Considerations on COM(2023)178 - Approval and market surveillance of non-road mobile machinery circulating on public roads - Main contents
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This page contains a limited version of this dossier in the EU Monitor.
| dossier | COM(2023)178 - Approval and market surveillance of non-road mobile machinery circulating on public roads. |
|---|---|
| document | COM(2023)178 |
| date | March 30, 2023 |
(2) Certain aspects of the design and construction of non-road mobile machinery are already covered by Union harmonisation legislation, in particular Regulation (EU) 2016/1628 of the European Parliament and of the Council24, Directive 2000/14/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council25, Directive 2014/30/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council26 or Directive 2014/53/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council27, and Directive 2006/42/EC.
(3) As regards the safety of mobile machinery, Directive 2006/42/EC is the main regulatory act applying to that machinery when placed on the Union market. It sets out essential health and safety requirements covering the off-road travelling function of mobile machinery such as slowing down, stopping, braking, driving positions, restraint systems, etc. However, the essential health and safety requirements, set out in that Directive, are only designed to address safety when machinery is at work, but do not cover the safety aspects of this machinery when circulating on public roads.
(4) Due to the absence of harmonised rules on the road safety of non-road mobile machinery, economic operators that produce or make available on the Union market non-road mobile machinery are facing significant costs associated to the different regulatory requirements in the Members States. In addition, the road safety, for that machinery, is not ensured uniformly in the whole territory of the Union. Consequently, it is necessary to establish harmonised rules at Union level with respect to the road safety of non-road mobile machinery.
(5) For the purposes of the development and operation of the internal market of the Union, it is appropriate to establish a harmonised type-approval system for the road safety of non-road mobile machinery intended to circulate on public roads.
(6) Since the purpose of this Regulation is to address the risks stemming from the road circulation of non-road mobile machinery designed and constructed for performing work and not for the transport of persons, animals or goods (except to carry materials that contribute to the operation of the machine), this Regulation should not apply to machinery whose only objective is the mere transport of persons, animals or goods. All types of new personal mobility devices (stand-up and seated e-scooters, electrically assisted pedal cycles including electrically power assisted cycles and those intended for carrying commercial cargo, self-balancing vehicles including self-balancing personal transporters and hoverboards, electric unicycles, electric skateboards and ‘One-wheel’ boards, among others) will therefore not be subject to this Regulation.
(7) Given the purpose of this Regulation to address road circulation of non-road mobile machinery designed and constructed for performing work, and not to transport workers, mobile machinery which is equipped with more than three seating positions, including the driver’s seating position, should also be excluded from this Regulation.
(8) Slow non-road mobile machinery is the majority of the non-road mobile machinery market. In addition, some Member States have established a road circulation speed limit for non-road mobile machinery at 40 km/h. Moreover, as road safety risks are proportional to the road speed, it would not be coherent for a framework, that addresses safety risks only for non-road mobile machinery and not for regular vehicles to cover fast non-road mobile machinery. This Regulation should therefore not apply to mobile machinery with a maximum design speed of more than 40 Km/h.
(9) Individual approvals can be of use for machinery that is circulating in the territory of only one Member State and therefore such approvals should be excluded from the scope of this Regulation.
(10) Given that small and medium enterprises produce non-road mobile machinery in small series, of which the number of units that are made available on the market, registered or entered into service do not exceed, per year and in each Member State, 50 units per that type, it is appropriate to allow for national small series type-approval and should be therefore excluded from the scope of this Regulation. The manufacturer, should, however, be able to apply for an EU type-approval in order to benefit from the free movement.
(11) Given that, in certain instances, non-road mobile machinery, due to its excessive dimensions, would not allow for sufficient manoeuvrability on public roads or, due to its excessive weight or masses, could damage the surface of public roads or other road infrastructure, it is appropriate to provide the discretion to Member States to prohibit the circulation of such machinery, even if it has been type-approved in accordance with this Regulation.
(12) In order to minimise the risk of injury to persons and of damage to road infrastructure, while a non-road mobile machinery is circulating on a public road, technical requirements should be set out. The technical requirements should include subjects relating to road safety such as vehicle structure integrity, maximum design speed, speed governor, speed limitation devices and speedometer, braking devices, steering, field of vision, and masses and dimensions
(13) In order to reduce administrative burden for economic operators, this Regulation should allow for the use of components and separate technical units in non-road mobile machinery that have been type-approved in accordance to Regulation (EU) 167/2013 or Regulation (EU) 2018/858.
(14) All economic operators intervening in the supply and distribution chain should take appropriate measures to ensure that they only make available on the market non-road mobile machinery which is in conformity with this Regulation. It is necessary to provide for a clear and proportionate distribution of obligations which correspond to the role of each economic operator in the supply and distribution chain.
(15) With a view to ensure that the procedure for monitoring conformity of production, which is one of the cornerstones of the EU type-approval system, has been correctly implemented and functions properly, manufacturers should be regularly checked by the competent authority or by an appropriately qualified technical service designated for that purpose.
(16) In order to ensure legal certainty, it is necessary to clarify that rules on Union market surveillance and control of products entering the Union market provided for in Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 of the European Parliament and of the Council28 apply to non-road mobile machinery covered by this Regulation and in relation to the aspects addressed or covered by the technical requirements of this Regulation and thereby amend Annex I to that Regulation in order to list, in that Annex, the references of this Regulation.
(17) In order to ensure uniform conditions for the implementation of the EU type-approval procedure and certain administrative provisions of this Regulation, implementing powers should be conferred on the Commission. Those powers should be exercised in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council29.
(18) Closer coordination between national authorities through information exchange and coordinated assessments under the direction of a coordinating authority is fundamental in order to ensure a consistently high level of safety and of health within the internal market. It would also lead to more efficient use of scarce resources at national level. For this purpose, an advisory Forum should be established for Member States and the Commission with the objective of promoting best practices, exchanging information and coordinating activities related to the enforcement of this Regulation. Given the establishment of such a Forum and considering its tasks, it should be not be necessary to establish a separate administrative cooperation group. as required by Article 30 (2) of Regulation (EU) 2019/1020. However, the Forum should be considered as an administrative cooperation group for the purposes of the Union Product Compliance Network referred to in Article 29 of that Regulation.
(19) In order to supplement this Regulation, the power to adopt acts in accordance with Article 290 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union should be delegated to the Commission in respect of the harmonisation of the thresholds that may be applied by Member Stets in relation to the excessive dimensions and masses of non-road mobile machinery, the applicability of the elements of the technical requirements, for laying down detailed technical requirements, test procedures and test methods, for virtual testing, for arrangements with regard to conformity of production and for specifying rules in relation to technical services. It is of particular importance that the Commission carry out appropriate consultations during its preparatory work, including at expert level, and that those consultations be conducted in accordance with the principles laid down in the Interinstitutional Agreement of 13 April 2016 on Better Law-Making30. In particular, to ensure equal participation in the preparation of delegated acts, the European Parliament and the Council receive all documents at the same time as Member States' experts, and their experts systematically have access to meetings of Commission expert groups dealing with the preparation of delegated acts.
(20) Member States should lay down rules on penalties applicable to infringements of this Regulation and make sure that they are implemented. Those penalties should be effective, proportionate and dissuasive.
(21) The Commission should report to the European Parliament and the Council on the operation of this Regulation and, based on information provided by Member States, reconsider, if needed, the question of whether to submit an exclusive legislative proposal for the harmonisation of the individual approval system at Union level or extend the transitional period for the national type-approval.
(22) In order to enable Member States and national authorities as well as economic operators to prepare for the application of the new rules introduced by this Regulation, a date of application falling after the date of the entry into force should be set. It is also necessary to provide for a transitional period allowing the manufacturers, during that period, to comply with this Regulation and benefit from the free movement or to comply with the relevant national type-approval legislation.
(23) Since the objective of this Regulation, namely laying down harmonised technical requirements, administrative requirements and procedures for the type-approval of new non-road mobile machinery, while circulating on public roads, as well as the rules and procedures for the market surveillance of such machinery, 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. 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.