PROPOSAL FOR A REGULATION
OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL
LAYING DOWN HARMONISED CONDITIONS FOR THE MARKETING OF THE CONSTRUCTION PRODUCTS - ongoing discussions
- Celex No.: 52008PC0311
The text is available on the following websites: >.>.>.>
The description of the agenda, aims and benefits:
Following a wide consultation of stakeholders and an impact assessment, the Commission, within its Better Regulation/Simplification programme, proposes replacing Council Directive 89/106/EEC by a Regulation with the aim to better define the objectives of Community legislation and make its implementation easier by providing some simplified mechanisms especially addressed to alleviate the administrative burden for enterprises and, in particular, for SMEs.
The objective of the Construction Products Directive (89/106/EEC), referred to hereafter as the CPD, is to ensure free circulation and use of construction products in the Internal Market.
In October 2005, the Commission launched a three year rolling programme for simplification as part of its Better Regulation: Simplification Strategy. The aim is to make legislation less burdensome, easier to apply and thus more effective, while also preserving EU policy objectives. Simplification of the CPD is one of the initiatives under this Strategy, with the aim being “to clarify and reduce the administrative burden of the CPD, in particular for SMEs, through increased flexibility in the formulation and use of technical specifications, lighter certification rules, and the elimination of the implementation obstacles that so far have hampered the creation of a full internal market for construction products”.
The main goal of this Proposal is to: - clarify the current problematic issues in the construction sector (the current situation - confusion as to the meaning of the CE marking under current Directive, concerns over the functioning, neutrality, competence and transparency of certain Approval Bodies; confusion regarding the significance, meaning and content of harmonised European standards; unnecessary burden for the manufacturers caused by imprecise application of the Attestation of Conformity procedures),
- reduce the administrative burdens for manufacturers, in particular for SMEs,
- ensure free marketing of construction products,
- remove the barriers to trade.
Difficulties and disputed points: - Declaration of performance – defining the conditions under which the producer should be obliged to draw up the Declaration of performance (which is the only means available for bringing forward the information about thr product's performance), deciding what information should be obligatory to declare, CE marking – clarifying the meaning of the CE marking for construction products, the relationship between the CE marking attached under CPR and CE marking under other Community harmonisation legislation, coexistence between the CE marking and voluntary markings,
- EADs (European Assessment Documents) – necessity to define these new documents (which replace CUAPs and ETAGs), the process for their adoption (terms, involvement of the EC in this process, content and publication of EADs),
- hENs – clarifying the concept and role of hENs under CPR
- simplified procedure for microenterprises, individually manufactured products etc. - disputes whether there should be any simplified procedures based on the size of a company; necessiy to decide when and how to apply the simplified procedures.
- involvment and duties of the Standing Committee on Construction under CPR,
- Product Contact Points – defining its status and duties
- involvment/mentioning of a “user” and its duties under CPR
Time sequence: 23. 5. 2008 | Adoption by Commission | 23. 5. 2008 | Transmission to Council and to EP | 13. 6. 2008 | WP during the SI PRES | 18. 7., 2. 9., 6. 11., 18. 11., and 10. 12. 2008 | WP during the FR PRES | 12. 1., 26. 1., 6. 2., 16. 2., 23. 2., 2. 3., 16. and 17. 3., 27. 3., 24. 4., 11. 5., 8. 6. and 23. 6. 2009 | WP during the CZ PRES | 15. 7., 24. 7., 15. and 16. 9., 30. 9., 13. 10., 23. 10., 10. and 11. 11., 18. 11., 1. 12. 2009 | WP during the SE PRES | 15. 1., 28. 1. 2010 | WP during the ES PRES | 4. 2., 17. and 18. 2., 3. 3., 5. 3., 17. 3., 24. 3., 15. 4., 29. 4., 5. 5., 25. and 26. 5. 2010 | Expected meetings during the ES PRES | 25. 2. 2009 | European Economic and Social Committee Opinion | 24. 4. 2009 | EP opinion 1st reading | 20. 10. 2009 | Commission position on EP amendments on 1st reading | 24. 4. 2009; | Adoption amended proposal | 21. 10. 2009 | Transmission amended proposal to Council and to EP | - | WP Jurists/Linguists | - | Approval – Council | - | Signature by EP and Council | - | Published in OJ EU | Entry into force:
This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
However, Articles 3 to 21, 26, 27 and 28, Articles 46 to 50, 52 and 53 as well as Annexes I, II, III and V shall apply from 1 July 2011.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
Related documents:
European Parliament – The Legislative Observatory
PreLex – Monitoring of the decision-making process between institutions
Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee |
