Preliminary Study on EU New Elevator Directive 2014/33/EU

I. Overview of the Development of EU Elevator Directive

Under the framework of the new method directive, on June 29, 1995, the EU issued the 95/16/EC Elevator Directive, which applies to elevators and their safety components that are permanently used in buildings.

95/16/EC stipulates elevator basic health and safety requirements, conditions for allowing elevators and safety components to be put on the market and put into use, conformity assessment procedures, requirements for CE marking, and measures to be taken by member countries to comply with the directive. After more than ten years of practice, 95/16/EC has formed a relatively perfect operation mechanism. On April 2016, 2014/33/EU Elevator Directive replaced 95/16/EC. On the basis of inheriting the main content of 95/16/EC, 2014/33/EU has been revised. As an important elevator market, EU studies on 2014/33/EU are of great significance to guide China's elevator out of 12 EU.

Characteristics of EU Elevator Directive

Elevator Directive, as one of the important directives that EU Member States must abide by, plays an active role in unifying the EU elevator market. It has the following characteristics:

1. Establishing an open and transparent information dissemination system

In addition to the establishment of smooth communication and coordination channels, the EU timely publishes relevant information through the website of the European Commission in the implementation of the Elevator Directive, so that other stakeholders who do not participate in the above-mentioned activities, especially the industry organizations outside the EU, elevator manufacturers, can timely understand the information, avoid unnecessary post-communication, rectification and promote the market. Fair competition, these public information mainly include: in order to ensure the consistency of understanding of the Elevator Directive, the European Commission drafted the "Guidelines for the Implementation of Elevator Directives", timely publishing the latest list of coordination standards of the Elevator Directive, the replacement coordination standards and the implementation date of the newly listed coordination standards, and other relevant information; publishing and timely updating the designated bodies (Notified Body), publishing. Relevant information includes the names, addresses and contact information of all approved designated institutions, the scope of eligibility assessment, the validity period of certificates of accreditation, and the list of designated institutions whose qualifications have been revoked.

2. Establishing a constantly improving working mechanism

Article 16 of 95/16/EC stipulates that the European Commission may be urged to assess the initial implementation of the Elevator Directive and make necessary amendments. In 2002, the European Commission initiated an assessment of the implementation of the Elevator Directive based on the reports of member States and discussions of the Elevator Working Group. In July 2008, the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union approved resolution 768/2008/EC on the construction of a new legal framework, which initiated the process of transition from a new European approach to a new legal framework. As one of the first directives based on the revision of the new legal framework, the European Parliament and the Council completed the revision in 2014 and issued the 2014/33/EU.

III. Major changes in 2014/33/EU

The 2014/33/EU is formulated in accordance with the new legal framework, and its updates mainly cover the responsibilities of market participants, certification bodies and quality assurance measures.

1. Definition of market participants

95/16/EC only defines "elevator installer" and "security component manufacturer" as two market participants. In order to further strengthen and clarify the responsibilities of market participants, 2014/33/EU redefined market participants, mainly as follows:

Installers: natural persons or entities that design, produce, install elevators and put them into the market;

(2) Elevator safety spare parts manufacturers: self-produced elevator spare parts, or natural persons or entities that design and label elevator spare parts;

(3) Authorized representative (whole elevator or safety parts): a natural person or legal person authorized in writing by the installer or manufacturer to carry out the corresponding tasks on behalf of the installer and manufacturer, who lives or is registered in the territory of the member states of the European Union;

The importer (safety components): from third countries to introduce security components to the natural person or legal person to the EU market, and life or registered in the territory of the member states of the European union;

The dealer (safety components): in the supply chain, the natural person than the manufacturer or importer into the EU market, security components or legal person;

The operator refers to the installer, manufacturers, importers and distributors, authorized representative;