PURPOSE: to make targeted amendments to certain Directives regarding emergency procedures for the conformity assessment, adoption of common specifications and market surveillance due to a Single Market emergency.
LEGISLATIVE ACT: Directive (EU) 2024/2749 of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directives 2000/14/EC, 2006/42/EC, 2010/35/EU, 2014/29/EU, 2014/30/EU, 2014/33/EU, 2014/34/EU, 2014/35/EU, 2014/53/EU and 2014/68/EU as regards emergency procedures for the conformity assessment, presumption of conformity, adoption of common specifications and market surveillance due to an internal market emergency.
CONTENT: the directive is part of a package of texts establishing the single market instrument for emergency situations (SMEI - Single Market Emergency Instrument Omnibus). It amends the harmonised rules established by a number of EU sectoral frameworks. It amends a number of EU sectoral directives that lay down harmonised rules governing the design, manufacture, conformity assessment and placing on the market of certain goods.
A number of sectorial Union legal acts lay down harmonised rules regarding the design, manufacture, conformity assessment and placing on the market of certain products. Such legal acts include Directives 2000/14/EC (5), 2006/42/EC, 2010/35/EU, 2014/29/EU, 2014/30/EU, 2014/33/EU, 2014/34/EU, 2014/35/EU, 2014/53/EU and 2014/68/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council.
Neither the reference provisions laid down by Decision No 768/2008/EC, nor the specific provisions laid down by the sectorial Union harmonisation legislation, provide for procedures designed to apply during a crisis. Therefore, this directive introduces targeted adjustments to the amended Directives, to allow a response to the impact of crises affecting products that have been designated as crisis-relevant goods in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2024/2747 and which are covered by the amended Directives.
The main elements of the amending directive are as follows:
- in order to overcome the potential effects of disruptions to the functioning of the internal market in the event of a crisis and to ensure that during an internal market emergency mode harmonised crisis-relevant goods can be placed on the market swiftly, it is appropriate to provide for a requirement for the conformity assessment bodies to prioritise the conformity assessment applications for such goods over any pending applications concerning products which have not been designated as crisis-relevant goods. In the context of such prioritisation, the conformity assessment body should not be allowed to charge additional disproportionate costs to the manufacturer;
- the directive provides for emergency procedures to be laid down in Directives 2000/14/EC, 2006/42/EC, 2010/35/EU, 2014/29/EU, 2014/30/EU, 2014/33/EU, 2014/34/EU, 2014/35/EU, 2014/53/EU and 2014/68/EU. Those procedures should become applicable only following the activation of the internal market emergency mode, only when a specific good covered by those Directives is designated as a crisis-relevant good and the Commission has adopted an implementing act activating those procedures;
- as regards products, falling within the scope of the amended Directives, that have been designated as crisis-relevant goods, in the context of an ongoing internal market emergency the national competent authorities should be able to derogate from the obligation to carry out the conformity assessment procedures laid down in the amended Directives, where the involvement of a notified body is mandatory. In such cases those authorities should be able to issue authorisations for placing on the market, and, as applicable, for putting into service, those products, provided that conformity with all the applicable essential safety requirements is ensured.
ENTRY INTO FORCE: 28.11.2024.
TRANSPOSITION: 29.5.2026 at the latest.
APPLICATION: from 30.5.2026.