Council Products Regulation … are you ready?
On the 1st of July 2013 ‘CPR’ (Construction Products Regulation) will be brought into force, laying down harmonised conditions for the marketing of construction products and repealing Council Directive 89/106/EEC ‘CPD’ (Construction Products Directive).
Since before the CPD existed, there were 25 years of internal discussions around the normative tables. Such discussions were made mainly to safeguard, as far as possible, national interests. Some Member States tried to close their internal market in the name of safety or of stricter national rules. Some Member States tried to implement the Directive at the latest possible time. Some Member States protested, some closed their ears and whistled. Member States will not easily give up their national approach and argue in the name of their citizens, their industries, their geographical position, their historical and technical background, etc: in so doing, damaging the European market – the SMEs much, much more than the multinationals.
