PURPOSE: to amend Directive 2009/142/EC to ensure that
appliances burning gaseous fuels on the market fulfil the
requirements providing for a high level of protection of health and
safety of users and protection of domestic animals or property and
for rational use of energy.
PROPOSED ACT: Regulation of the European Parliament
and of the Council.
ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: the European Parliament decides in accordance with the
ordinary legislative procedure and on an equal footing with the
Council.
BACKGROUND : Directive 2009/142/EC setting out the
conditions for the placing on the market and putting into service
of appliance burning gaseous fuels is based on the New
Approach principles regarding technical harmonisation and
standards. It sets out only the essential requirements applying to
appliances burning gaseous fuels, whereas technical details are
adopted by the European Committee for Standardisation (CEN) and the
European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardisation (Cenelec)
in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012 on European
Standardisation.
Experience from the implementation of Directive
2009/142/EC has shown the need to modify some of its
provisions in order to clarify and update them and ensure thus
legal certainty as regards the definitions relating to its scope,
the content of the Member States' communications of their gas types
and supply pressures and certain essential
requirements.The Commission proposes to
replace Directive 2009/142/EC with a Regulation, so as to
impose clear and detailed rules which do not give room for
divergent transposition by Member States and ensure a uniform
implementation throughout the Union.
IMPACT ASSESSMENT: the option of modifying
Directive 2009/142/EC was found to be the preferred option
because: (i) it is considered more effective since it will be
enforceable in law ; (ii) it does not entail significant costs
for economic operators and notified bodies; (iii) no significant
economic or social impacts could be identified.
CONTENT: the proposed Regulation does not change the
current scope of Directive 2009/142/EC. However, it modifies
some of its provisions in order to clarify and update their
content. The proposed Regulation is also aligned to the
provisions of Decision No 768/2008/EC establishing a common
framework for the marketing of products (NLF Decision).
The proposal
provides for :
·
the removal of the outdated temperature limit of
105°C from the definition of the scope;
·
the introduction of currently missing
definitions for the sector specific terminology under
Directive 2009/142/EC;
·
the introduction of a harmonised content and
form of the communications of Member States on the types of gas
and corresponding supply pressures used on their
territory;
·
the clarification of the relationship between
Directive 2009/142/EC and other EU harmonisation legislation,
including Ecodesign implementing measures under Directive
2009/125/EC and other Union energy policy instruments;
·
the improvement of the readability of some of
the provisions of Directive 2009/142/EC.
The modification also includes the following
points:
Making available on the market of gas appliances and
fittings, obligations of economic operators, CE marking, free
movement: the proposal contains the
typical provisions for product-related Union harmonisation
legislation and sets out the obligations of the relevant economic
operators (manufacturers, authorised representatives, importers and
distributors), in accordance with the NLF Decision.
The proposed Regulation keeps the existing provision
according to which fittings do not bear the CE marking. However, in
order to improve clarity, the certificate accompanying fittings
under Directive 2009/142/EC has been qualified as Fitting
conformity certificate, in order to better define its
content and clarify its relationship with the EU declaration of
conformity requirement under other possibly applicable Union
harmonisation legislation.
Notified bodies:
in line with the NLF Decision, the proposal reinforces the
notification criteria for notified bodies and introduces specific
requirements for notifying authorities.
Conformity assessment: the proposal keeps the
conformity assessment procedures provided for under Directive
2009/142/EC. However, it updates the corresponding modules in line
with the NLF Decision. In particular, it keeps the requirement for
a notified body intervention in the design and production phase of
all appliances and fittings.
Furthermore, it keeps the current approach for the
design phase, according to which the type examination of the
product by the notified body takes the form of examination of the
complete appliance or fitting. Therefore, in accordance with the
NLF Decision, it provides only for the EU-type examination
production type.
ENTRY INRO FORCE: the proposed Regulation will become
applicable two years after its entry into force to allow
manufacturers, notified bodies, Member States and European
Standardisation Bodies, time to adapt to the new
requirements.
A transitional provision is envisaged for the
certificates issued by notified bodies under Directive 2009/142/EC
so as to allow stocks to be absorbed and ensure a smooth transition
to the new requirements.
DELEGATED ACTS: the proposal contains provisions
empowering the Commission to adopt delegated acts in accordance
with Article 290 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European
Union.