CELEX: 51991PC0145
Language: en
Date: 1991-05-17
Title: PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL REGULATION ( EEC ) CONCERNING THE AFFIXING AND USE OF THE CE MARK OF CONFORMITY ON INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTS

No C 160/14                              Official Journal of the European Communities                                                20. 6. 91
                Proposal for a Council Regulation (EEC) concerning the affixing and use of the CE mark of
                                                 conformity on industrial products
                                                          (91/C 160/07)
                                                  COM(91) 145 final — SYN 336
                                         (Submitted by the Commission on 5 June 1991)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,                            directives (4) the Council specified that it is the m a n u -
                                                                    facturer w h o affixes the C E m a r k or has it affixed by his
                                                                    a u t h o r i z e d representative in the C o m m u n i t y , or else t h e
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European               person responsible for placing on the C o m m u n i t y
Economic Community, and in particular Article 100a                  m a r k e t ; whereas in exceptional cases provision should be
thereof,                                                            m a d e for the person responsible for placing the p r o d u c t
                                                                    on the C o m m u n i t y m a r k e t to be able to affix the C E
                                                                    m a r k ; subject to compliance with the provisions
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,                  applicable to the manufacturer or his a u t h o r i z e d
                                                                    representative established in the C o m m u n i t y , if the latter
                                                                    d o not affix the C E m a r k ; whereas, furthermore, the
In cooperation with the European Parliament,                        notified b o d y must always affix its identification n u m b e r
                                                                    next to the C E m a r k w h e n it is involved in the
                                                                    p r o d u c t i o n control p h a s e ;
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and
Social Committee,
                                                                    W h e r e a s the aim of the C E m a r k is to indicate the
                                                                    conformity of a p r o d u c t with the levels of protection of
Whereas the Council has already adopted several                     collective interests laid d o w n by the directives and to
directives aimed at abolishing technical barriers to trade          indicate that the economic o p e r a t o r is subject to all
pursuant to Article 100a of the Treaty on the basis of the          assessment procedures laid d o w n in C o m m u n i t y law in
principles laid down in the resolution of 7 May 1985                respect of his p r o d u c t ;
concerning a new approach to technical harmonization
and standardization ('); whereas these directives provide           W h e r e a s , therefore, the affixing of o t h e r marks or indi-
for the affixing of the CE mark, but in a non-uniform               cations concerning the date of placing on the m a r k e t ,
manner; whereas it is therefore necessary to harmonize              conformity with quality standards or                          pictograms
these provisions in particular for products which may               concerning a particular use of the p r o d u c t are
come within the scope of several of these directives;               compatible with the C E m a r k provided that n o confusion
                                                                    m a y arise as to the meaning and graphic design of the
                                                                    different m a r k s ;
Whereas the Commission, in its communication of 15
June 1989 concerning a global approach to certification
and testing (2) proposed the creation of common rules               W h e r e a s the M e m b e r States should give              appropriate
for a CE mark of conformity with a single graphic                   protection to the C E mark,
symbol; whereas the Council in its resolution of 21
December 1989 concerning a global approach to
conformity assessment (3) adopted as a guiding principle            HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
the adoption of such a coherent approach with regard to
the use of the CE mark;                                                                                Article 1
                                                                                                          Scope
Whereas the two basic features of the new approach to               This Regulation lays down rules for affixing the CE
be applied are therefore the essential requirements and             mark of conformity provided for in the Community
the conformity assessment procedures;                               legislation in respect of the design, manufacture,
                                                                    marketing, putting into service and/or use of the
                                                                    industrial products.
Whereas in Council Decision 90/683/EEC of 13 De-
cember concerning the modules for the various phases of
the conformity assessment procedures which are                                                         Article 2
intended to be used in the technical harmonization                                                     Meaning
                                                                    1.       The CE mark affixed to the industrial products
O OJ No C 136, 4. 6. 1985, p. 1.
 2                                                                  indicates that the natural or legal person who affixed the
( ) O J N o C 2 3 1 , 8. 9. 1989, p. 3;
    and OJ No C 267, 19. 10. 1989, p. 3.
(3) OJ No C 10, 16. 1. 1990, p. 1.                                  (4) OJ No L 380, 31. 12. 1990, p. 13.
 ---pagebreak---  20. 6. 91                               Official Journal of the European Communities                            N o C 160/15
 mark or had it affixed has ascertained that the product            2.     Where a product is covered by several directives
 conforms to all binding Community provisions applicable            and several bodies may be involved in the production
 to it.                                                             control phase, one of these bodies shall bring together
                                                                    and coordinate all of the work. Only the identification
                                                                    number of this body shall appear after the CE mark.
 2.     The legally binding Community provisions referred
 to in paragraph 1 are those which cover the products
 concerned and which provide for appropriate conformity            The identification numbers of the other notified bodies
 assessment procedures, to the exclusion of any differing           shall appear either on the declaration or on the
 national provisions.                                               certificate of conformity.
 3.     Any industrial product covered by the provisions            3.    The identification number shall be allocated by the
 referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 must bear the CE mark            Commission when it is notified of the bodies. The lists of
 except in cases provided for in the specific directives.           notified bodies shall be published by the Commission in
                                                                    the Official Journal of the European Communities and
                                                                   shall be constantly updated.
                            Article 3
                  Graphic design and affixing
                                                                    4.    A notified body shall be given the same number
 1.     The CE mark of conformity shall consist of the             when it is notified under several different directives. The
 initials ' C € ' as shown below:                                  identification number shall be affixed solely where a
                                                                   directive provides that a notified body must be involved
                                                                    in the production control phase.
                      C€
These initials shall consist of semi-circular letters. The
 length of the bar inside the ' € ' shall be at least 80 % of
                                                                    1.
                                                                                              Article 5
                                                                                 Additional information authorized
                                                                          Where specific directives so provide, the CE mark
                                                                   (followed where relevant, by the identification number of
                                                                   the notified body) shall be accompanied either by a
the outer radius of the semicircle.                                pictogram relating to a particular use of the product or
                                                                   by information concerning the category of use of the
                                                                   product.
2.      Unless the directives specifically provide otherwise,
the CE mark shall be at least 5 mm in height. The
thickness of the initials shall be at least one-fifth of the       2.     Any other mark, such as a mark of conformity with
height of the CE mark.                                             a standard or a mark of conformity with other
                                                                   Community provisions not superseding national law,
                                                                   may be affixed to the product, the packaging or the
3.      The CE mark shall be affixed to the product or to          documents accompanying the product provided it does
the data plate. However, where the kind of product does            not reduce the visibility and legibility of the CE mark.
not allow or justify this, the CE mark shall be affixed to
the packaging, where its exists, and to the accompanying
documents where the directives provide for such
                                                                                              Article 6
documents.
                                                                                 Additional information prohibited
                                                                   It is prohibited to affix any other mark, sign or indi-
4.      The CE mark shall be affixed visibly, legibly and
                                                                   cation which may be confused with the CE mark in
indelibly.
                                                                   meaning or design, in particular where their use may
                                                                   imply a link between the product concerned and any
                                                                   Community legislation referred to in Article 2 when such
                            Article 4                              a link does not exist.
                    Notified body and year
 1.     The CE mark of conformity shall be followed by             However, the holder of a registered trade mark which
the identification number of the notified body within the          may be confused with the CE mark may continue to use
meaning of Decision 90/683/EEC where the body is                   that registered mark until 31 December 1999 provided
involved in the production control phase, within the               that the mark in question:
meaning of that Decision, and by the two last digits of
the year in which the mark was affixed, as specified in
Article 3 (3) and (4).                                             (a) was registered no later than 31 December 1985;
 ---pagebreak--- No C 160/16                                Official Journal of the European Communities                                     20. 6. 91
(b) has actually been used up to the adoption of this                    2.    Member States shall adopt all necessary national
    Regulation.                                                          provisions to prohibit any possibility of confusion and to
                                                                         prevent any misuse of the CE mark, these provisions
                           Article 7                                     being applicable from 1 January 1993.
                 Affixing of the CE mark
                                                                         3.    Member States shall lay down appropriate legal
1.   The CE mark shall be affixed by the manufacturer                    penalties for any infringement.
or his authorized representative established in the
Community, or else by the person responsible for placing
                                                                                                   Article 9
the product on the Community market in accordance
with Article 2.                                                                           Amendment of directives
                                                                         The provisions concerning the affixing and use of the
2.   The identification number of the notified body shall
                                                                         CE mark laid down in the directives indicated in the
be affixed under that body's responsibility either by the
                                                                         Annex hereto are hereby amended by the provisions of
body itself or by the manufacturer or his authorized
                                                                         this Regulation, where they do not conform thereto.
agent established in the Community.
                           Article 8                                                              Article 10
                           Penalties                                                           Final provisions
1.    If any Member State or notified body finds that the                This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 January 1993.
CE mark has been improperly affixed, the product
concerned shall be prohibited or shall no longer be                      This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and
marketed.                                                                directly applicable in all Member States.
                                                                  ANNEX
             Directives which have been adopted in accordance with the criteria of the new approach and which meet
             the criteria of Article 2 (1) of this Regulation.
             (a) Directives adopted
                     Council Directive 87/404/EEC of 25 June 1987 on the harmonization of the laws of the Member
                     States relating to simple pressure vessels (').
                     Council Directive 88/378/EEC of 3 May 1988 on the approximation of the laws of the Member
                     States concerning the safety of toys (2).
                     Council Directive 89/106/EEC of 21 December 1988 on the approximation of the laws, regulations
                     and administrative provisions of the Member States relating to construction products (3).
                     Council Directive 89/336/EEC of 3 May 1989 on the approximation of the laws of the Member
                     States relating to electromagnetic compatibility (4).
                     Council Directive 89/392/EEC of 14 June 1989 on the approximation of the laws of the Member
                     States relating to machinery (').
             (•) OJ No  L 220, 8. 8. 1987, p. 48.
             (2) OJ No  L 187, 16. 7. 1988, p. 1.
             (3) OJ No  L 40, 11. 2. 1989, p. 12.
             (4) OJ No  L 139, 23. 5. 1989, p. 19.
             (s) OJ No  L 183, 29. 6. 1989, p. 29.
 ---pagebreak--- 20. 6. 91                               Official Journal of the European Communities                           N o C 160/17
               — Council Directive 89/686/EEC of 21 December 1989 on the approximation of the laws of the
                  Member States relating to personal protective equipment (').
               — Council Directive 90/384/EEC of 20 June 1990 on the harmonization of the laws of the Member
                  States relating to non-automatic weighing instruments (2).
               — Council Directive 90/385/EEC of 20 June 1990 on the approximation of the laws of the Member
                  States relating to active implantable medical devices (5).
               — Council Directive 90/396/EEC of 29 June 1990 on the approximation of the laws of the Member
                  States relating to appliances burning gaseous fuels (4).
           (b) Common position
               — Council Directive on the approximation of the laws of the Member States concerning telecommuni-
                  cations terminal equipment, including the mutual recognition of the conformity thereof.
          (') OJ No L 399,  30. 12. 1989, p. 18.
          (2) OJ No L 189,  20. 7. 1990, p. 1.
          O   OJ No L 189,  20. 7. 1990, p. 17.
          O   OJ No L 196,  26. 7. 1990, p. 15.