Equipment used in potentially explosive atmospheres

KEY POINTS

The directive defines the responsibilities of manufacturers, importers and distributors in the context of the sale of equipment and protective systems for use in potentially explosive atmospheres.

• All products on sale in the EU must bear the CE conformity marking to show that they meet all the essential safety requirements of EU legislation.
• Before obtaining the CE marking, the manufacturer must conduct a safety and conformity assessment¹ and establish technical documentation for products.
• Importers must check that manufacturers have carried out conformity assessments correctly. Where this is not the case, they must inform the safety-monitoring authority.
• All necessary documentation must be recorded and kept for 10 years.
• Documentation and safety information must be written in a language easily understood by end users.
• Manufacturers and importers must indicate their postal address on their products.
• Manufacturers may use electronic means to provide the authorities responsible for safety monitoring with the information that is necessary to demonstrate a product’s conformity.

In addition, the directive specifies the steps to be taken by national authorities responsible for safety monitoring to identify and prevent the import of dangerous products from non-EU countries.

Implementing acts

The European Commission is empowered to adopt implementing acts.

The implementing decisions on the publication of the list of harmonised standards for equipment and protective systems intended for use in potentially explosive atmospheres are published and updated regularly.

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 2014/34/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 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 equipment 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 equipment manufactured in accordance with EU standards, relevant applicable national or relevant applicable international standards, identified by the Commission as suitable to reach conformity and ensuring an equivalent level of protection to that offered by the harmonised standards, complies 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).