Proposal for a REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL amending Regulation (EU) 2016/1628 as regards the transitional provisions of certain machinery fitted with engines in the power range between 56kW and 130kW, and above 300kW in order to address the impact of COVID-19 crisis
Date: 2021-05-18
Institutions: Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, European Commission
Subjects: approval, combustion gases, coronavirus disease, engine, environmental standard, epidemic, market approval, motor vehicle, motor vehicle pollution, supply chain, technical specification

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   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 18.5.2021  COM(2021) 254 final 2021/0129 (COD)  Proposal for a REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL amending Regulation (EU) 2016/1628 as regards the transitional provisions of certain machinery fitted with engines in the power range between 56kW and 130kW, and above 300kW in order to address the impact of COVID-19 crisis  (Text with EEA relevance)  
 
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

1. 

• 

CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL 

Reasons for and objectives of the proposal 

The  COVID-19  pandemic  has  caused  major  disruption  of  supply  chains,  which  has  had  an 
impact  on non-road mobile machinery (NRMM) manufacturers’ ability to meet  some of the 
deadlines  imposed  by  Regulation  (EU)  2016/1628  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the 
Council of 14 September 2016 on requirements relating to gaseous and particulate pollutant 
emission  limits  and  type-approval  for  internal  combustion  engines  for  non-road  mobile 
machinery. 

In  response  to  the  COVID-19  pandemic,  Regulation  (EU)  2020/1040  of  the  European 
Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  15  July  2020  amending  Regulation  (EU)  2016/1628  was 
adopted.  It  postponed  certain  deadlines  that  manufacturers  could  no  longer  meet  without 
sustaining  serious  economic  damage  due  to  the  unexpected  disruptions  in  the  supply  chain. 
This concerned machinery that use so-called “transition engines” in the power range <56kW 
and >130kW, and whose production had to be completed by 30 June 2020 and placing on the 
market by 31 December 2020. Manufacturers were provided with an additional 12 months to 
produce and place on the market the machinery fitted with those engines. 

That Regulation only addressed the deadlines occurring in 2020 as those were the ones that 
needed  to  be  postponed  as  a  matter  of  urgency  and  it  was  too  early  to  assess  whether  an 
extension of the deadlines occurring in 2021 was warranted.  

Manufacturers have until 30 June 2021 to complete the production of the machines fitted with 
those engines and until 31 December 2021 to place them on the market.  

However,  due  to  the  continued  supply  chain  and  production  disruptions  caused  by  the 
COVID-19 second and third waves, manufacturers will not be able to meet the 2021 deadlines 
applicable to the machinery fitted with transition engines in the power range between 56kW 
and 130kW, and above 300kW without sustaining serious economic damage.  

In the light  of the continued disruptions, it is therefore necessary to  postpone these dates to 
avoid that the transition engines, whose number is capped, as they had to be manufactured by 
31 December 2019 at the latest, can no longer be fitted in the machinery in time and therefore 
have to be scrapped. 

While  there  are  still  supply  chain  and  productions  distortions,  their  amplitude  and  intensity 
cannot be compared with the ones that prevailed in Spring 2020. For these reasons, a 6-month 
extension  for  the  manufacture  of  the  machinery  fitted  with  those  engines  and  a  9-month 
extension for the placing on the market, instead of 12 months for both in 2020, are warranted. 

It  should be noted that, regardless  of the duration of the extension, economic operators will 
have  no  interest  to  delay  further  the  completion  and  placing  on  the  market  of  machinery, 
vehicles and vessels for which they have already incurred costs. 

Finally, the proposed extension will also applicable to agricultural and forestry vehicles fitted 
with transition engines as they are subject to NRMM provisions on pollutant emissions1. 

1 

Article 19 of Regulation (EU) No 167/2013 on the approval and market surveillance of agricultural and 
forestry vehicles 

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2. 

• 

LEGAL BASIS, SUBSIDIARITY AND PROPORTIONALITY 

Legal basis 

Article 114 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. 

• 

Subsidiarity (for non-exclusive competence)  

The  subsidiarity  principle  applies  since  the  proposal  does  not  fall  under  the  exclusive 
competence of the Union. 

As the proposal involves amendments to existing EU legislation, only the EU can effectively 
address  the  issues.  Furthermore,  the  policy  objectives  cannot  be  sufficiently  achieved  by 
actions of the Member States. 

European Union action is  necessary to  avoid  the emergence of barriers to the single market 
notably  in  the  field  of  NRMM  engines,  and  because  of  the  transnational  nature  of  air 
pollution.  

The proposal therefore complies with the subsidiarity principle. 

• 

Proportionality 

The proposal complies with the proportionality principle because it does not go beyond what 
is  necessary  in  order  to  achieve  the  objectives  of  ensuring  the  proper  functioning  of  the 
internal  market  while  at  the  same  time  providing  for  a  high  level  of  public  safety  and 
environmental  protection.  The  length  of  the  proposed  extension  is  commensurate  with  the 
expected duration of the disruption due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

• 

Choice of the instrument 

Regulation amending a Regulation. 

3. 

RESULTS 
CONSULTATIONS AND IMPACT ASSESSMENTS 

EX-POST 

EVALUATIONS, 

OF 

STAKEHOLDER 

This proposal is not accompanied by a separate impact assessment, as an impact assessment 
for Regulation (EU) 2016/1628 has already been undertaken. This proposal does not alter that 
Regulation  on  substance  and  does  not  impose  new  obligations  on  the  concerned  parties.  It 
primarily aims at providing, for exceptional reasons in the context of the current COVID-19 
pandemic,  an  extension  of  6  months  for  the  manufacture  and  placing  on  the  market  of  the 
machinery  equipped  with  certain  transition  engines.  This  proposal  has  no  significant 
environmental effects  since the measures facilitate the placing  in  the market  of  goods  fitted 
with engines produced before the pandemic. They also avoid the need to scrap otherwise non-
compliant machinery fitted with such engines. 

4. 

BUDGETARY IMPLICATIONS 

The proposal does not have a budgetary impact for the EU institutions.  

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2021/0129 (COD) 

Proposal for a 

REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL 

amending Regulation (EU) 2016/1628 as regards the transitional provisions of certain 
machinery fitted with engines in the power range between 56kW and 130kW, and above 
300kW in order to address the impact of COVID-19 crisis 

(Text with EEA relevance) 

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

Having  regard  to  the  Treaty  on  the  Functioning  of  the  European  Union,  and  in  particular 
Article 114 thereof, 

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission, 

After transmission of the draft legislative act to the national parliaments, 
Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee2,  

Acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure, 

Whereas: 

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

Regulation (EU) 2016/1628 of the European Parliament and of the Council3 lays down 
requirements relating to emission limits for gaseous and particulate pollutants and EU 
type-approval  procedures  for  various  categories  of  engines  for  non-road  mobile 
machinery.  

The  dates  applicable  to  the  new  emission  limit  values,  referred  to  as  ‘Stage  V’  in 
Regulation  (EU) 2016/1628, are set  out  in  order to  provide manufacturers  with  clear 
and comprehensive information and an appropriate period of time for the transition to 
Stage V, whilst at the same time substantially reducing the administrative burden for 
approval authorities.  

Due  to  the  COVID-19  outbreak  and  the  associated  supply  chain  and  production 
disruptions,  non-road  mobile  machinery  manufacturers,  referred  to  as  ‘original 
equipment manufacturers’ or ‘OEMs’ had difficulties to meet the deadlines of 30 June 
2020  and  31  December  2020  for  the  production  and  placing  on  the  market  of 
machinery  fitted  with  those  engines  that  comply  with  less  stringent  emission  limit 
values  than  those  of  Stage  V.  In  this  context,  Regulation  (EU)  2016/1628  was 

2 
3 

OJ C […], […], p. […]. 
Regulation (EU) 2016/1628 of the European Parliament and of the  Council of 14 September 2016 on 
requirements relating to gaseous and particulate pollutant emission limits and type-approval for internal 
combustion  engines  for  non-road  mobile  machinery,  amending  Regulations  (EU)  No  1024/2012  and 
(EU) No 167/2013, and amending and repealing Directive 97/68/EC  (OJ L 252, 16.9.2016, p. 53). 

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(4) 

(5) 

(6) 

(7) 

(8) 

amended  with  Regulation  (EU)  2020/1040  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the 
Council4 in order to prolong those deadlines by 12 months. 

Considering that the continued supply chain and production disruption caused by the 
COVID-19 pandemic still leads to delays for the production and placing on the market 
of machinery fitted with other categories of engines (between 56kW and 130kW, and 
above 300kW) that comply with less stringent emission limits than those of Stage V it 
is very likely that OEMs will not be able to meet the deadlines of 30 June 2021 and 31 
December  2021  set  out  in  Regulation  (EU)  2016/1628  for  the  production  and  the 
placing on the market of the goods without sustaining serious economic damage. 

Given the current circumstances and in order to ensure the smooth functioning of the 
internal market, to provide legal certainty, and to avoid potential market disruption, it 
is  necessary to  prolong the transitional provisions of Regulation (EU) 2016/1628  for 
those categories of engines. 

Given that the prolongation of the transitional provisions will have no environmental 
impact, as the transition engines concerned have already been produced, the extension 
of the relevant periods should be 6 months for the production of the machinery fitted 
with those engines and 9 months for the placing on the market. 

Since  the  objective  of  this  Regulation,  namely  to  prolong  certain  transitional 
provisions  of  Regulation  (EU)  2016/1628,  cannot  be  sufficiently  achieved  by  the 
Member States but can rather, by reason of its scale and effects, be better achieved at 
Union  level,  the  Union  may  adopt  measures,  in  accordance  with  the  principle  of 
subsidiarity  as  set  out  in  Article  5  of  the  Treaty  on  European  Union  (‘TEU’).  In 
accordance  with  the  principle  of  proportionality  as  set  out  in  that  Article,  this 
Regulation does not go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve that objective. 

In  view  of  the  urgency  entailed  by  the  exceptional  circumstances  caused  by  the 
COVID-19 outbreak, it was considered to be appropriate to provide for an exception to 
the eight-week period referred to in Article 4 of Protocol No 1 on the role of national 
Parliaments  in  the  European  Union,  annexed  to  the  TEU,  to  the  Treaty  on  the 
Functioning  of  the  European  Union  and  to  the  Treaty  establishing  the  European 
Atomic Energy Community. 

(9) 

 Regulation (EU) 2016/1628 should therefore be amended accordingly. 

(10) 

In  view  of  the  fact  that  the  transition  period  provided  for  in  Regulation  (EU) 
2016/1628  for  certain  engine  sub-categories  is  to  expire  on  31  December    2021  and 
that OEMs have until 30 June 2021 to produce non-road mobile machinery fitted with 
transition engines of those sub-categories, this Regulation should enter into force as a 
matter of urgency on the day of its publication in the Official Journal of the European 
Union, 

HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: 

Regulation (EU) 2016/1628 is amended as follows: 

Article 1 

4 

Regulation (EU) 2020/1040 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 July 2020 amending 
Regulation (EU) 2016/1628 as regards  its transitional provisions in order to address the impact of the 
COVID-19 crisis (OJ L 231, 17.7.2020, p. 1–3). 

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Article 58 is amended as follows:  

(1) 

in paragraph 5 the following sixth subparagraph is added:  

‘For  engines  of  all  sub-categories  for  which  the  date  set  out  in  Annex  III  for  the 
placing on the market of Stage V engines is 1 January 2020, except for the engines 
referred  to  in  the  second  and  third  subparagraphs,  the  transition  period  and  the  18-
month period referred to in the first subparagraph shall be extended by 6 months.’; 

(2) 

in paragraph 7, the following point (e) is added: 

‘(e) 33 months from the applicable date for the placing on the market of engines set 

out in Annex III, in the case set out in the sixth subparagraph of paragraph 5’. 

This Regulation shall enter into force on the day of its publication in the  Official Journal of 
the European Union. 

Article 2 

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States. 

Done at Brussels, 

For the European Parliament 
The President 

For the Council 
The President 

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