Highlights - Machinery Directive Review - Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection

On 4 December AM, a Commission representative from DG GROW will present the Commission’s plans to review the Machinery Directive, which was last updated in 2006. Like other internal market legislation, the Machinery Directive sets out fully harmonised requirements concerning protection of health and safety that machinery has to meet in order to be allowed to circulate freely across the internal market.

The Commission is currently preparing a revision of the Directive, and one of the key reasons is to address challenges posed by artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things. According to the Commission's 2018 Communication on AI, the Machinery Directive is the EU's central safety framework for AI robots. An external contractor is preparing an impact assessment study on behalf of the Commission, which is due to be published in the first quarter of 2020.