Making available on the market of measuring instruments: electric vehicle supply equipment, compressed gas dispensers, and electricity, gas and thermal energy meters

PURPOSE: to amend Directive 2014/32/EU as regards electric vehicle supply equipment, compressed gas dispensers, and electricity, gas and thermal energy meters.

PROPOSED ACT: Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council.

ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: the European Parliament decides in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure and on an equal footing with the Council.

BACKGROUND: one of the objectives of Directive 2014/32/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council on measuring instruments (Measuring Instruments Directive - MID) is to guarantee the proper functioning of the internal market. Measuring instruments falling within the scope of that Directive are to meet the essential requirements set out in Annex I and in the relevant instrument-specific Annexes.

The scope and the associated essential requirements covered by the MID were already established by Directive 2004/22/EC, of which the MID is a recast. Thus, they have remained unchanged for more than 20 years. This means that the Measuring Instruments Directive does not cover new measuring instruments that are necessary to achieve the objectives of the European Green Deal. This is notably the case for electric vehicle supply equipment and compressed gas (e.g. hydrogen and natural gas) dispensers and thermal energy meters for cooling applications.

In addition, as far as electricity and gas meters are concerned, the MID does not address the growing role of digitalisation (smart metering) or the use of new gases (like hydrogen or other renewable gases as alternatives to more traditional gases) supplying households.

As a result, the absence of harmonised requirements for certain categories of measuring instruments is expected to lead to the emergence of diverging national legislations and therefore to a fragmentation of the single market. Such fragmentation leads to higher costs for economic operators and consumers.

Furthermore, some essential requirements of the MID are no longer technology neutral (e.g. display requirements) which prevent the use of modern solutions and their associated benefits in terms of convenience and protection for consumers.

CONTENT: the Commission proposal is a targeted technical amendment of Directive 2014/32/EU on the harmonisation of the laws of the Member States relating to the making available on the market of measuring instruments (Measuring Instruments Directive - MID). This targeted technical amendment is needed to  avoid further fragmentation of the single market.

More specifically, this proposal includes:

- technical adjustments to Annex I of the MID on the essential requirements applicable to all instruments covered by the directive. The adjustments to this annex will only affect the measuring instruments subject to this technical amendment;

- technical adjustments to Annex IV of the MID on gas meters and volume conversion devices to take into account the increased use of new gases and the rollout of smart meters;

- technical adjustments to Annex V of the MID on active electrical energy meters to take into account technological developments and the rollout of smart meters;

- addition of a new Annex Va on electric vehicle supply equipment to include harmonised essential requirements;

- technical adjustments to Annex VI of the MID on thermal energy meters to include thermal energy meters for cooling applications;

- addition of a new Annex VIIa on compressed gas dispensers with harmonised essential requirements.

Lastly, it is necessary to provide reasonable transitional arrangements for distributors to supply stock of measuring instruments and for manufacturers to adapt their products to the essential requirements set out in the Annexes to this Directive.