Directive 1998/37 - Approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to machinery - Main contents

official title

 

Legal instrument	Directive
Number legal act	Directive 1998/37
Original proposal	COM(1996)667
CELEX number i	31998L0037

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Directive 98/37/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 June 1998 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to machinery

Official Journal L 207 , 23/07/1998 P. 0001 - 0046

DIRECTIVE 98/37/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 22 June 1998 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to machinery

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 100a thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee (1),

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 189b of the Treaty (2),

• (1) 

  Whereas Council Directive 89/392/EEC of 14 June 1989 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to machinery (3) has been frequently and substantially amended; whereas for reasons of clarity and rationality the said Directive should be consolidated;

• (2) 

  Whereas the internal market consists of an area without internal frontiers within which the free movement of goods, persons, services and capital is guaranteed;

• (3) 

  Whereas the machinery sector is an important part of the engineering industry and is one of the industrial mainstays of the Community economy;

• (4) 

  Whereas the social cost of the large number of accidents caused directly by the use of machinery can be reduced by inherently safe design and construction of machinery and by proper installations and maintenance;

• (5) 

  Whereas Member States are responsible for ensuring the health and safety on their territory of persons and, where appropriate, of domestic animals and goods and, in particular, of workers, notably in relation to the risks arising out of the use of machinery;

• (6) 

  Whereas, in the Member States, the legislative systems regarding accident prevention are very different; whereas the relevant compulsory provisions, frequently supplemented by de facto mandatory technical specifications and/or voluntary standards, do not necessarily lead to different levels of health and safety, but nevertheless, owing to their disparities, constitute barriers to trade within the Community; whereas, furthermore, conformity certification and national certification systems for machinery differ considerably;

• (7) 

  Whereas existing national health and safety provisions providing protection against the risks caused by machinery must be approximated to ensure free movement on the market of machinery without lowering existing justified levels of protection in the Member States; whereas the provisions of this Directive concerning the design and construction of machinery, essential for a safer working environment, shall be accompanied by specific provisions concerning the prevention of certain risks to which workers can be exposed at work, as well as by provisions based on the organisation of safety of workers in the working environment;

• (8) 

  Whereas Community law, in its present form, provides - by way of derogation from one of the fundamental rules of the Community, namely the free movement of goods - that obstacles to movement within the Community resulting from disparities in national legislation relating to the marketing of products must be accepted in so far as the provisions concerned can be recognised as being necessary to satisfy imperative requirements;

• (9) 

  Whereas paragraphs 65 and 68 of the White Paper on the completion of the internal market, approved by the European Council in June 1985, provide for a new approach to legislative harmonisation; whereas, therefore, the harmonisation of laws in this case must be limited to those requirements necessary to satisfy the imperative and essential health and safety requirements relating to machinery;...

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