FIA

EU Construction Products Regulation – September 2009 Update

Process & timetable
• Negotiations on the CPR have continued since it received its first reading in the European Parliament on 24 April 2009. Because there was no agreement between the European Parliament and Council of Ministers at First Reading, the Council must now reach a ‘Common Position’ (ie a consensus view) on the text before restarting formal negotiations with the Parliament for a Second Reading deal.
• In July 2009 the Presidency of the EU Council passed to Sweden. They are taking a very positive and proactive approach to the negotiations, and are aiming to reach a Common Position by December 2009. This is an ambitious goal though, as there are still key issues to be discussed and agreed. If they do not succeed then the baton will pass to the incoming Spanish Presidency. There is no formal time limit within which to achieve a Common Position.
• Meanwhile the Commission have written a response to the amendments made by the Parliament at First Reading and we gather they intend to issue it around the end of September. We will circulate a copy of this document as soon as we receive it.
• The new European Parliament are also restarting their consideration of the text in the autumn, and the Internal Markets and Consumers Committee (IMCO, now chaired by the UK MEP Malcolm Harbour) will again take responsibility. We expect to know the name of the new rapporteur shortly and the Swedish Presidency intends making early contact.
• As the IMCO committee has a new membership, and the rapporteur may not be familiar with either the CPR or any New Approach CE marking legislation, it will be particularly important to build up a good working relationship between the Council Working Group, the Commission and the Parliament as soon as possible. The final negotiation process will inevitably involve compromise and trade-off between amendments – we want to achieve as good and workable a text as possible.
• Once the Council has reached a Common Position, then the Second Reading in the European Parliament has to take place within three months. If the EP rejects the Council’s Common Position then the CPR will fail. If the EP accepts the Council’s Common Position then the CPR will be adopted. There are further, complicated stages to the process if the EP Second Reading makes further amendments to the text.
• If the Swedish Presidency succeeds in achieving a Common Position by December and there is a Second Reading deal in early 2010, then the main provisions of the CPR would come into effect in the UK in 2012, though some of the administrative sections (setting up new processes or renaming bodies would apply sooner.

Policy issues

Unsurprisingly, the outstanding issues for conclusion in the Council Working Group are the most complex, and also those that are central to the whole Regulation. Among these are:

The scope of the CE marking requirement: who needs to declare performance, when and covering what characteristics.

1. The treatment of small businesses and manufacturers of bespoke products.
• The UK continues to work on the principles that the CPR should be as beneficial to business and as cost effective as possible, and also respect Member State subsidiarity. It is also vital that the CPR text is straightforward and unambiguous, so that industry, regulators and market surveillance authorities share a clear understand of what the Regulation means when it comes into force across the EU.
• Discussions will continue through the autumn and winter. CLG would welcome comments or questions on any CPR issue to construction.products@communities.gsi.gov.uk.