CELEX: 51992PC0293
Language: en
Date: 1992-07-10
Title: Amendment to the proposal for a COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) concerning the affixing and use of the EC mark of conformity on industrial products

1 8 92                                       Official Journal of the European Communities                                 No C 195 / 11
                                                                     II
                                                            (Preparatory Acts)
                                                       COMMISSION
                Amendment to the proposal for a Council Regulation (EEC) concerning the affixing and use of
                                           the CE mark of conformity on industrial products
                                                              (92 / C 195 / 11 )
                                                     COM(92) 293 final — SYN 336
                (Submitted by the Commission pursuant to Article 149 (3) of the EEC Treaty on 10 July 1992)
Following the opinion delivered by the European                           3 . to remove the obligation on the manufacturers to
Parliament (') on its first reading, as part of the                           indicate the year of affixing the CE mark and to
cooperation procedure on the proposal for a Council                           render optional the identification of the notified body
Regulation concerning the affixing and use of the CE                          acting as coordinator for the various notified bodies
mark of conformity on industrial products which the                           which may be involved in the assessment of a product
Commission had presented to the Council (2), the                              where the latter is affected by several directives ,
Commission has decided to amend its proposal as                               Article 4 ( 1 ) and Article 4 ( 2 ) are replaced by the
follows :                                                                     following :
                                                                              ' 1 . The CE mark of conformity shall be followed
1 . the term ' la marque CE de conformite' is replaced                        by the identification number of the notified body
     throughout the French version, including in the title ,                  within the meaning of Council Decision 90 / 683 / EEC
     by ' le marquage CE de conformite';                                      where the body is involved in the production-control
                                                                              phase within the meaning of that Decision . The ident­
                                                                              ification number shall be affixed in accordance with
2. a new Article 4 (2), designed to strengthen the rights
     of economic operators having duly affixed the CE                         the provisions of Article 3 ( 3 ) and ( 4).
     mark on their products while new directives enter into
     force establishing new obligations and, for the most                     2 . "Where a product is covered by several directives
     part, providing for transitional periods, is added as                    and several bodies may be involved in the
     follows :                                                                production-control phase , one of those bodies may
                                                                              bring together and coordinate all of the work. In this
                                                                              case , only the identification number of that body shall
     '(4) The CE mark affixed on an industrial product                        appear after the CE mark. The identification numbers
     shall retain its full legal validity irrespective of the                 of the other notified bodies shall appear, therefore,
     date on which that product was placed on the market                      either on the declaration or on the certificate of
     for the first time provided that :                                       conformity.';
     — the said product complied, at the time the mark                    4 . to strengthen the rights of operators who possessed
         was affixed, with all binding Community rules and                    marks , registered and actually used, before the entry
          regulations ,                                                       into force of the first new approach directive , which
                                                                              could be confused with the CE mark, the second
     — the manufacturer had the right to affix the mark,                      subparagraph of Article 6 is replaced by a new Article
          and                                                                 6a as follows :
                                                                               Article 6a
          there are no pressing health or safety reasons
         requiring the validity of the mark to be
         withdrawn .';                                                        Transitional provisions
                                                                               1 . Without prejudice to Article 6 above , the holder
                                                                              of a registered trade mark which may be confused
(') Adopted on 8 . 4 . 1992 (EP A3-121 /92).                                  with the CE mark may continue to use that registered
( 2) COM(91 ) 145 final of 17 . 5 . 1991 ,                                    mark for a period of 10 years from the adoption of
     OJ No C 160 , 20 . 6 . 1991 , p. 14 .                                    this Regulation provided that the mark in question :
 ---pagebreak--- No C 195 / 12                           Official Journal of the European Communities                                  1 . 8 . 92
    a) was registered no later than 30 June 1989 ;                   of the mark may have serious consequences for safety
                                                                     or health and/or where non-compliance persists, the
    b) was actually used up to the adoption of this Regu­            Member State shall take all the necessary measures to
         lation .                                                    restrict or prohibit the placing on the market of the
                                                                     product in question or to ensure that it is withdrawn
    2 . As regards the products referred to by the                   from the market.';
    directives adopted in accordance with the criteria set
    out in Article 1 which entered into force before the
    adoption of this Regulation, the provisions of Article        6. in order to add a report on the implementation of the
    3 ( 1 ) and (2) above shall not apply to products placed         CE mark to the periodic report which the
                                                                     Commission must submit in accordance with Council
    on the market before 1 January 1993 provided that
                                                                     Decision 90/683 /EEC, a new Article 9a is added to
    they comply with the directives and already bear a CE
    mark.' ;                                                         the proposal as follows :
5 . in order to introduce a graduation in the severity of             'Article 9a
    the penalties which the Member States may or must
    impose in the case of improper marking, Article 8 ( 1 )
    is replaced by the following :                                   Periodic report
    ' 1 . Where a Member State or a notified body finds
    that the CE mark has been improperly affixed, the                The periodic report on the implementation of Council
    manufacturer, his authorized representative or, failing          Decision 90/683 /EEC, which the Commission must
    that, the person responsible for placing the product in          submit under Article 1 of that Decision, shall also
    question on the Community market shall be obliged                analyse the implementation of this Regulation and all
    to bring the product in line with the rules and to put           the problems found, in particular those resulting from
    an end to the infringement under the conditions laid             the adaptation of existing legislation to the provisions
    down by the Member State. Where improper affixing                of this Regulation .'