Competitiveness of EU Industry & Revision of the Machinery Directive

Orgalime letter to Mr Brinkhorst

In this letter, Orgalime requests the Dutch Presidency to consider the ongoing revision of the Machinery Directive as a priority area for simplification to be addressed in the forthcoming Competitiveness Council in September 2004. While stating that Orgalime is very much against this revision because, rather than simplifying the existing directive or providing greater legal certainty, the new proposal would impose a number more complex and burdensome obligations on manufacturers, including unnecessary administrative burdens, Orgalime also provides Mr. Brinkhorst with estimations on the additional administrative burden for mechanical engineering (2.45 million man/days of additional work, or an estimated cost of 800.000.000 euros).  This is a cost our companies can ill afford to use the limited number of engineers which they have for purposes such as this, when they should be concentrating on improving their products and developing innovative products.
 

References: COM (2000) 899 Final