In the coming weeks, the Council of Ministers is expected to endorse the amendments made by the European Parliament last November with regard to a law to regulate the placing on the market of pyrotechnic articles. The new Directive aims at introducing measures to safeguard the safety of these products and create more competitive markets by 2010.
The European Parliament’s consent was based on an amended version of the original proposed Directive, as presented by the European Commission. Parliament wants to exclude countries - mainly from the Southern Mediterranean, including Malta - from the stringent new measures, arguing that in these countries there is a large number of religious festivals involving displays of hand-made fireworks which are not sold to consumers.
The European Commission had proposed the Directive on October 11, 2005 with the view to adopting a clear set of common rules to ensure the free movement of pyrotechnic products within the EU, improve the overall protection of consumers and professionals, contribute to the reduction of accidents and harmonise the safety requirements applicable in different Member States.
The existing legal framework for the placing on the market and use of pyrotechnic article differs widely from one Member State to another in terms of classification, approval, consumer restrictions and labeling, with accident rates also varying significantly between countries according to a Commission questionnaire sent out in 2003.
The Commission’s proposal intended to achieve a harmonized EU approach on standards for pyrotechnic articles in order to ensure that sub-standard articles are not placed on the EU market. This should in turn result in a significant reduction in the number of accidents. In this regard, the draft Directive extends the CE marking of pyrotechnic articles with the result that only CE-marked pyrotechnic articles can be placed on the market. In addition, the Directive also calls for a harmonized EU approach to the provision of information on the safe handling and usage, categorization, standardisation and approval systems.
To be implemented, the Commission will now ask the European Standardization Committee (CEN) to develop standards which can also be used internationally as standards of the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO). The new rules will come into force in 2010, after a transitional period of three years for consumer fireworks, to allow the necessary technical standards to be drawn up. For other pyrotechnic articles, like professional and theatre fireworks, the application of the new Directive will be as of 2013, after a transitional period of six years.
For articles to comply with the essential safety requirements, manufacturers must have a number of properties assessed by independent testing institutes including physical and chemical stability, compatibility of all components, resistance to normal, foreseeable handling and transportation, resistance against water and low and high temperatures, safety features to prevent untimely or inadvertent initiation or ignition, suitable instructions in the official language or languages of the recipient Member State, and ability to withstand deterioration. The proposed Directive also defines categories of pyrotechnic articles and sets minimum age limits for persons acquiring and handling them, but leaves open the possibility for Member States to increase the age limits for consumers or to lower them for trained staff.
As originally proposed, the Firework’s Directive would have hit Malta’s fireworks’ factories hard because of new measures and obligations, given that local factories are generally non-profit organisations which are run on a voluntary basis by licensed manufacturers as a pastime, mainly to contribute towards their village feasts. In view of this, since the Directive’s inception, there was intensive lobbying for an exemption for Malta by Malta’s MEPs, led by Joseph Muscat, together with Malta’s Representation in Brussels. These lobbying efforts proved to be successful and the exemption was obtained.
The report drawn up by Socialist MEP Joel Hasse Ferreira - rapporteur of the Parliamentary Committee for Internal Market and Consumer Protection - which was subsequently adopted by the European Parliament by 565 votes in favour to 22 against with six abstentions, includes an amendment to the original proposal, laying down that “in view of religious, cultural and traditional festivities in the Member States, fireworks built by the manufacturer for his or her own use can not be considered as being placed on the market if a Member State approves their use on its territory and should not therefore need to comply with this Directive”. In this way, the ‘Placing on the market’ would not cover “fireworks built by the manufacturer for own use in the territory where they are produced” and similarly, ‘manufacturer’ would not include a person who designs and manufactures a product for his own professional or private use.
This means that certain rigorous and cost-inflating obligations such as the introduction of the CE mark would not be applicable for fireworks manufactured to be let off locally – thereby safeguarding the interests of the numerous Maltese pyrotechnic enthusiasts. The same applies for those Member States which, like Malta, perform a non-commercial pyrotechnic activity.
The proposal will now go the Council of Ministers for approval, probably during the next Competitiveness Council meeting in mid-February 2007.
More information is available from Forum Malta fl-Ewropa, telephone 2590 9101 or email: [email protected]
Ronald Mizzi, is a Research Analyst at
Forum Malta fl-Ewropa
[email protected]