1. EU legislation on noise emission in the environment by equipment for use outdoors: latest developments
European Commission
DG Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (GROW)
Unit C3 – Advanced Engineering and Manufacturing Systems

2. Legislative references
Directive 2000/14/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 8 May 2000 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the noise emission in the environment by equipment for use outdoors (OJ L 162, , p. 1)
– as amended by Directive 2005/88/EC (OJ L 344, , p. 44), Corrigendum 05/88 (OJ L 165, , p. 35) and Regulation (EC) No 219/2009 (OJ L 87, , p. 109)
- Applicable since 3 January 2002

3. Initiative to revise the Directive
Several issues to be taken into consideration:
Adaptation to the technical progress: scope (lists of equipment), noise limits, conformity assessment procedures, notified bodies, standards for noise measurements methods (test codes)
Administration and information: marking, labelling, collection of noise data
Structure and format: alignment to the "New Legislative Framework" (Decision No 768/2008/EC and other instruments), conversion into a Regulation instead of a Directive

4. Ongoing activities (I)
Supporting study for an evaluation and impact assessment of Directive 2000/14/EC:
Carried out by external consultants (VVA and consortium)
Started in May 2017, lasting 12 months; final results to be delivered mid-2018
Inception Impact Assessment ("Roadmap"): latest version to be published in the Commission's "Better Regulation" website in November 2017
Open Public Consultation: to be launched in December ("EUSurvey"), running 12 weeks

5. Ongoing activities (II)
Indicative planning for the revision of Directive 2000/14/EC and the adoption of a new EU legislation on Outdoor Noise Emission:
Second half of 2018: drafting of the Commission Proposal and the related Impact Assessment Report
2019: submission of the Commission Proposal and the related Impact Assessment Report to the EU co- legislators (European Parliament and the Council)
: adoption?
: transition period and implementation?

6. Ongoing activities (III)
Working parties under the EU legislation on Outdoor Noise Emission:
Committee (under Article 18 of Directive 2000/14/EC) and Working Group: next meeting planned on 23 January 2018
Administrative Co-operation (AdCo) Group: last meeting held in October 2017; next meeting planned in September/October 2018
European Coordination of Notified Bodies Group: next meeting planned in February 2018

7. References and contacts
Commission's sectorial website on Noise Emission by Outdoor Equipment: engineering/noise-emissions/
CE marking: marking/
New Legislative Framework: market/goods/new-legislative-framework
The 'Blue Guide' on the implementation of EU product rules:
CIRCABC Interest Groups: Noise Emissions, Noise emissions - Adco, Noise Emission NB
DG GROW contacts: