Scope:

Evaluation of Directive 2014/33/EU on lifts and safety components for lifts

Evaluation findings

The directive is functioning well and is contributing positively to its main objectives of guaranteeing a high level of safety for users, installers and maintenance personnel and free movement of lifts and their safety components on the EU market.

The directive is relevant: its original objectives of the directive are as valid today as when the directive was first proposed. It is also an appropriate policy tool to overall address new risks entailed by technological developments related to lifts. It is overall perceived as being clear but some concepts may need further clarification.

The directive has effectively contributed to a well-functioning internal market for lifts and safety components, through the harmonisation of the relevant national legislation. The directive’s effectiveness is further enhanced by the legal certainty and transparency it provides. Overall, it can be inferred that the directive has contributed to the increase of the level of safety of lifts, in particularly looking at the declining number of accidents involving maintenance personnel. As far as users are concerned, the data provided by available national reports suggest that the impact of the directive is in no circumstances adverse.

The evaluation also concluded that the procedures for conformity assessment always involving a notified body proved adequate. The strong and positive role of notified bodies is recognised by all stakeholders which consider such third party certification resulting in the extremely low level of non-compliance of lifts and their safety components placed on the market. Also the development of harmonised standards has been key to ensure an effective application of the directive. These standards are used as the most common means to demonstrate compliance with the EHSRs.

The directive is efficient. Based on the available qualitative data and the result of the stakeholder consultation, it can be assumed that the directive balances costs and benefits for all stakeholder categories, and the costs related to the directive are proportionate to the benefits. There is no evidence that the compliance costs entailed by the directive increased in comparison to the period before 1999. However, benefits seem not evenly spread, with larger companies benefiting more than SMEs from harmonisation due to their orientation to intra- EU export.

The directive is considered to be coherent with other EU legislation, and no problems or overlaps have been identified, for example related to Machinery Directive, Cableway Installations Regulation and Construction Products Regulation. However, the interfaces between these directives are not always completely clear and could be clarified through guidance. No major contradictions emerged between the directive and the national building legislations of the different Member States.

The EU added value was acknowledged by all stakeholders. An EU approach remains the most appropriate response and is more likely to achieve the objectives set by the directive than national approaches. In fact, the directive reduced the regulatory fragmentation among Member States through alignment of national legislation related to the lift sector, which benefited both the functioning of the internal market and positively contributed to the safety of lifts.

Estimated savings and benefits

The directive balances costs and benefits for all stakeholder categories. Moreover, there is no evidence that the compliance costs entailed by the directive increased in comparison to the period before 1999. However, benefits seem not evenly spread, with larger companies benefiting more than SMEs from harmonisation due to their orientation to intra-EU export. The majority of the economic operators consider these costs proportionate to the benefits. No potential for simplification has been detected.