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Directive 2006/42/EC (the so-called Machinery Directive - MD) has regulated the requirements for machinery within the European Union since 9 June 2006 and must be applied from 29 December 2009. The directive defines the essential health and safety requirements in order to ensure a high level of safety for machine operators and users.
As a regulation of the so-called "New Legislative Framework" the MD defines only the essential requirements – detailed technical specifications for this are developed by the European standardisation organisations CEN and CENELEC in the scope of harmonised standards.
If subsequently machinery is "manufactured in conformity with a harmonised standard, the references to which have been published in the Official Journal of the European Union", the machinery shall be "presumed to comply with the essential health and safety requirements covered by such a harmonised standard." By affixing the CE marking, the manufacturer declares that the product meets the applicable requirements and is the visible consequence of a whole process that includes the conformity assessment in the broader sense.
Harmonised standards for the Low Voltage Directive in the EU Official Journal
A publication of harmonised standards as references in the EU Official Journal for the LVD occurs at irregular intervals by means of so-called implementing decisions, which amend the existing list of harmonised standards for Directive 2014/35/EU.
Within the framework of such a decision standards created on behalf of the Commission are added. This can be done by adding new standards that are listed in the EU Official Journal for the first time, or by including direct successor documents if the predecessor standard no longer corresponds to the state of the art and had to be adapted to changed requirements. An ad hoc adjustment at short notice can also be made via amending standards, which only include a targeted adjustment of a specific section of the ‘basic standard’.
When new successor standards are adopted, the predecessors are removed from the EU Official Journal after a transitional period. This is currently 18 months in order to give manufacturers sufficient time to adapt to the changed safety and health requirements.
Note: On 29 June 2020, the successor to the MD, the so-called Machinery Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 (MR), was published was published and must be applied as of 20 January 2027. Harmonised standards for the MD are currently still being drafted or developed. You can find details in our article "New Machinery Regulation – Status of Harmonised Standards".
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Updates in the Official Journal
Below we have listed the implementing decisions with amended standard data for the Machinery directive, which contains the most important information as well as a link to the full text of the legal act.
The list of harmonized standards giving presumption of conformity for the Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC was updated on 2024-09-16:
EU Official Journal: C/2024/6400Publication date: 2024-09-16Legal basis: Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC
Successors: Direct successor standards were published for 3 standardsAMENDED: For the standard EN ISO 3164:2013 an amendment was publishedREMOVED (WITH TRANSITIONAL PERIOD): 3 standards will be removed with transition period as of 2026-03-16
The list of harmonized standards giving presumption of conformity for the Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC was updated on 2024-05-15:
EU Official Journal: C/2024/3166Publication date: 2024-05-15Legal basis: Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC
NEW: 7 standards were included in the EU Official Journal for the first time:Successors: Direct successor standards were published for 10 standardsAMENDED: Amendment documents were published for 3 standardsREMOVED (WITH TRANSITIONAL PERIOD): 13 standards will be removed with transition periodRESTRICTION: The standards EN 15700:2023 (belt conveyors for winter sports or leisure activities) and EN 15194:2017+A1:2023 (electric motor assisted wheels) have been published with restrictions
SAFEXPERT-USER: All changes are already available to you on the Safexpert LiveServer.
Notes:
The list of harmonized standards giving presumption of conformity for the Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC was updated on 2024-04-30:
EU Official Journal: C/2024/2641Publication date: 2024-04-30Legal basis: Machinery Directive 2006/42/ECRESTRICTION: 4 standards have been published in the OJEU with a restriction:
The list of harmonized standards giving presumption of conformity for the Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC was updated on 2023-08-02:
EU Official Journal: C/2023/4914Publication date: 2024-08-02Legal basis: Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC
NEW: 20 standards were included in the EU Official Journal for the first time:Successors: Direct successor standards were published for 63 standardsAMENDED: Amendment documents were published for 10 standards.REMOVED (WITH TRANSITIONAL PERIOD): 63 standards will be removed with transition period as of 2025-02-02RESTRICTION: The standard EN 11850:2011 including the amendments A1:2016 and A2:2022 was published with restrictions
The list of harmonized standards which give presumption of conformity for the Machinery Directive (2006/42/EC) was updated on 2023-01-10.
Official Journal of the EU: C/2023/33 Publication Date: 2023-01-10 Legal basis: Machinery Directive (2006/42/EC)RESTRICTION: The standard EN 15194:2017 was published with a restriction.
SAFEXPERT-USERS: All changes are already available on the Safexpert Live Server.
The list of harmonized standards which give presumption of conformity for the Machinery Directive (2006/42/EC) was updated on 2022-04-13:
Official Journal of the EU: C/2022/2227 Publication Date: 2022-04-13 Legal basis: Machinery Directive (2006/42/EC)NEW: 3 standards were published in the Official Journal for the first time:
SUCCESSOR: For 13 standards direct successors were publishedAMENDMENT: For 3 standards amendments were publishedREMOVED (WITH TRANSITIONAL PERIOD): 13 standards will be removed with transition period as per 10/11/2023.
Comments:
The list of harmonized standards which give presumption of conformity for the Machinery Directive (2006/42/EG) was updated on 2021-10-15:
Official Journal of the EU: C/2021/7403 Publication Date: 2021-10-15 Legal basis: Machinery Directive (2006/42/EG)NEW: 4 standards were published in the Official Journal for the first time:
SUCCESSOR: For 21 standards direct successors were publishedGEÄNDERT: For 1 standard an amendment was publishedENTFERNT (MIT ÜBERGANGSFRIST): 28 standards will be removed with transition period as per 04/15/2023, one standard per /05/02/2023.
The list of harmonized standards which give presumption of conformity for the Machinery Directive (2006/42/EG) was updated on 2021-03-03:
Official Journal of the EU: C/2021/1415Publication Date: 2021-03-03Legal basis: Machinery Directive (2006/42/EC)NEW: One standard was published in the Official Journal for the first time (EN 62745:2017 incl. A1:2020)
SUCCESSOR: For 18 standards direct successors were publishedAMENDED: For 8 standards amendments were publishedREMOVED (WITH TRANSITIONAL TIME): 17 standards will be removed with transition period as per 09/03/2022
The list of harmonised standards giving presumption of conformity for the Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC was updated on 2020-04-02:
EU Official Journal: C/2020/1919Publication Date: 2020-04-02Legal basis: Machinery Directive 2006/42/ECNEW: 26 new standards were published for the first timeTRANSITIONAL PERIOD: 24 standards were given a transitional period
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