Brussels, 16 December 2024
The Council has today adopted the regulation on the approval and market surveillance of Non-road Mobile Machinery (NRMM), which harmonises safety requirements for self-propelled machinery including lawn mowers, harvesters or bulldozers that need to circulate on public roads. This is the last step in the decision-making procedure.
A single market for non-road machinery
The regulation adopted today unifies, in a single set of rules, safety measures that, to date, were legislated at national level. The regulation proposes a simplified one-step procedure that considers the specific characteristics of non-road mobile machinery. Manufacturers and distributors will have to request approval only once, and just in one member state, for the machinery to be acceptable in all the EU countries. Users (e.g. rental companies) will benefit from a reduction in the compliance costs, and it will be easier for them to use and re-sell machinery in different countries. Drivers, in turn, will benefit from harmonised rules that ensure a high level of road safety across the EU.
The role of member states
While the regulation adopted today harmonises existing rules across the 27 member states, member states will keep the power to limit the circulation of certain machines (i.e. when such machinery is fully automated, when their size is so large that this could hamper manoeuvrability or so heavy that the machinery could damage roads or other transport infrastructure). Member states will also be able to take measures if the type-approval granted to specific machinery does not comply with the regulation (i.e. they can refuse to recognise it).
Producers of small series (less than 70 units per year in each member state) will be exempted from requesting an EU type-approval.
Next steps
Following the Council’s approval today, the legislative act has been adopted.
After being signed by the President of the European Parliament and the President of the Council, the regulation will be published in the Official Journal of the European Union and will enter into force on the 20th day following its publication. It will apply 3 years later in all member states.
Background
A 2019 study indicated that harmonising requirements at EU level could save between 18% and 22% in compliance costs (around €3.38 million per year in administrative costs). Overall, the regulation may generate up to €846 million in savings for all stakeholders.
EU production of non-road mobile machinery is estimated at a value of €12.5 billion per year. The sector is a significant producer and strong exporter of non-road mobile machinery globally. Out of the annual production value, 42% is exported to non-EU countries and 54% is traded within the EU, while only 4% is sold in the EU country where production takes place.
The Commission presented the proposal for a regulation on 30 March 2023. The Council adopted its negotiating mandate on 8 November 2023 and the two co-legislators (Council and Parliament) reached a provisional agreement on 21 February 2024.
- Commission proposal
- Council mandate
- Safer roads & safer workers: Council and Parliament strike provisional deal on the non-road mobile machinery regulation (press release, 21 February 2024)