Considerations on COM(2024)561 - Amendment of Directive 2014/32/EU as regards electric vehicle supply equipment, compressed gas dispensers, and electricity, gas and thermal energy meters - Main contents
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dossier | COM(2024)561 - Amendment of Directive 2014/32/EU as regards electric vehicle supply equipment, compressed gas dispensers, and electricity, ... |
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document | COM(2024)561 ![]() |
date | November 29, 2024 |
(2) The scope and the associated essential requirements covered by Directive 2014/32/EU were already established by Directive 2004/22/EC 12 , of which Directive 2014/32/EU is a recast. Thus, they have remained unchanged for more than 20 years. In the meantime, new measuring instruments have appeared on the market that are not covered by Directive 2014/32/EU. That is notably the case for electric vehicle supply equipment and compressed gas dispensers, which are important for the successful rollout of clean mobility. Moreover, Directive 2014/32/EU does not cover thermal energy meters for cooling applications. In addition, as far as electricity and gas meters are concerned, Directive 2014/32/EU neither covers the use of hydrogen and other gases that can be used as alternatives to more traditional gases, nor enables to take full advantage of smart metering which plays an important role in achieving the Union climate objectives. Therefore, it is appropriate to amend the scope of Directive 2014/32/EU and the essential requirements set out in the Annexes to that Directive in order to take into account technological progress.
(3) Annexes I, IV, V and VI to Directive 2014/32/EU are no longer technology neutral as they do not provide essential requirements corresponding to new technologies, which provide improved protection to consumers, and should thus be amended.
(4) Annex I to Directive 2014/32/EU should be amended in order to take into account the roll out of smart gas and electricity meters and the new measuring instruments covered by the new instrument-specific Annexes.
(5) Annex IV to Directive 2014/32/EU should be amended to take into account the growing use of hydrogen and other gases that can be used as alternatives to more traditional gases and the rollout of smart gas meters.
(6) Annex V to Directive 2014/32/EU should be amended to take account of the rollout of smart electricity meters.
(7) A new Annex Va to Directive 2014/32/EU should be inserted in order to address the need for harmonised essential requirements with regard to measuring systems for electric vehicle supply equipment.
(8) Annex VI to Directive 2014/32/EU should be amended to include thermal energy meters for cooling applications in order to avoid additional certification of such products at national level.
(9) The increased use of compressed gases, such as hydrogen and natural gas requires the insertion of a new Annex VIIa to Directive 2014/32/EU on measuring systems for compressed gas dispensers.
(10) Since the objective of this Directive, namely to ensure that measuring instruments on the market fulfil the requirements providing for a high level of protection of the public interests covered by this Directive while guaranteeing the functioning of the internal market, 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 Directive does not go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve that objective.
(11) In order to enable distributors to supply stock of measuring instruments that have been placed on the market before the date of application of the national measures transposing this Directive, it is necessary to provide for reasonable transitional arrangements that allow the making available on the market and putting into use of measuring instruments that have already been placed on the market in accordance with Directive 2014/32/EU before the date of application of the national measures transposing this Directive.
(12) Moreover, in order to provide sufficient time for manufacturers to adapt their products to the essential requirements set out in the Annexes to this Directive, it is also necessary to provide for reasonable transitional arrangements that allow the making available on the market and putting into use of measuring instruments that have been placed on the market in accordance with national certificates or for which a certificate was issued under Directive 2014/32/EU before the date of application of the national measures transposing this Directive, and that will fall in the scope of Directive 2014/32/EU as of the date of entry into force of this Directive.
(13) Directive 2014/32/EU should therefore be amended accordingly.