Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council and the European Economic and Social Committee. 20 actions for safer and compliant products for Europe: a multi-annual action plan for the surveillance of products in the EU

The surveillance of the internal market for products is, in practice, an enormous challenge: the range of products to be controlled is very wide, many are imported from outside the Union, Member States have limited resources to perform checks and inspections and the need for controls in the Member States depends on various factors, such as the geographical and administrative structure of a country.

Performing market surveillance requires a sound infrastructure, efficient organisation and specialist knowledge. The combination of these elements is essential to achieving the twin objectives of protecting the citizen and ensuring fair competition. The organisation of market surveillance has to be frequently adapted to cope with evolving needs and a changing industrial environment.

The core of market surveillance is a chain of interdependent processes such as inspections, sampling, laboratory testing, interpretation of results, risk assessment, decision making, intervention and ensuing legal procedures which may involve corrective measures or even sanctions. The multi-annual market surveillance action plan is one of the 50 action points listed in the “Single Market Act”. It will introduce a number of objectives to be pursued and measures to be taken to achieve its political objectives and eliminate market dysfunctions. The Single Market Act II reiterates the need to improve the safety of products circulating in the EU.

This plan aims to fill gaps and make the surveillance of the single market for products (with the exception of food, feed and medicines) more efficient and operational to properly implement the relevant provisions of Regulation (EC) No 765/2008 setting out the requirements for accreditation and market surveillance and Directive 2001/95/EC of the European Parliament and Council on general product safety. It is part of a wider package that also includes proposals for a Regulation on Consumer Product Safety and a Regulation on Market Surveillance. The plan complements – and must be read in conjunction with - these initiatives but, pending the final adoption of these legislative proposals, it builds on the existing set of rules and programmes. It also takes into account the problems outlined in the impact assessment that accompanies this package.

The Commission intends to implement this plan with effect from its adoption, until 2015. At that time, it will assess whether a future multi-annual plan is necessary. However, not all actions will start at the same moment and the duration of each action will be dictated by its specific needs.

The main objective of this plan is to outline the non-legislative action that the Commission will take to reduce the number of unsafe or non-compliant products and ensure the efficiency and effectiveness of the surveillance of products both within the Union and on entry into the Union.

EUR-Lex: COM(2013)76: Follow the progress of this communication through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2013:076:FIN

ESO: Background information: Safer products and a level playing field in the internal market http://www.europeansources.info/record/press-release-safer-products-and-a-level-playing-field-in-the-internal-market/

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