EU legislation on product safety is about to be simplified and streamlined. The European Commission has proposed a new set of rules to replace overlapping existing standards. "We have to make sure that unsafe products can be detected and stopped. Therefore, I strongly welcome the Commission's package which simplifies and makes the safety rules for products more uniform as well as streamlining the procedures for market surveillance", said Andreas Schwab MEP, EPP Group Coordinator in the Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee of the European Parliament.

Responding to the Parliament's request in its 2011 Resolution, the package proposed by the Commission consists of a revised instrument on Consumer Products Safety and a proposal for a new single Regulation on Market Surveillance for all products as well as setting out a multi-annual plan for market surveillance. "It is good news that the proposal for Consumer Products Safety takes the form of a Regulation applied in a uniform manner across the Union. This implies strong simplification and prevents Member States from adopting diverging product regulations thereby avoiding unnecessary administrative burdens, especially for SMEs", Andreas Schwab continued.

Safe products, and the product safety rules and market surveillance that underpin them, move freely in the EU. They are the basis of the single market for goods and essential for reaping the economic benefits of the internal market of more than 490 million inhabitants. "A common European framework for market surveillance concerning all products on the internal market or entering the EU from China or elsewhere is a huge step forward. When amending the draft legislation in the European Parliament, the EPP Group will keep a balanced approach. We will make sure that this package also contributes to our policy of growth and employment, in particular, by avoiding any double checking system at European and national levels", concluded Mr Schwab.

For further information:
Andreas SCHWAB MEP, Tel: +32-2-2845938
Thomas Bickl, EPP Group Press and Communications Service, Tel: +32-478-215372

Notes to Editors:
The EPP Group is by far the largest political group in the European Parliament with 270 Members and 3 Croatian Observer Members.