THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 100a thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission1,

Having regard to the Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee2,

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 189b of the Treaty3 in the light of the joint text approved by the Conciliation Committee on 17 May 1995,

Whereas Member States are responsible within their territory for the health and safety of people;

Whereas paragraphs 65 and 68 of the White Paper on the completion of the internal market, approved by the European Council in June 1985, provide for a new approach to the approximation of laws;

Whereas Council Directive 84/529/EEC of 17 September 1984 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to electrically, hydraulically or oil-electrically operated lifts4 does not ensure freedom of movement for all types of lift; whereas disparities between the binding provisions of the various national systems for types of lift not covered by Directive 84/529/EEC constitute barriers to trade within the Community; whereas the national rules on lifts should therefore be harmonized;

Whereas Council Directive 84/528/EEC of 17 September 1984 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to common provisions for lifting and mechanical handling appliances5 serves as a framework Directive for two specific Directives, namely Directive 84/529/EEC and Council Directive 86/663/EEC of 22 December 1986 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to self-propelled industrial trucks6, repealed by Council Directive 91/368/EEC of 20 June 1991 amending Directive 89/392/EEC on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to machinery7;

Whereas on 8 June 1995 the Commission adopted recommendation No 95/216/EC8 to the Member States concerning improvement of safety of existing lifts;

Whereas the essential requirements of this Directive will guarantee the intended level of safety only if appropriate conformity assessment procedures, chosen from among the provisions of Council Decision 93/465/EEC of 22 July 1993 concerning the modules for the various phases of the conformity assessment procedures and the rules for the affixing and use of the CE conformity marking, which are intended to be used in the technical harmonization directives9, ensure compliance therewith;

Whereas the CE marking must be visibly affixed to lifts or to certain safety components of lifts which meet the essential health and safety requirements of this Directive to enable them to be placed on the market;

Whereas this Directive defines only general essential health and safety requirements; whereas, in order to help manufacturers prove conformity with these essential requirements, it is desirable to have standards harmonized at European level concerning the prevention of risks arising from the design and installation of lifts, and also in order to enable conformity with the essential requirements to be verified; whereas such standards are drawn up at European level by private-law bodies and must retain their non-binding status; whereas, for this purpose, the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) and the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (Cenelec) are recognized as the competent bodies for adopting harmonized standards in accordance with the general guidelines for cooperation between the Commission and CEN and Cenelec signed on 13 November 1984; whereas a harmonized standard within the meaning of this Directive is a technical specification adopted by CEN and/or Cenelec on the basis of a mandate from the Commission in accordance with Council Directive 83/189/EEC of 28 March 1983 laying down a procedure for the provision of information in the field of technical standards and regulations10 and pursuant to the abovementioned general guidelines;

Whereas provision should be made for transitional arrangements to enable installers to place on the market lifts manufactured before the date of implementation of this Directive;

Whereas this Directive is designed to cover all risks caused by lifts and run by their users and by the occupants of the construction; whereas this Directive should therefore be regarded as a Directive within the meaning of Article 2 (3) of Council Directive 89/106/EEC of 21 December 1988 on the approximation of laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States relating to construction products11;

Whereas an agreement on a modus vivendi between the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission concerning the implementing measures for acts adopted in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 189b of the EC Treaty was reached on 20 December 1994,

HAVE ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE: