11/10/2008 1

Informative Annex 9

Formation of the EU, EU Directives, ATEX and adoption of API Standards in Europe

These Informative Annexes are for the use of the Task Force and are not to be included in the API Standards

TABLE OF Contents / Page
Brief History of the EU / 1
The 1950’s The Six get Together / 2
The 1060’s Then work out on how its run / 2
The 1970’s Britain Joins The Gang / 2
The 1990’s The EU formed / 2
The 2000’s The Euro is Born / 3
History of Membership / 3
Treaties / 3
EU Law / 3
EU Governing Bodies / 4
Executive / 5
Legislature / 5
EU Capital / 6
Legislature Procedures / 6
EU Law Made Easy / 7
A Law of Many Guises / 7
The Life Cycle of a Typical EU Directive / 7
What is a European New Approach Directive? / 8
What is CE marking? / 9
The European Economic Area / 10
Implementation of a New Approach Directive / 10
Standardization Organizations / 10
Relationship of API / ISO / CEN /and European Country National Standards / 11
Standards which address EU Directives / 12
Directives for API Type Equipment / 13
A few Directive as they apply to API equipment in non-explosive and explosive atmospheres Table 9-1 / 14
Directives Outlined in Table 9-1 / 15
ATEX Directive 94/9/Ec / 15
Guidelines on the Application of Directive 94/9/EC / 15
Low Voltage Directive 2006/ 95 /EC / 16
Machinery Directive 98/37/EC / 16
Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) Directive 2004/08/EC / 17
Pressure Equipment Directive 97/27/EC / 17
Environmental Directives / 17
Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC)
96/61/EC / 17
Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment(WEEE)
2002/96/EC / 18
Environmental Impact Directive 85/337/EEC. / 18
Battery Directive 91/157 /EEC / 18
Council Decision 93/465/EEC – CE Marking / 18
Equipment Design Specifications / 19
Declaration Of Conformity / 19
Technical File / 20

Forward

This Annex was originally intended to provide background on ATEX. During the development of the Annex questions such as the following developed:

What is ATEX?

What is the EU?

What is a Directive?

How does ISO fit into this?

How does the API/ISO specifications fit into this?

The original scope of this Annex expanded. The SPTF has documented in this Annex the results of our investigation.

As the result of our investigation SP 6.1.11 “Electrical Classification” and 5.2 “Statutory Requirements” have been modified.

A Brief History of the EU

The European Union has evolved over the past fifty years.

Large areas of Europe had previously been unified by empires built on force, such as the Roman Empire, Frankish Empire, Holy Roman Empire, the First French Empire or Nazi Germany. Largely due to the devastating affects of war many people turned to the idea of some form of unified Europe.

Such ideas became greater following the First World War, with the massive loss of life it entailed, forming organizations such as the Pan-Europa movement but it was not until after the Second World War that real steps were taken.

With statements such as Winston Churchill's 1946 call for a "United States of Europe" becoming louder, in 1949 the Council of Europe was established as the first pan-European organization.

In the year following, on 9 May 1950, the French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman proposed a community to integrate the coal and steel industries of Europe - these being the two elements necessary to make weapons of war. (See: Schuman declaration).

The 1950s: The Six Get It Together

France, Italy, the Benelux countries (Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg) together with West Germany signed the Treaty of Paris (1951) creating the European Coal and Steel Community the following year. Their hope is that the creation of a common market in two of the materials central to militarisation will rule out the possibility of a future war between France and Germany.

After failed attempts at creating defense and political communities, leaders focused on economic unity, leading to the Treaties of Rome being signed in 1957 which established the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) among the members. The EEC aims to extend the common market of the ECSC to create a single European market with free trade in goods, freedom for people to live and work in other Member States and the free flow of capital

The 1960s: Then Work Out Exactly How to Run Things...

In this decade, the family of institutions governing all the European Communities emerges with The Commission proposing and monitoring EU laws, the Council representing the governments of the Member States and the European Parliament providing democratic scrutiny.

The 1970s: Britain Joins The Gang

In 1973, The United Kingdom, Denmark and Ireland join the EEC. This is not the first time the UK has tried to join, its earlier attempt was met with a "non" by the French President Charles De Gaulle. In 1979, the first direct elections to the European Parliament was held with subsequent elections taking place every 5 years on a fixed term.

The 1990s: Creation of A common Currency

In 1992, they sign the Maastricht Treaty, which formally establishes the European Union and sets out a timetable for Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) and the creation of a single currency (the euro).

On 1 November 1993, the Maastricht Treaty (Treaty on the European Union) enters into force creating the European Union with its pillar system including foreign and home affairs along side the European Community

The 2000s

It's 2002 and the euro is born! After a period of co-circulation, national currencies within the eurozone are withdrawn, and the euro is fully launched. In 2004 and the biggest ever single enlargement of the EU occurs: On May 1, eight Central European countries (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia) and two Mediterranean countries (Malta, Cyprus) join the EU.

History of Membership

EU World Comparisons [Rolls Royce]

Country / Population / % World Population / Land Area (km2) / Population Density
(person per km2)
World / 6,581,000,000 / 100 / 148,939,063 / 44.2
Peoples Republic of China / 1,318,000,000 / 20.03 / 9,598,086 / 137.3
India / 1,127,000,000 / 17.13 / 3,166,414 / 355.9
European Union / 494,900,000 / 7.52 / 4,422,773 / 111.9
United States / 301,600,000 / 4.58 / 9,629,091 / 31.3

The EU has a 60% greater population in ½ the land area as the US

The gross domestic product of the EU and the US are approximately the same $12,500,000,000,000 (12 trillion dollars). China is third with $9.5 trillion.

Treaties

The primary legislation, or treaties, are effectively the constitutional law of the European Union. They are created by governments from all EU Member States acting by consensus. They lay down the basic policies of the Union, establish its institutional structure, legislative procedures, and the powers of the Union. There are 16 Treaties that make up the primary legislation.

EU Laws

The Law of the European Union is the unique legal system which operates alongside the laws of Member States of the European Union (EU). EU law has direct effect within the legal systems of its Member States, and overrides national law in many areas, especially in terms of economic and social policy. The EU is not a federal government, nor is it an intergovernmental organization. It constitutes a new legal order in international law[1] for the mutual social and economic benefit of the Member States. European Union law has evolved gradually over the last 56 years. As of 2007, there are around 500 million EU citizens in 27 Member States subject to EU law, making it one of the most encompassing modern legal systems in the world.

It has been ruled several times by the European Court of Justice that EU law is superior to national laws, and even Member States' constitutions. Where a conflict arises between EU law and the law of a Member State, EU law takes precedence, so that the law of a Member State must be disapplied.

EU Governing Bodies

The European Union is governed by a number of institutions which are laid out in the treaties of the European Union.

There are five official institutions. In treaty order, they are:

·  the European Commission (Executive)

·  the Council of the European Union; (Legislature)

·  the European Parliament; (Legislature)

·  the Court of Justice of the European Communities;

·  the European Court of Auditors.

Executive

The European Commission acts as an executive or civil service of sorts. It is currently composed of one member from each state (currently twenty-seven) and is responsible for drafting all proposed law, a duty over which it maintains a monopoly in order to co-ordinate European Law, as well as ensuring the treaties are followed (the "Guardian of the Treaties").

Legislature

The Strasbourg Hemicycle.

The Council of the European Union (also known as the "Council of Ministers") forms the first half of the Union's legislative branch. It is composed of the national ministers responsible for the area of EU law being addressed; a law regarding agriculture, for example, would go to a Council composed of national agriculture ministers. As a result the body primarily represents the national interest of member-states. The institution's presidency rotates between the member states every six months; to provide continuity, every three presidencies co-operate on a common agenda. This body should not to be confused with the European Council below or the non-EU Council of Europe.

The European Parliament forms the second half of the Union's legislative branch. Its membership, 785 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), are the only EU officials directly elected by popular vote, once every five years. Its members sit according to political groups rather than nationality and elect the Parliament's president.

EU Capital

There is no official "capital city of the European Union", with institutions spread across a number of cities. Though with most concentrated in Brussels, that city is often considered the de facto capital of the Union.

Legislative Procedures

The legislative procedures of the European Union are the ways in which the European Union enacts legislation. The procedure used for any given legislative proposal depends on the policy area in question. The rules governing which procedure applies to which policy area are laid down in the Treaties of the European Union.

EU law covers a broad range which is comparable to that of the legal systems of the Member States themselves.[14] Both the provisions of the Treaties, and EU regulations are said to have "direct effect" horizontally. This means private citizens can rely on the rights granted to them (and the duties created for them) against one another. For instance, an air hostess could sue her airline employer for sexual discrimination.[15] The other main legal instrument of the EU, "directives", have direct effect, but only "vertically". Private citizens may not sue one another on the basis of an EU directive, since these are addressed to the Member States. Directives allow some choice for Member States in the way they translate (or 'transpose') a directive into national law - usually this is done by passing one or more legislative acts, such as an Act of Parliament or statutory instrument in the UK. Once this has happened citizens may rely on the law that has been implemented. They may only sue the government "vertically" for failing to implement a directive correctly. An example of a directive is the Product liability Directive,[16] which makes companies liable for dangerous and defective products that harm consumers.

EU Law Made Easy.

A Law of Many Guises

Anything but easy, the processes and minutiae involved in EU law have been known to baffle even seasoned Brussels eurocrats. And they are paid to understand it...

...The main thing to bear in mind here, however, is that EU laws can be divided into 4 basic types:

1.  Regulations: These come into force throughout the EU from the moment they are passed at European level without the need for national legislatures to take any measures to implement them. Most regulations are initiated by the Commission and relate to highly specific and technical adjustments to existing EU law.

2.  Directives: EU directives bind all Member States to an overall objective to be achieved but leave the question of how to achieve this goal for national authorities to decide. Some Member governments like the UK have a tradition of implementing directives in a very precise way and even adding rules to them (called 'gold plating') whilst others, who will remain nameless, seem to take forever to translate them into action if at all...

3.  Decisions: A decision is binding in its entirety upon those to whom it is addressed. This may be any or all Member States, an undertaking (e.g. a company) or even an individual.

4.  Recommendations and opinions: These are not legally binding.

The Life Cycle of a Typical EU Directive

A typical EU directive starts life as a proposal from the European Commission. It is then passed to the Council of Ministers which represents all of the elected Governments of Member States. Most directives also go to the directly elected European Parliament which has the power to amend or reject. Once the Council and the European Parliament have reached agreement on the proposal it then goes to the Parliaments of Member States for adoption before it takes effect as European law.

The following diagram gives an overview of this process:

What is a European New Approach Directive? >

With the first objective of protecting its consumers, the EuropeanCommission has set up a system to ensure that most products circulating within its frontiers comply with minimum levels of safety and environmental acceptance. It has resulted in the adoption of "New Approach Directives" listing "essential requirements" that every product has to comply with in order to get the "CE Marking". No product falling under a Directive is allowed to circulate and to be sold in the European Union without the CE Marking.