Activites

• 1997/12/08 Final act published in Official Journal
• 1997/11/20 Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
  • T4-0585/1997 summary

    In adopting the report by Mr Werner LANGEN (PPE, D) on application of the 'Construction Products' Directive, the European Parliament calls on the Commission to: - do everything in its power to reduce appreciably the period of at least five years it forecasts for the completion of standards relating to many construction products and to agree with the European standardization institutions on clear timetables for the establishing of standards; - adopt the standardization mandates and implementing decisions relating to the outstanding product groups by mid-1998; - ensure that the interests of consumers and persons concerned with environmental protection are upheld in the EU's standardization bodies. It proposes that, when handing down a standardization mandate, the Commission should at the same time enter into an agreement which imposes daily penalties if the deadline for the completion of a standard is not observed and, conversely, provides for a bonus if the European Standardization Committee (CEN) completes a standard before the deadline. Parliament is particularly critical of the lack of progress in the mutual recognition of test procedures for construction products, for which the Member States' obstructiveness is to blame. It calls for an end to over-regulation and excessive burdens on the manufacturers and users of construction products. Finally, it calls for a ban on the use of chrysotile asbestos in construction products. �

• 1997/11/19 Debate in Parliament
• 1997/11/04 Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
  • A4-0350/1997
• 1996/12/09 Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
• 1996/05/15 Non-legislative basic document published
  • COM(1996)0202 summary

    OBJECTIVE: to present the Commission report on the implementation of the "construction products" directive (89/106/EEC), which aims to ensure the free movement of all construction products throughout the EU. CONTENT: the Commission finds the slow and gradual implementation of the directive rather unsatisfactory. Reflection is needed on the ways and means of increasing efficiency in this field, as a result of: 1) a commitment on the part of the Member States in the following areas: a) fire regulations (defining tests for each product class); b) works regulations (taking account of the Eurocodes on works structures in national regulations); c) mutual recognition of tests on products during the transitional period preceding the adoption of harmonized standards and 2) changes adapted to needs in applying the directive: simplifying the decision-making procedures and enlightened implementation of the directive owing to the new approach. To overcome all the difficulties in implementing the directive in practice : - the Commission should undertake to clarify the detailed rules for implementing the directive, speed up the work and draw up a work plan; - the Member States should avoid insisting on a multitude of detailed rules in the implementing provisions; - lastly, the European Committee on Standardization should commit itself to actually putting in place a programme to develop harmonized standards. In view of the scope this creates for improving the way in which the directive is applied, the Commission does not consider it appropriate to propose amending the directive at this stage. It reserves the right to propose any amendments deemed necessary on the basis of the prevailing situation in two years' time.�

Documents

• Non-legislative basic document published: COM(1996)0202
• Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading: A4-0350/1997
• Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading: T4-0585/1997

History

(these mark the time of scraping, not the official date of the change)