New ATEX directive

The ATEX 94/9/EU that is dedicated to the manufacturer has changed. Always applicable up to 19 April 2016 the ATEX 94/9/EC will be removed and replaced by a new directive.

This new ATEX directive was published on Saturday 29 March 2014, under the new reference : Directive 2014/34/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on the harmonisation of the laws of the Member States relating to equipment and protective systems intended for use in potentially explosive atmospheres (recast) Text with EEA relevance - Official Journal of the European Union L 96 from 29/03/2014.

This new ATEX directive 2014/34/EU will be mandatory for manufacturer on 20 April 2016 as is stated in article 44 of the directive.

Promised for a long time, this new ATEX directive has been published together with 8 other directives in the frame of NEW LEGISLATIVE FRAMEWORK (NLF) ALIGNMENT PACKAGE (Implementation of the Goods Package). It was the subject of a "COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL" for the Alignment of ten technical harmonisation directives to Decision No 768/2008/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 July 2008 on a common framework for the marketing of products, in Brussels, 21.11.2011 under reference COM(2011) 763 final.

This texts aims to align at its origin 10 directives who were :

• Civil Explosives Directive: Directive 93/15/EEC on the harmonisation of the provisions relating to the placing on the market and supervision of explosives for civil use;
• Directive on equipment for use in explosive atmospheres (ATEX): Directive 94/9/EC on the approximation of the laws of the Member States concerning equipment and protective systems intended for use in potentially explosive atmospheres;
• Lifts Directive: Directive 95/16/EC on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to lifts;
• Pressure Equipment Directive: Directive 97/23/EC on the approximation of the laws of the Member States concerning pressure equipment;
• Measuring Instruments Directive: Directive 2004/22/EC on measuring instruments;
• Electromagnetic Compatibility Directive (EMC): Directive 2004/108/EC on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to electromagnetic compatibility;
• Low Voltage Directive (LVD): Directive 2006/95/EC on the harmonisation of the laws of Member States relating to electrical equipment designed for use within certain voltage limits;
• Pyrotechnic Articles Directive: Directive 2007/23/EC on the placing on the market of pyrotechnic articles;
• Non-automatic Weighing Instruments Directive: Directive 2009/23/EC on non-automatic weighing instruments;
• Simple Pressure Vessels Directive: Directive 2009/105/EC relating to simple pressure vessels

You can download the text of the new ATEX 2014/34/EU on the following web sites :

• from the present Industry-finder WEB site : the ATEX  2014/34/EU directive
• ATEX new directive from EUROPA