Protection of consumers: general product safety (rev. Directive 92/59/EEC)

The Conciliation Committee reached agreement on a joint text for the directive. Under the compromise reached, the Commission will report to the Council and Parliament before 1 January 2003 on the needs, possibilities and priorities for Community action on the safety of services, accompanied by proposals where appropriate. On the commitology issue, although the regulatory procedure was maintained for questions of security in the field of standardisation, the agreement provided for the Commission to report to Council and Parliament every three years on its programmes for setting the requirements and the mandates for standardisation. On the question of certification, appropriate independent certification was recognised as a facilitating instrument in proving compliance with applicable product safety criteria. Lastly, the authorities of the Member States will be obliged to take due account of the precautionary principle.�