Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2024/1208 of 16 November 2023 amending Directive 2000/14/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the methods to measure airborne noise emitted by equipment for use outdoors

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to Directive 2000/14/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 8 May 2000 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the noise emission in the environment by equipment for use outdoors (1), and in particular Article 18(a) thereof,

Whereas:

(1) Pursuant to Article 4 of Directive 2000/14/EC, Member States are to ensure that equipment as referred to in Article 2(1) is not placed on the market or put into service until the manufacturer or its authorised representative established in the Union ensures that the equipment bears the indication of the guaranteed sound power level, which pursuant to Article 3(f) shall be determined in accordance with the requirements laid down in Annex III.

(2) Pursuant to Section 1.5.8, second paragraph, of Annex I to Directive 2006/42/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (2), Member States are to ensure that manufacturers assess the level of noise emissions of machines. Pursuant to Section 1.7.4.2, point (u) of that Annex, Member States are to ensure that manufacturers provide information on airborne noise emissions, including information on the method used to measure airborne noise, which should be the most appropriate method for the machinery when harmonised standards are not applied, unless the method is specified in other Union legislation and its use is mandatory, which is the case of Directive 2000/14/EC. Manufacturers of equipment that falls under the scope of both Directive 2006/42/EC and Directive 2000/14/EC are therefore required to measure the noise emissions of such equipment in accordance with the methods established in Directive 2000/14/EC.

(3) Article 12 of Directive 2000/14/EC contains a Table in which the permissible sound power level of equipment for outdoors use is laid down. That Table has been updated by Directive 2005/88/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (3). The methods to measure noise, which are laid down in Annex III to Directive 2000/14/EC, have however not been updated since its adoption. It is therefore necessary to bring these methods in line with technical progress and progress in European standardisation.

(4) Different measurement methods may have different conditions or limitations which can impact the calculated sound power level. The permissible sound power levels in Article 12 of Directive 2000/14/EC were established using the measurement methods adopted in year 2000. If guaranteed sound power levels of equipment listed in Article 12 are calculated in accordance with the new measurement methods, and the permissible sound power levels have not been updated accordingly, then both noise values may not be fully comparable and the variation of the calculated guaranteed sound power level due to the change of the noise measurement method could lead to a change in the conformity of the equipment. Where doubts about the conformity of equipment arise due to a change of the noise measurement methods, it is therefore necessary, for the sake of comparability, to provide for the calculation of the sound power levels with the same measurement methods used to establish the permissible sound power levels.

(5) Directive 2000/14/EC should therefore be amended accordingly.

(6) It is necessary to provide economic operators with sufficient time to adapt to the new requirements. The application of this Regulation should therefore be deferred.

(7) In order to avoid unnecessary administrative burden and its related cost on economic operators, it is also necessary to provide for a sufficient transitional period after the entry into force of this Regulation during which equipment used outdoors already placed on the market which complies with Annex III to Directive 2000/14/EC may still be made available on the market,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Annex III to Directive 2000/14/EC is replaced by the text in the Annex to this Regulation.

Article 2

This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

It shall apply from 22 May 2025.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels, 16 November 2023.

For the Commission The President Ursula VON DER LEYEN

(1) OJ L 162, 3.7.2000, p. 1.

(2) Directive 2006/42/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 May 2006 on machinery, and amending Directive 95/16/EC (OJ L 157, 9.6.2006, p. 24).

(3) Directive 2005/88/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 December 2005 amending Directive 2000/14/EC on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the noise emission in the environment by equipment for use outdoors (OJ L 344, 27.12.2005, p. 44).