Safety of simple pressure vessels in the European Union

KEY POINTS

Directive 2014/29/EU applies to vessels manufactured in series, such as any welded vessel subjected to an internal gauge pressure greater than 0.5 bar, which is intended to contain air or nitrogen and which is not intended to be fired, and to the parts and assemblies contributing to the strength of the vessel under pressure made of certain qualities of steel or aluminium.

It does not apply to (i) vessels specifically designed for nuclear use; (ii) vessels installed on ships and aircraft; and (iii) fire extinguishers.

The directive defines the responsibilities of manufacturers, importers and distributors of simple pressure vessels:

1. most of the simple pressure vessels within the scope of the directive must bear the CE conformity marking to show that they meet all the essential safety requirements of European Union (EU) legislation;
2. the manufacturer must conduct a conformity assessment¹ and establish detailed technical documentation for its vessels;
3. importers must check whether manufacturers have carried out conformity assessments correctly and inform the authority responsible for safety monitoring if they consider that the vessel does not conform to the essential safety requirements;
4. all necessary documentation must be recorded and kept for 10 years;
5. instructions and safety information must be written in a language easily understood by end users;
6. manufacturers and importers must indicate their name, registered trade name or registered trade mark, and the postal address at which they can be contacted on their vessels;
7. the directive specifies what national market-surveillance authorities must do to identify non-compliant products and prevent the placing on the market or putting into service of such products on the EU market.

Internal market emergency mode

Amending Directive (EU) 2024/2749 seeks to avoid disruptions to the internal market in the event of an emergency by ensuring that, once an internal market emergency mode, as set out in Regulation (EU) 2024/2747 (the Internal Market Emergency and Resilience Act), has been activated by means of an implementing act adopted by the Council of the European Union, designated crisis-relevant goods and services² can be placed on the market as rapidly as possible.

Directive (EU) 2024/2749 amends Directive 2014/29/EU setting out how these emergency procedures would apply. Among other things, the new rules:

• require conformity-assessment bodies to prioritise applications for conformity of crisis-relevant products over those for products that are not;
• allow EU Member States, on an exceptional basis and where there is a duly justified request, to temporarily authorise the placing on the market of simple pressure vessels without carrying out the normal conformity-assessment procedures, where the involvement of a notified body is mandatory and can ensure that all essential requirements are met;
• allow the competent national authorities to presume that simple pressure vessels manufactured in accordance with EU standards, relevant applicable national standards or relevant applicable international standards developed by a recognised international standardisation body, identified by the European Commission as suitable to reach conformity and ensuring an equivalent level of protection to that offered by the harmonised standards, comply with the relevant applicable essential requirements;
• give the Commission the possibility to adopt, by means of implementing acts, common specifications on which the manufacturers can rely in order to benefit from a presumption of conformity with the applicable essential requirements (implementing acts laying down such common specifications remain applicable for the duration of the internal market emergency mode).