EU Machinery Regulation

The Machinery Regulation (COM(2021) 202 final) is intended to replace the previous EU Machinery Directive (2006/42/EC), which is around 15 years old. Unlike the previous Machinery Directive, the Machinery Regulation will then become directly applicable European law and will no longer require a national transposition act by the individual member states.

There are changes with regard to the following points, among others:

  • New security requirements apply in relation to cyber security and artificial intelligence.

  • There is a differentiation from the AI Regulation, according to which the Machinery Regulation only applies to the safe integration of AI into the machine as a whole. However, there is no close "dovetailing" with the AI Regulation.

  • For machinery with a high risk potential, a notified body must be involved in the conformity assessment in future.

  • Digital operating instructions are now permitted in machinery in the B2B sector. However, paper operating instructions must be provided if requested by the end customer at the time of purchase. However, consumer machines must still be accompanied by paper operating instructions.


See also our more comprehensive article on the draft EU Machinery Regulation.

This article is part of the overview of the current changes to the EU data strategy and the New Legislative Framework. Please note that the legislative proposal is currently a draft (although marked as "final"). It is therefore not yet applicable law and there may still be changes in the legislative process. However, due to the manageable "transitional periods", it is already necessary to "take a look" at the upcoming law.

Date: 2. Nov 2022