12th February 2025 |
Closed Consultations
The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment invites submissions to a public consultation on a proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 2014/32/EU as regards electric vehicle supply equipment, compressed gas dispensers, and electricity, gas and thermal energy meters.
What is the Measuring Instruments Directive 2014/32/EU?
The Measuring Instruments Directive 2014/32/EU, formerly 2004/22/EC seeks to harmonise many aspects of legal metrology across all EU member states. Measuring instruments such as water meters, gas meters and volume conversion devices are important for trade, consumers and industry. The Directive aims to ensure that meters approved under the Directive may be used in all EU member states.
What is being proposed under the new Directive?
Given the technical advances made in the last twenty years, the Directive in its current form does not cover new measuring instruments that are necessary to achieve the objectives of the European Green Deal, particularly for electric vehicle supply equipment, compressed gas (for example, hydrogen and natural gas) dispensers and thermal energy meters for cooling applications.
The current Directive does not address the growing role of digitalisation (smart metering for electricity and gas meters) or the use of new gases (like hydrogen or other renewable gases as alternatives to more traditional gases) supplying households.
The absence of harmonised requirements for certain categories of measuring instruments is expected to lead to the emergence of diverging national legislations, that is, a fragmentation of the Single Market, leading to higher costs for economic operators and consumers. Additionally, this could also cause delays in the rollout of technologies that are key for the twin, green and digital, transition of the Union economy.
Moreover, some essential requirements of the current Directive are no longer technology neutral, for example, display requirements, which prevent the use of modern solutions and their associated benefits in terms of convenience and protection for consumers.
What is being proposed is a targeted technical amendment of the Directive to address the above.
What updates are proposed?
The proposed amendment to the Directive provides for a limited update of the scope of the Directive (including new essential requirements to cover this increased scope) and a limited update of some essential requirements regarding electricity and gas meters, as follows:
- measuring systems for electric vehicle supply equipment
- compressed gas (for example, hydrogen) dispensers
- gas and electricity smart meters
- thermal energy meters for cooling applications
Main part of the Directive
It is proposed to introduce new recitals to justify and explain the targeted amendment, as follows:
- amendment of Article 2 to adjust the scope of the Directive
- amendment of the relevant instrument specific annexes
- addition of two new annexes to cover measuring systems for electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) and measuring systems for compressed gas dispensers
- transposition (12 months after publication in the Official Journal of the EU) and entry into force (24 months after publication)
- transitional measures for equipment already placed on the market and for EU and national certificates
Consultation questions
This consultation will be of particular importance to those involved in:
- manufacturing of smart meters
- competent authorities of utility provision
The following questions should be considered in terms of what is being proposed:
- Do the targeted amendments address what is happening in the market? If not, please provide supporting text in your response.
- Do the proposed changes to the annexes clearly set out the changes that are required for each product? If not, how can they be made clearer? Please provide supporting text in your response.
- Are there any items on the market that may have been excluded from the proposed amendment? If so, please provide supporting text in your response.
European Commission’s request for comments
The European Commission has invited member states to submit comments and drafting suggestions on the proposal using specified templates. Comments received in this public consultation will inform Ireland’s response to the Commission.
Submissions
Respondents are requested to note that it is the department’s policy to treat all submissions received as being in the public domain unless confidentiality is specifically requested. Respondents are, therefore, requested to clearly identify material they consider to be confidential and to place same in a separate annex to their response, labelled 'confidential'.
Where responses are submitted by email, and those emails include automatically generated notices stating that the content of same should be treated as confidential, contributors should clarify in the body of their emails as to whether their comments are, in fact, to be treated as confidential.
Respondents are requested to make their submissions in writing or by email. Submissions or questions regarding the consultation should be marked ‘Amendment to Directive 2014/32/EU’ and be sent by email to nsailiaison@enterprise.gov.ie or posted to:
NSAI Liaison Unit,
Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment,
23 Kildare Street, Dublin 2,
D02 TD30
The deadline for receipt of submissions is 5pm on Tuesday, 25 February 2025.
Freedom of Information
Respondents’ attention is drawn to the fact that information provided to the department may be disclosed in response to a request under the Freedom of Information Acts. Therefore, should you consider that any information you provide is commercially sensitive, please identify same, and specify the reason for its sensitivity. The department will consult with any potentially affected respondent regarding information identified as sensitive before making a decision on any Freedom of Information request.
Topics:
The Business Environment, EU and Internal Market