The EU will adopt a common set of rules and safety measures for harvesters and other non-road mobile machinery (NRMM), unifying rules that were previously legislated for at national level.
The Council of the EU (council of ministers) has given its final approval to a regulation on the approval and market surveillance of NNRM, which, it said, will harmonise safety requirements for self-propelled machinery.
The regulation will apply to a variety of machines that, while being classed as NRMM, may need to move around on public roads. These include harvesters, lawn mowers and bulldozers.
This approval for the new regulation was the last step in the legislative process, meaning the regulation have been adopted.
The regulation proposes a simplified one-step procedure that considers the specific characteristics of non-road mobile machinery, the council said.
Manufacturers and distributors will have to request approval only once, and just in one member state, for the machinery to be acceptable in all EU countries.
Users (for example, rental companies), will meanwhile benefit from a reduction in compliance costs, and it will be easier for them to use and re-sell machinery in different countries, the council said.
The council also said that drivers will benefit from harmonised rules that ensure a high-level of road safety across the EU.
The changes confirmed today will harmonise existing rules across the 27 member states, although member states will keep the power to limit the circulation of certain machines (for example, if they are so large or heavy as to damage roads or not be maneuverable on roads).
Member states will also be able to take measures if the type of approval granted to specific machinery does not comply with the regulation, meaning member states can refuse to recognise the approval.
Smaller manufacturers that produce less than 70 machines (units) per year in each member state will be exempted from requesting the EU-wide approval.
Although the regulation has now been adopted, it will not apply straight away. There will be a lead-in period of three years it applies.
The European Commission brought forward the proposed regulation on foot of a 2019 study which indicated that harmonising requirements at EU level for harvesters and other non-road machines could save between 18% and 22% in compliance costs (around €3.38 million per year in administrative costs).
Overall, the new regulation may generate up to €846 million in savings for all stakeholders, according to the council.
The commission presented the proposal for a new regulation March 2023.
EU production of non-road mobile machinery is estimated at a value of €12.5 billion per year. The sector is a significant producer and strong exporter of non-road mobile machinery globally.
Out of the annual production value, 42% is exported to non-EU countries and 54% is traded within the EU, while only 4% is sold in the EU country where production takes place.