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Since the publication of the new Machinery Regulation (EU) 2023/1230, two corrections and one amendment document have already followed. This means that the original document dated 29 June 2023 in the version first published must be applied together with the amendment documents.
To facilitate access to a complete edition of the legal acts relating to a specific provision, the EU Commission publishes so-called ‘consolidated versions’ at irregular intervals on its EUR-Lex portal. We have summarised exactly what this means and which edition of a legal provision is legally binding in this brief information sheet.
What are consolidated versions of EU directives and EU regulations?
When a consolidated version is compiled, legal acts (in this case a directive or a regulation), agreements or treaties and all amendments and corrections made to them are combined into a single document at EU level. These documents contain the legal provisions in force at a given time and are produced by the relevant Publications Office of the European Union.
Amendments usually involve inserting, deleting or replacing parts of the text or adding them to the original act. The procedure is similar for corrections, which are, however, much less extensive and primarily serve to correct typing or translation errors in the document. As this may only affect individual language versions, there may be differences between the language versions of the consolidated texts.
How are consolidated texts from the European Commission structured?
At the beginning of a consolidated version, all legal acts that affect the consolidated text are listed. The consolidated text itself contains references indicating where the relevant part of the text comes from.
The EU Commission uses the following abbreviations for consolidated texts:1
This is illustrated below using the example of the ‘old’ Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC. Since its initial publication in 2006, the legal act has been amended and corrected several times. The text mark M5 reflects the amendments made by Regulation (EU) 2019/1243, while Regulation 596/2009 deleted one paragraph (M1). This is followed by another regular section of the basic legal act (B), before M4 deletes another paragraph and the corrigendum (C1) amends a section.
Figure 1: Excerpt from the consolidated version of the Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC (as of 26 July 2019) with cover page (left) and a page with incorporated amendments (right)
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Do consolidated versions of EU legal acts have legal effect?
Although the consolidated texts of EU legal acts contain a complete collection of all amendments and corrections that have been added to the basic legal act at a later date, these versions have no legal effect! They are therefore primarily for information purposes and are classified as EU documents such as guidelines, which also have no direct legal effect.
Consolidated versions are a comprehensive and updated collection of all publications, but they are primarily for documentation purposes and form the basis for the codification of the existing legal act. Codification involves combining a legal act (or several related legal acts) and all its amendments into a single new legal act.
Is there already a consolidated version of the Machinery Regulation?
The EU Commission has published a consolidated version of the Machinery Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 on the EUR-Lex portal, but this does not reflect the latest amendments and corrections to the regulation. The date of issue of this consolidated version is given as 29 June 2023, but this version only incorporates the correction to the regulation dated 4 July 2023.
Tip: In our blog post 'Amendments to the Machinery Regulation (EU) 2023/1230', we will gradually communicate the published amendments and corrigenda to the MR. This post will be updated immediately as soon as new documents are published.
How does Safexpert support the use of consolidated texts?
The Safexpert Knowledge Base offers users involved in the design of machines, plants and electrical equipment a clearly structured view of the ‘base document’, i.e. the legal provision in its original version, with the published amendments and corrections marked as text highlights.
This allows you to ensure that you are applying the only legally binding version of the directive or regulation, while still seeing the available amendments directly in the section you are working on.
This format is available in Safexpert for the Machinery Directive and Machinery Regulation, as well as for the Low Voltage, EMC, ATEX, Pressure Equipment and Radio Equipment Directives.
The same applies to a large number of harmonised standards: here too, changes are indicated directly in the relevant section, e.g. in the form of corrections.
Figure 2: Excerpt from the Knowledge Base on the Machinery Regulation in Safexpert with the changes published for the regulation highlighted directly in the relevant section.
Footnote:1 See information from the EU Commission on the EUR-Lex page.
Posted on: 2025-04-29
Daniel Zacek-Gebele, MSc Product manager at IBF for additional products and data manager for updating standards data on the Safexpert Live Server. Studied economics in Passau (BSc) and Stuttgart (MSc), specialising in International Business and Economics. Email: daniel.zacek-gebele@ibf-solutions.com
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