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Role of the EC Standing Committee for the Machinery Directive 98/37/EC (SC 98/37/EC)
The Standing Committee for the Machinery Directive (SC 98/37/EC) was set up under Article 6 of the Machinery Directive to provide a forum for the Commission and Member States to discuss problems arising from the application of the Directive. It is chaired by an official from DG-Enterprise (usually the person responsible for the Directive) and its membership is made up of representatives from the Member States. Unless it is in formal session it is usual for other interested parties to be present, such as EFTA Member States, European associations for manufacturers, conformity assessment bodies, trade unions and European Standards Bodies.
The SC 98/37/EC does not reach formal agreements on the interpretation of the Directive and its decisions – reached by consensus – have no legal standing because that is the jurisdiction of the European Courts. Consensus is reached by a series of "Questions and Answers" and these are published by the Commission and by Member States. Whilst of no legal force, these "Q&A" are still of considerable interest because they deal with the more difficult and/or the more frequently arising problems that have been communicated to the Commission by Member States and the organisations listed above. For example there are "Q&A"s on:-
- What is a safety component?
- Whether various types of equipment are included in the scope of the Directive as machines etc.
- Machines for incorporation.
The Q&A are published by the Commission in their publication "Machinery – Useful Facts in relation to Directive 98/37/EC" on the Commission Website. More up to date information is published by BERR in their regular bulletins on their commentary on the Machinery Supply Regulations page. Unfortunately they are listed in the order they are dealt with and not grouped by topic but it is worth the effort of wading through them as they contain many nuggets of gold.
The SC 98/37/EC meets regularly and is constantly adding to the "Q/A" and it cannot be recommended too strongly that Commission and BERR Websites are visited regularly to check for up-dates.