92001E0410

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0410/01

by Karla Peijs (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(15 February 2001)

Subject: Ban on certification markings from private service undertakings

The so-called Blue Guide states, in explanation of the ban on third-party certification markings, that voluntary markings must not as a general rule relate to aspects that already fall within the scope of the CE marking.

Is the Commission aware that the effect of this blanket ban on third-party markings in areas to which the CE marking applies is to turn the relationship between rules and exceptions established in the texts of directives as regards authorisations and prohibitions into its opposite, and to jeopardise the survival of European third-party certification agencies?

How can the Commission justify using a non-legally binding document (Blue Guide), on which the European Parliament has had no say, to intervene against existing market structures with such far-reaching consequences?

Answer given by Mr Liikanen on behalf of the Commission

(3 September 2001)

The CE marking is a mandatory conformity marking which must be affixed on products covered by New Approach and Global Approach Directives before they are placed on the market and/or put into service. The CE marking signifies that products conforms with the provisions of all relevant Directives. Furthermore the CE marking is the only marking which can be affixed on a product in order to signify compliance with all relevant Community Directives.

The affixing of additional marks is allowed to the extent that such marks do not create confusion referring to the meaning or the form of the CE marking, and that they do not reduce the legibility and visibility of the CE marking.

This is explained in more depth in the Guide to the implementation of directives based on the New Approach and Global Approach(1). In this Guide, in section 7.4 CE marking and other marks it is stated that In view of the objectives of technical harmonisation, markings and marks additional to the CE marking need to fulfil a different function from that of the CE marking. Thus they should provide an added value in signifying conformity with objectives that are different from those to which the CE marking relates.

The guide was prepared by the services of the Commission in order to increase, facilitate the understanding and the new approach directives.

The Guide has in addition not introduced a blanket ban on third-party markings. Concerning the status of the Guide, it cannot replace a legal text or change what the legislator has decided, but it can draw out the meaning, significance and practical consequences of the directives to which it refers.

(1) Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, reference C-22-99-014-EN-C.