OPINION OF THE COMMISSION  pursuant to Article 294, paragraph 7, point (c) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, on the European Parliament's amendment to the Council's position regarding the  proposal for a  REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT  AND OF THE COUNCIL laying down harmonised conditions for the marketing of the construction products
Date: 2011-02-28
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EC conformity marking, approximation of laws, building, construction policy, free movement of goods, quality label, technical rule

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EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Brussels, 28.2.2011 
COM(2011) 101 final 

2008/0098 (COD) 

OPINION OF THE COMMISSION 

pursuant to Article 294, paragraph 7, point (c) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the 
European Union, 
on the European Parliament's amendment 
to the Council's position regarding the  
proposal for a 

REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT  
AND OF THE COUNCIL 

laying down harmonised conditions for the marketing of the construction products 

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   EN 

 
 
  
 
 
 
2008/0098 (COD) 

OPINION OF THE COMMISSION 

pursuant to Article 294, paragraph 7, point (c) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the 
European Union 
on the European Parliament's amendments 
to the Council's position regarding the  
proposal for a 

REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT  
AND OF THE COUNCIL 

laying down harmonised conditions for the marketing of the construction products  

1. 

BACKGROUND 

Date on which the proposal was sent to Parliament and the Council: 

23 May 2008  

Date of Parliament's opinion at first reading: 

Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee: 

Date of adoption of the Council position: 

24 April 2009 

25 February 2009 

13 September 2010 

Date of COREPER agreement on the second reading compromise: 

8 December 2010 

Date of Parliament's opinion at second reading: 

18 January 2011 

2. 

PURPOSE OF THE PROPOSAL 

The  objective  of  the  Commission  proposal  is  to  replace  the  Council  Directive  89/106/EEC, 
the Construction Products Directive, referred to hereafter as the CPD, by a Regulation, with 
the aim of better defining the objectives of this Community legislation, as well as making its 
implementation  easier  and  more  efficient.  As  part  of  the  Better  Regulation  initiative,  the 
proposal  intends  to  bring  about  simplification  of  the  current  CPD-based  system  notably 
through  the  introduction  of  simplified  procedures,  so  as  to  reduce  the  costs  incurred  by 
enterprises,  in  particular  SMEs;  clarification  of  the  basic  concepts  and  the  use  of  CE 
marking; and to increase the credibility of  the whole system by imposing new and stricter 
designation criteria to bodies involved in the assessment and the verification of constancy of 
performance of construction products. 

3. 

OPINION  OF  THE  COMMISSION  ON  THE  AMENDMENT  BY  THE  EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT 

The  European  Parliament's  opinion  at  second  reading  of  18  January  2011  has  brought  the 
Council  position  closer  to  that  of  the  Commission's  proposal  in  terms  of  clarifying  the 
treatment of dangerous substances within the context of the REACH Regulation, ensuring the 

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independence  of  the  actions  of  Product  Contact Points  for  Construction  as  well  as  allowing 
for wider digital delivery of the declarations of performance. 

The  Parliament's  position  is  a  result  of  a  compromise  obtained  at  a  trialogue  held  on  7 
December 2010 and which was discussed and approved on 8 December 2010 in Council. 

4. 

CONCLUSION 

The  Commission  accepts  all  the  amendments  voted  by  The  European  Parliament  in  second 
reading according to the above described compromise text of the Council and the European 
Parliament.  The  Commission  also  presents  the  statement  attached  concerning  the  period  for 
objection by the European Parliament and Council. 

Annex:  Statement  by  the  Commission  concerning  the  period  for  objection  by  the 
European Parliament and Council 

The Commission recalls that the principle established in the draft Common Understanding is 
that  the  period  for  objection  should  be  2  months  extendable  by  a  further  2  months.  In  the 
present case, the Commission considers that there are no specific circumstances which could 
justify a deviation from that principle. The Commission regrets that the principle established 
in  the  draft  Common  Understanding  has  not  been  respected  and  underlines  that  the  present 
case does not constitute a precedent. 

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