NEW MACHINERY REGULATION PROPOSAL - COUNCIL

On 22nd May, 2023, the Council adopted the new regulation on machinery. The proposed legislation updates the 2006 machinery directive and transforms it into a regulation. The new text harmonises the essential health and safety requirements for machinery in the EU, promotes the free movement of machinery and ensures a high level of safety for workers and citizens, reports Europgen.

NEW MACHINERY REGULATION PROPOSAL (MR) – COUNCIL ADOPTION

On 22 May, 2023, the Council adopted the new regulation on machinery.

The proposed legislation updates the 2006 machinery directive and transforms it into a regulation. The new text harmonises the essential health and safety requirements for machinery in the EU, promotes the free movement of machinery and ensures a high level of safety for workers and citizens.

Conformity and documentation requirements

The regulation adopted today makes mandatory a third-party conformity assessment for six categories of ‘high risk’ machinery.

Safety information will have to be provided with every product, but in line with the digital transition, the regulation establishes that digital instructions will be the default option. Paper instructions will remain an option for customers who request them.

Background

The 2006 machinery directive was one of the main pieces of legislation governing the harmonisation of essential health and safety requirements for machinery at EU level.

The new regulation adopted today will establish a legal framework for the placing on the Union market of safe machinery, and cover new risks linked to emerging technologies. The regulation also guarantees legal certainty by clarifying the regulation’s scope.

For instance, it includes small vehicles used for personal transport and light electric vehicles such as scooters or bikes, since these are widely used and could potentially be dangerous to their users.

Next steps

Following the Council’s approval today of the European Parliament’s position, this legislative act has now been adopted.

After being signed by the President of the European Parliament and the President of the Council, the regulation will be published in the Official Journal of the European Union and will enter into force on the twentieth day following its publication.

Member states and economic operators will have 42 months before the rules of the new regulation are applied. EUROPGEN representatives in the Commission experts group participated actively in this revision. The approved Regulation is available from the website.

EUROPEAN STANDARDS: CONSEQUENCES OF THE APPROVAL OF THE NEW MACHINERY REGULATION

The content of the future “Machinery” Regulation all the issues to be addressed are now known: integration of new technologies (artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, autonomous machines, etc.), content of the future standardization request from the European Commission and annexes Z establishing the link between the standard and the regulation.

Integration of new technologies

Cross-cutting standards in the field of machine safety will have to be developed. Even if standards or projects exist on artificial intelligence or cybersecurity, none integrate the principles of machine security.

Content of the future standardisation request

The commission wants the standards to be drafted to be identified in the standardization request. The first draft of the Standardisation Request is expected to be received in June 2023. However, the particularly large volume of drafting machine standards (850) will complicate the task. CEN has therefore thought of a solution: to indicate the list of types of machines to be covered by standards. In order to organize discussions with the European Commission, a “standardization request ad ’hoc Group” (SRAHG) will soon be set up at CEN/ CENELEC. This group will bring together member bodies and representatives of all relevant technical committees.

Content of Annexes Z

The fleet of machine standards covers the period 2009-2023 and some old standards do not have appendix Z in the correct format. We now need a precise link between the essential requirements of the regulations and the requirements of the standard. It is therefore necessary for the technical committees to finalize these new annexes. In addition, the

“Machinery” Regulation will apply 42 months after its publication without a transitional period: until this date, only the “Machinery” Directive 2006/42/EC will apply. The standards that will be published in the coming months must therefore cover both texts. Conclusion: the technical committees will be encouraged to develop two annexes Z.

OUTDOOR NOISE DIRECTIVE (OND) REVISION – 2000/14/EC. EUROPGEN PROVIDES FEEDBACK ON OUTDOOR NOISE REGULATION

On 5th May, the European Commission launched a 4-week feedback process to collect input on the draft delegated act, which aims to update the measurement methods outlined in Annex III of the Outdoor Noise Directive (Directive 2000/14/EC). EUROPGEN, will participate to this public consultation (available here) with the aim of providing expert input that represents the interests of the generating sets industry and EUROPGEN members and contributes to the achievement of the final delegated act.

JOINT BUSINESS STATEMENT : ACCESS TO DATA BY PUBLIC BODIES

As the Data Act Trilogues continue, the Swedish presidency and Parliament and Commission negotiators aim to reach an early agreement on business-to-government data sharing rules (“B2G”, chapter 5).

Given the broad and unrestricted scope of the B2G – Government Access provisions of the Data Act, the signatories of the joint statement expressed their concerns due to lack of proportionality, safeguards and risk to fundamental rights and the rule of law (especially if the personal data remains in scope).

This publication is available online from the website.

MEETINGS & EVENTS

Next meetings

•EUROPGEN Special Event, Brussels, 6th June 2023

•EUROPGEN General Assembly, Brussels, 7th June 2023

•EUROPGEN Executive and Technical Committees meetings, Brussels, 7th June 2023

How did the European Genset Market Fare?

Imports of diesel generators have never been so important in the UK, reaching more than $30M in the first two months of 2023. This increase is very significant for generators of more than 2.000 kVA, which have reached levels records over the last 12 months, mainly from the United States and Germany. The still very strong growth of the data centre sector in the UK is driving this product segment.

The European diesel generator market hit a record level in Q4 2022

The diesel generator market reached record levels at the end of 2022, and remains very strong in most European countries in 2023, even if the market seems to have peaked and growth is slowing down (especially for small powers that had boomed in 2022).

Increase of generators below 375 kVA

The market for generators below 375 kVA reached a historic level at the end of 2022, boosted by Ukrainian imports but also the energy crisis in Europe as well as the significant delays on the largest powers. This hyper-growth seems to be over and the market should return to a pre-energy crisis level from the second half of 2023.

The boom in Ukrainian imports due to the conflict situation

Ukrainian imports peaked in Q4 2022 ($245M) with a record month in December ($155M).

It is generators of less than 375kVA which represent the vast majority of imports, mainly supplied from Turkey and Poland (+50% of generators come from these two countries). Imports, however, decreased slightly at the start of 2023, but still represent more than US$130M over the first two months of the year.

The United Kingdom Data Centre Market is projected to register a CAGR of 11.83%

The IT load capacity of the UK data centre market may grow steadily and reach 3609.68 MW by 2029, suggest media reports.

The country’s total raised floor area is expected to reach 17.79 million sq. ft by 2029.

The country’s total number of installed racks is expected to reach 889,896 units By 2029. London is expected to house the maximum number of racks by 2029. The United Kingdom has superior cybersecurity, and London is one of Europe’s largest data centre markets. The country remains a critical interchange and communications hub between North America and Europe, with over 50 undersea cables. Overall, there is a huge potential for growing data and government investment in fibre connectivity.

In the UK Tier 3 data centres are the most preferred due to features such as onsite assistance, power, and cooling redundancy. The Tier 3 DC market was operating at 1540.98 MW in 2022. The expected capacity during the forecast period is expected to grow from 1813.19 MW in 2023 to 3369.24 MW in 2029 at a CAGR of 10.88%.