Machinery Directive Harmonizes Standards

A revised list of Machinery Directive Harmonized Standards was published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJ) late last year. These harmonized standards provide a presumption of conformity to the Machinery Directive 2006/42. The latest complete list can be downloaded from the European Commission website (2MB PDF). This new list of standards, which have been harmonized to the Machinery Directive, supersedes all previous versions. For the first time, the list divides the standards into A-type standards, B-type standards (but not B1 and B2 types) and C-type standards, with an explanation provided for each of the three types.

According to the EU Web site, "A harmonized standard is a European standard elaborated on the basis of a request from the European Commission to a recognized European standards organization to develop a European standard that provides solutions for compliance with a legal provision. Such a request provides guidelines that requested standards must respect to meet the essential requirements or other provisions of relevant European Union harmonization legislation. Compliance provides a presumption of conformity with the corresponding requirements of harmonization legislation. Manufacturers, other economic operators or conformity assessment bodies can use harmonized standards to demonstrate that products, services or processes comply with relevant EU legislation.

The use of these standards remains voluntary.