CELEX: 51994PC0278
Language: en
Date: 1994-06-30
Title: Amended proposal for a EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND COUNCIL DIRECTIVE amending the proposal of the Commission on the approximation of the laws of the Member States concerning pressure equipment

I      COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMVIUNITIES
                                                         COM(94) 278 final - COO 462
                                                         Brussels, 30.06.1994
• jA»«:.
                                     Amended proposal for a
                        EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND COUNCIL DIRECTIVE
            amending t h e p r o p o s a l of t h e Commission on t h e a p p r o x i m a t i o n
                of t h e laws of t h e Member S t a t e s concerning p r e s s u r e
                                                equipment
              (presented by the Commission pursuant to Article 189 A (2)
                                          of the EC-Treaty)
 ---pagebreak---                            EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
On 19 April 1994 the European Parliament gave its opinion1 on the
proposal for a Council directive on the approximation of the laws of
the Member States concerning pressure equipment2.
The 25 amendments adopted relate mainly to the field of application, to
standardization and administration of the directive and also to
technical requirements.
The Commission accepted amendments concerning:
   editorial matters which improve the clarity and the intention of the
   text (amendments 2, 5, 6, 7 and 22);
   exclusion of equipment for vacuum intended to contain non-dangerous
    fluids from the scope of the directive (amendment 3 ) ;
    improvements of the clarity or safety level for technical
    requirements (amendments 14, 23, 24 and 25);
    responsibilities of competent authorities of Member States to ensure
   protection of persons at exhibitions. The precision is justified
    since these authorities are responsible for ensuring safety under
    these conditions (amendment 13);
    suppression of the possibility to use national standards where no
    harmonized standards exist since the procedures involved presuppose
    a time consuming screening procedure by those who prepare harmonized
    standards (amendments 15 and 16) thus delaying adoption of European
    standards;
    alignment of requirements concerning technical staff of user
    inspectorates with those for technical staff of notified bodies
    which in fact must be the same (amendment 19).
The Commission did not accept amendments concerning:
 2
   OJ N° C 246 of 09.06.1993
 ---pagebreak--- consolidation of directive 87/404/EEC with the pressure equipment
directive since such consolidation would only be justified if the
pressure equipment proposal modified directive 87/404/EEC (amendment
1);
amendment related to the definition of accessories which may lead to
misinterpretation (amendment 4);
inclusion of military equipment in the scope because of its specific
nature and the need for confidentiality (amendment 8);
inclusion of equipment for nuclear use since complex regulations and
extensive approval procedures apply which go beyond what is
requested for pressure equipment (amendment 9);
inclusion of equipment for petroleum and gas extraction because
specific international standards and regulations are applied and no
trade barriers exist (amendment 10);
inclusion of pressure equipment for the transport of dangerous
goods. That equipment must remain excluded since it will be covered
by the future directive on the carriage of dangerous goods which is
based on international transport agreements (amendment 11);
an addition to article  2.2, specifying that measures relating to
worker protection must  not lead to trade barriers. Such an addition
is not necessary since  article 2 already specifically refers to the
 free movement of goods by reference to the Treaty (amendment 12);
replacement of the 83/189 Committee by a special committee which
would involve technical experts. This is not acceptable since the
 83/189 Committee is a horizontal instrument for all directives based
on the new approach. Experts can be called by that Committee when
necessary (amendment 17);
 ---pagebreak--- further encouragement to use harmonized standards. The new approach
directives include the appropriate encouragement i.e. if standards
are applied the presumption of conformity applies and the proof of
conformity to be supplied by the manufacturer is simplified
considerably (amendment 18);
information to be delivered in the framework of restriction or
refusal procedures (article 13). This is not necessary as the
directive already provides for this in conjunction with the
safeguard clause in article 7 (amendment 20);
intensification of restricting measures (article 14) since measures
might be appropriate for either the placing on the market or the
putting into service (amendment 21).
 ---pagebreak---                          Amended proposal for a
             EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND COUNCIL DIRECTIVE
      amending the proposal of the Commission on the approximation
          of the laws of the Hmnher States concerning pressure
                                equipment
Further to the Opinion given by the European Parliament on 19 April
1994 on the proposal for a Council directive on the approximation of
the laws of the Member States concerning pressure equipment and in
accordance with the second paragraph of Article 189 A) of the Treaty on
the European Union, the Commission decided to amend the aforementioned
proposal as follows:
            INITIAL TEXT                        MODIFIED TEXT
I.                         RECITAL 18a (new)
                                     Whereas the requirements laid down
                                     in the annexes should be made as
                                     clear as possible so as to allow
                                     all users, including SMEs, to
                                     comply with them as easily as
                                     possible;
II.                           ARTICLE 1(1)
 1. This directive applies to the    1. This directive applies to the
design, manufacture and conformity   design, manufacture and conformity
assessment of pressure equipment     assessment of pressure equipment
 subject to an allowable pressure    subject to an allowable pressure
 PS greater than 0.5 bar or less     PS greater than 0.5 bar or, when
than - 0.5 bar.                      intended to contain dangerous
                                     fluids, less than - 0.5 bar.
 ---pagebreak--- III.                      ARTICLE 1(2) (10)
10. 'hot water' means water which   This amendment does not apply to
is at a temperature above 110°C.    the English version.
IV.                        ARTICLE 1(3)(1)
1. equipment as covered by          1. equipment as covered by
directive 87/404/EEC;               directive 87/404/EEC relating to
                                    simple pressure vessels;
V.                         ARTICLE 1(3)(2)
2. equipment as covered by          2. equipment as covered by
directive 75/324/EEC;               directive 75/324/EEC relating to
                                    aerosol dispensers;
 ---pagebreak--- VI.                          ARTICLE 2<(3)
3. At trade fairs, exhibitions,      3. At trade fairs, exhibitions,
demonstrations, etc., Member         demonstrations, etc., Member
States shall not prevent the         States shall not prevent the
showing of pressure equipment        showing of pressure equipment
which does not conform to the        which does not conform to the
provisions of this directive,        provisions of this directive,
provided that a visible sign         provided that a visible sign
clearly indicates that such          clearly indicates that such
pressure equipment does not          pressure equipment does not
conform and that it is not for       conform and that it is not for
sale until it has been brought       sale until it has been brought
into conformity by the               into conformity by the
manufacturer or his authorized       manufacturer or his authorized
representative established in the    representative established in the
Community. Where non-conforming      Community. Where non-conforming
pressure equipment is to be          pressure equipment is to be
pressurized during a demonstration   pressurized during a demonstration
it shall only be pressurized with    it shall only be pressurized with
 the agreement of a notified body.   the agreement of a notified body.
                                      In consultation with the competent
                                     authorities of the Member States,
                                     appropriate safety measures must
                                     be taken at demonstrations to
                                      ensure the protection of persons.
 ---pagebreak--- VII                        ARTICLE 3(1)(3)(a)
 (a) gases, liquefied gases and       (a) gases, liquefied gases and
     liquids at a temperature above       liquids at a temperature above
     their atmospheric-pressure           their atmospheric-pressure
     boiling point including              boiling point including
     vapours and hot water with a         vapours and hot water with a
     DN greater than 32 and a             DN greater than 2_5 and a
     product of PS and DN greater         product of PS and DN greater
     than 1000 bar;                       than 1000 bar;
VIII.                        ARTICLE 5(2)(b)
 (b) with the national standards      Deleted
     applicable to them referred to
     in paragraph 4 in so far as,
     in the areas covered by such
     standards, no harmonized
     standards exist,
 ---pagebreak--- IX.                          ARTICLE 5(4)
4. Member States shall              Deleted
communicate to the Commission the
texts of their national standards
as referred to in paragraph 2(b)
which they regard as complying
with the essential requirements
referred to in article 3. The
Commission shall forward these
national standards to the other
Member States. In accordance with
the procedure provided for in
Article 6(2), it shall notify the
Member States of those national
standards which are presumed to
conform with the essential
requirements referred to in
Article 3.
X.                           ARTICLE 11(3)
 3. Member States shall apply the    3. Member States shall apply the
criteria set out in ANNEX V for      criteria set out in Annex V for
the authorization of user            the authorization of user
 inspectorates. User inspectorates   inspectorates. User inspectorates
 that satisfy the criteria fixed by that satisfy the criteria fixed by
 the relevant harmonized standards   the relevant harmonized standards
 shall be presumed to satisfy the    shall be presumed to satisfy the
 relevant criteria.                  relevant criteria. The
                                     requirements for user
                                     inspectorates shall respect the
                                     criteria applicable to notified
                                     bodies pursuant to Annex IV(4).
 ---pagebreak---                                     10
XI.                    ANNEX 1(2.2.3), 4th indent
     avoiding access whilst               physically preventing access
     pressure of vacuum exists,           whilst pressure or vacuum
                                          exists,
XII.                          ANNEX 1(3.1)
3.1 Qualification of manufacturer    3.1 Assessment of manufacturer's
                                          capability
     The manufacturer shall have
     the technical capability and         The manufacturer shall have
     have at his disposal all             the technical capability and
     appropriate means to carry out       have at his disposal all
     satisfactorily the manufacture       appropriate means to carry out
     of pressure equipment and in         satisfactorily the manufacture
     particular properly qualified        of pressure equipment and in
     personnel for the                    particular properly qualified
                                          personnel for the
  - surveillance of the whole
     manufacturing process              - surveillance of the whole
                                          manufacturing process
   - joining of materials
                                        - joining of materials
   - appropriate testing;
                                        - appropriate testing.
                                      The assessment of the
                                      manufacturer's capability shall
                                      always be carried out by an
                                      authorized body and shall take
                                      into account the special
                                      certification procedure which the
                                      manufacturer intends to apply.
 ---pagebreak---                                    11
XIII.                       ANNEX 1(3.2.4)
Traceability of materials shall be Traceability of materials used in
ensured at least up to the final    the essential pressurized parts
acceptance of the manufactured      shall be ensured at least up to
pressure equipment.                 the final acceptance of the
                                    manufactured pressure equipment.
XIV.           ANNEX 1(5), 2nd paragraph, introduction
This pressure equipment shall be    This pressure equipment shall be
calculated, designed and            calculated, designed and
constructed so as ta minimize       constructed so as to avoid or
risks from the transfer of heat.    minimize risks from the transfer
In particular it shall be ensured, of heat. In particular it shall be
where applicable, that:             ensured, where applicable, that:
 ---pagebreak---                                                                      ESN 0254-1475
                                                              COM(94) 278 final
                                                      DOCUMENTS
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                                                             ISBN 92-77-71281-3
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