EU-strategi for det indre marked for industrielle produkter

EU-strategi for det indre marked for industrielle produkter

Meddelelse fra Kommisjonen til Europaparlamentet, Rådet, Den europeiske økonomiske og sosiale komite og Regionsutvalget. En visjon for det indre marked for industrielle produkter
Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions. A vision for the internal market for industrial products

Svensk departementsnotat offentliggjort 11.02.2014

Nærmere omtale

BAKGRUNN (fra Kommisjonens pressemelding 22.1.2014, engelsk utgave)

A vision for the internal market for industrial products
On 22 January 2014, the Commission adopted its vision for the internal market for industrial products. The objective is to take stock of recent developments in the field of industrial products legislation and set out a broader vision for the decade ahead.

The vision Communication is based on a 12-week online public consultation and a thorough and independent assessment of the day-to-day functioning of Union legislation on industrial products and its impact on businesses, administrations and other stakeholders.

The overall conclusion of this assessment is that the internal market legislation for products is not only a key factor for the competitiveness of European industry but also for consumer and environmental protection.

However, one of the important issues faced by the internal market for products is how to keep up with the pace of technological and societal challenges of the 21st century while taking account of European industry’s demand for periods of regulatory stability without any major overhaul of the rules. In the short term therefore, the Commission will focus its efforts on strengthening enforcement mechanisms.

• Text of the Communication - EN / FR / DE
• Annex 1 - EN
• Annex 2 - EN
• Results of the public consultation: Summary report and Statistics.

Regulatory Policy: Safety and free movement of industrial products within the EU
You can buy and sell products freely within the European Union without specific requirements, taxes or other obstacles. The vast majority of products on the EU market are subject to common European rules which set high standards of safety for consumers and protection of the environment.

Controls on the movement of goods within the internal market were abolished in January 1993 and the European Union is now a single territory without internal frontiers. The categories of goods concerned include agricultural and food products, as well as industrial products.

Industrial products, in other words non-food manufactured products, are subject to a series of EU laws. The purpose of this legislation is typically to provide harmonised rules across the EU for the protection of consumers, public health, the environment or other public interests. Harmonised rules preclude the adoption of possibly divergent national rules by Member Stares on those issues and thus ensure the free circulation of the products within the EU's internal market.

In the majority of sectors (e.g. electronic and electric equipment, machinery, lifts, medical devices), the legislation is restricted to the (essential) requirements necessary to protect the public interests in question (health and safety and the environment etc). To demonstrate compliance with these requirements, manufacturers may voluntarily make use of standards or other technical specifications. The use of European standards by the manufacturer has the advantage that it raises a presumption of conformity with the essential requirements. But the manufacturer is free to demonstrate compliance with those essential requirements by other means.

In other sectors (e.g. automotive industry, chemicals), the legislation specifies detailed legislative requirements obliging certain product types to have the same technical specifications.

In general, the legislative architecture of the internal market for industrial products is established on the following building blocks: