  verification  by  Notified  Bodies,  whilst  under  the 
Pressure  Equipment  Directive  such  vessels  would  typically  be  classified  in  a  low  category, 
subject to a less stringent verification by Notified Bodies. 

Feedback  shows  that  safety  problems  identified  with  simple  pressure  vessels  are  not  due  to 
shortcomings  of  the  Simple  Pressure  Vessels  Directive.  The  relatively  straightforward 
technical  requirements  of  the  Simple  Pressure  Vessels  Directive  provide  appropriate  safety 
margins  and  a  reliable  safety  level  for  simple  pressure  vessels.  A  merger  of  the  Simple 
Pressure  Vessels  Directive  into  the  Pressure  Equipment  Directive  would  not  improve  the 
safety  of  this  product  group,  the  more  as  the  Pressure  Equipment  Directive  is  less  specific 
than  the  Simple  Pressure  Vessels  Directive  (e.g.  on  concrete  physical  properties  of  the 
vessels,  wall  thickness,  welding,  etc.).  Particularly  in  case  of  manufacturing  in  developing 
economies outside Europe, where main suppliers of cheap, smaller simple pressure vessels are 
located, such change could make it more difficult to apply accurately European requirements. 

The enquiry clearly shows however that emphasis should be put on a better implementation of 
the current Simple Pressure Vessels Directive and in particular a better co-ordinated market 
surveillance of Member States. 

Standardisation 

Merging  the  Simple  Pressure  Vessels  Directive  and  the  Pressure  Equipment  Directive  may 
have an impact on standards harmonised under the Simple Pressure Vessels Directive as they 
would have to be published under the Pressure Equipment Directive. 

The major product standard for simple pressure vessels is the EN 286 series (parts 1 to 4). In 
addition, a number of other standards on procedures and qualifications for welding and testing 
are harmonised under the Simple Pressure Vessels Directive as well4. 

To date, neither formal objections nor safeguard clauses have been launched suggesting that 
harmonised standards under the Simple Pressure Vessels Directive show shortcomings. 

Whilst  at  first  glance  it  may  appear  that  in  case  of  integration  of  the  two  Directives 
standardisation work would be simplified since harmonised standards only would have to be 
developed for a single Directive, it should however be noted that simple pressure vessels are a 
quite well-defined product category, requiring the development of specific standards anyway, 

4 

Currently references of 12 standards have been published in the Official Journal of the European Union 
under  the  Simple  Pressure  Vessels  Directive.  The  most  important  is  the  EN  286  series.  More 
information: 
http://europa.eu.int/comm/enterprise/newapproach/standardization/harmstds/reflist/spvessel.html 

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regardless  of  a  specific  Directive  applying  to  them  or  not.  Furthermore,  a  transition  to  an 
integrated Directive would require the revision of all harmonised standards developed under 
the Simple Pressure Vessels Directive, focusing to EN 286 series. 

Analysis  of  the  standards  linked  to  the  Simple  Pressure  Vessels  Directive  indicates  that 
repealing  this  Directive  would  imply  three  to  four  years  of  work  in  order  to  carry  out  the 
necessary modifications, mainly for EN 286, in order to publish them as harmonised standards 
under  the  Pressure  Equipment  Directive.  Manufacturers  would  need  to  use  more  complex 
standards (e.g. EN 13445)  before  a modified series of the simple pressure vessels standards 
would be available. One may also anticipate an impact during the transitional period on other 
standardisation work due to lack of resources. 

Pressure Equipment Directive exemptions 

The Pressure Equipment Directive basically applies to all pressure equipment and assemblies 
with  a  maximum  allowable  pressure  greater  than  0.5  bar.  This  reflects  an  enormous  scope, 
covering pressure cookers and complete chemical installations or boilers for power stations. 
This  wide  scope  is  specified  by  a  series  of  exclusions  of  product  categories  that  otherwise 
would be covered by the Directive (e.g. ships, rockets, aircraft, bottles for carbonated drinks, 
or products covered by more specific legislation, such as medical devices, aerosol dispensers, 
equipment intended for the functioning of vehicles and simple pressure vessels). 

In  case  of  a  merger  of  the  two  Directives,  the  current  exemptions  from  the  scope  of  the 
Pressure Equipment Directive which do not exist for the Simple Pressure Vessels Directive, 
e.g. equipment intended for the functioning of vehicles, would need to be carefully considered 
and possibly corrected so as to ensure  that simple pressure vessels currently covered by the 
Simple Pressure Vessels Directive would  remain covered by legal requirements on pressure 
risks.  The  most  likely  way  to  solve  the  problem  would  be  the  introduction  of  “exemptions 
from  exemptions”  in  order  to  limit  the  scope  of  the  current  Pressure  Equipment  Directive 
exemptions correspondingly. 

The replies to the consultation and comments from national authorities demonstrate that the 
examination of the Pressure Equipment Directive exemptions would need to be carried out on 
case by case basis. Additionally, stakeholders have asked that a specific cost-benefit analysis 
be carried out. 

For  these  reasons,  the  Commission  considers  keeping  the  two  directives  separate  a  better 
solution with regard to the Pressure Equipment Directive exemptions. 

Special provisions for simple pressure vessels in an integrated Directive 

At present, the Pressure Equipment Directive does not take into account the number (single 
vs. serial production) or use (consumer vs. profession) of equipment produced for determining 
the  conformity  assessment  procedure  to  be  applied.  However,  it  provides  for  special 
provisions  ensuring  a  more  severe  conformity  assessment  for  certain  products  like  fire 
extinguishers, pressure cookers or breathing bottles, which are usually manufactured in high 
series.  On  the  other  hand  the  Simple  Pressure  Vessels  Directive  applies  only  to  simple 
pressure vessels manufactured in series. 

It has been suggested in the course of the consultation process that in case of a merger, special 
provisions  for  simple  pressure  vessels  manufactured  in  series  should  be  introduced,  for 

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example  by  placing  simple  pressure  vessels  in  a  “minimum”  Pressure  Equipment  Directive 
category5, regardless of their intrinsic dimensions. 

However, the question of possibly introducing generic  special provisions for  serial  products 
does  not  only  concern  simple  pressure  vessels  and  should  better  be  discussed  in  a  general 
revision of the Pressure Equipment Directive at an appropriate stage. 

Administrative work load 

With regard to possible administrative advantages in favour for the merger option, no strong 
arguments supporting this option could be found during the review process. Merging the two 
Directives, combined with subsequent transposition and implementation of a single integrated 
Directive,  would  require  a  substantial  one-shot  administrative  effort  from  Commission, 
Member  States  and  other  stakeholders,  involving  additional  resources,  without  there  being 
any notable benefits. 

Industry has expressed its serious concerns on the effect of the integration option of the two 
Directives stating that there is no advantage for it to change the current situation. They believe 
that the merger would lead to extra work for manufacturers without any benefit for safety. For 
example, a complete review of essential requirements to be applied to simple pressure vessels, 
corresponding changes in the technical files  and documentation, manufacturers’ plates, tests 
and a change in conformity assessment schemes could be foreseen with a subsequent increase 
in  red  tape  and  cost  generated.  Industry  stresses  that  a  consolidation  of  legislation  does  not 
automatically  lead  to  real  simplification  of  the  administrative  procedures,  but  can,  on  the 
contrary, even have the opposite effect. 

Competitiveness aspect 

As  the  Simple  Pressure  Vessels  Directive  applies  only  to  vessels  intended  to  contain  air  or 
nitrogen, manufacturers do in reality have the possibility to make them subject to the Pressure 
Equipment  Directive  by  specifying  the  intended  purpose  of  the  pressure  vessel  wider  than 
stipulated by the Simple Pressure Vessels Directive, without necessarily having to modify the 
design  of  the  vessel.  Since  such  cases  are  not  observed  on  the  market  in  great  numbers,  it 
appears  plausible  that  in  most  cases  manufacturers  consider  compliance  with  the  Simple 
Pressure Vessels Directive as more economical than compliance with the Pressure Equipment 
Directive.  A  merge  of  the  two  Directives  would  reduce  the  choice  of  manufacturers  by 
eliminating one of two possibilities of compliance with legal requirements. 

Moreover,  compliance  with  the  Simple  Pressure  Equipment  Directive  is,  according  to 
industry, widely recognised outside Europe as an indication of quality. Therefore, any change 
could  have  negative  impact  on  the  international  acceptance  of  European  simple  pressure 
vessels and on the competitiveness of European industry. 

Manufacturers  in  EU  have  also  highlighted  that  the  integration  of  the  two  directives  would 
create short term adaptation problems, increase the administrative burden for the industry and 
costs by rendering conformity assessment procedures more complex. 

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For each category of pressure equipment there is an adequate procedure or a choice between different procedures of 
equivalent stringency for assessing compliance with the basic requirements of the PED. 

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Finally,  integration  of  both  directives  would  lead  according  to  manufacturers  for  a  certain 
transition period to an uncertain situation for simple pressure vessels manufacturers. 

3. 

CONCLUSIONS 

The  Commission  concludes  that  no clear  justification in  favour  of  the  merger  option  exists. 
This position is supported by the very large majority of stakeholders and national authorities. 

A  merge  would  not  be  a  “cut  and  paste”  exercise, but a fundamental  review that would not 
constitute  a  simplification  of  legislation  in  the  opinion  of  the  Commission,  most  national 
authorities and manufacturers. On the contrary, the proposed integration of the two directives 
could create problems and at least temporary administrative burdens requiring adaptation for 
the stakeholders. 

However,  this  does  not  preclude  a  future  initiative,  particularly  within  the  framework  of  a 
review of the PED once sufficient experience in implementation has been built up, and in the 
light of the overall review of the New Approach. Such an initiative may include the merging 
of the SPVD and the PED into one single text, even if the specific provisions reflecting the 
characteristics of both pressure sectors were to be maintained intact. 

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