Article 51 of Machinery Regulation 2023/1230: Repeal of Directives 73/361/EEC and 2006/42/EC

Article 51 of Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 repeals two earlier legal instruments: Directive 73/361/EEC, with effect immediately from the entry into force of the Regulation, and Directive 2006/42/EC on machinery, with effect from 14 January 2027. In practice, this means that any reference to Directive 2006/42/EC in contracts, CE markings, declarations of conformity or national legislation must be understood as a reference to the new Regulation, in accordance with the correlation table in Annex XII.

Which directives are exactly repealed?

Article 51 repeals two texts. First, Council Directive 73/361/EEC, on the certification of chains, ropes and hooks, whose repeal takes effect immediately from the entry into force of the Regulation (19 July 2023). Second, Directive 2006/42/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, on machinery, which has for almost twenty years been the reference framework for manufacturers, importers and distributors of machinery across the Union. This second repeal is not immediate: it takes effect on 14 January 2027, one day before the Regulation becomes fully applicable as a whole (20 January 2027, under the Regulation's general framework of application).

How are references to Directive 2006/42/EC in contracts and existing legislation interpreted?

Article 51 resolves an essential practical problem: thousands of supply contracts, tender specifications, harmonised standards, internal quality procedures and provisions of national law expressly cite Directive 2006/42/EC. Rather than forcing all of that documentation to be rewritten, the Regulation establishes that any reference to the repealed directives shall automatically be understood as a reference to Regulation (EU) 2023/1230. This equivalence is not generic: it must be read in accordance with the correlation table in Annex XII, which pairs each article of the old directive with its equivalent provision in the new Regulation. For quality and regulatory affairs departments, this means systematically reviewing every internal regulatory reference and mapping it against Annex XII before 2027.

Why is there a different deadline between the repeal of Directive 2006/42/EC and the full application of the Regulation?

The repeal of Directive 2006/42/EC is set for 14 January 2027, while the Regulation as a whole is applicable from 20 January 2027. This short technical gap of a few days aims to avoid a regulatory vacuum: the previous directive ceases to have effect just before the new regime becomes fully applicable, ensuring that there is never a period without a legal framework applicable to machinery safety. For manufacturers, the operational message is clear: all technical documentation, declarations of conformity and CE markings issued under Directive 2006/42/EC before that date retain their validity in accordance with the Regulation's transitional provisions, but any machinery placed on the market afterwards must already comply with the new Regulation.

Who must update their regulatory references in accordance with Annex XII?

The obligation to reinterpret references affects every actor in the chain: manufacturers who cite the directive in their instruction manuals and EC declarations; notified bodies that base their certificates on the article numbering of Directive 2006/42/EC; national legislators who transposed the directive into occupational risk prevention legislation; and public purchasers who drafted tender specifications citing the repealed directive. All of these actors must apply the correlation table in Annex XII to determine which article of the new Regulation replaces each provision of the previous directive, rather than assuming a literal article-by-article correspondence.

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Case study: Mecanitzats Vallès, S.L.

Mecanitzats Vallès, S.L., a manufacturer of CNC cutting machinery in Sabadell with 34 employees, reviewed its 18 machine models in catalogue in March 2026. Its instruction manuals and EC declarations cited 27 different articles of Directive 2006/42/EC. After cross-checking each reference against the Annex XII correlation table, they found that 6 articles had no direct equivalent (due to the introduction of new categories of "safety components" and artificial intelligence functions), which forced them to rewrite those sections before 14 January 2027. The process, carried out manually by their quality manager, took 11 weeks.

Can I still cite Directive 2006/42/EC after 14 January 2027?

Not as a currently applicable regulatory reference. Article 51 establishes that, from that date, any mention of the directive is automatically understood as a reference to Regulation (EU) 2023/1230, so keeping the original citation without updating it may create documentary confusion, even though the reference is legally reinterpreted in accordance with Annex XII.

Why is Directive 73/361/EEC repealed before Directive 2006/42/EC?

Because its content, relating to the certification of chains, ropes and hooks, is fully absorbed by the new Regulation from the outset, without the need for an additional transitional period, unlike Directive 2006/42/EC, which requires the full transitional period until January 2027 given its much broader scope.

What exactly is the correlation table in Annex XII?

It is the annex to the Regulation that pairs, article by article, the provisions of Directive 2006/42/EC with their equivalent (where one exists) in the new Regulation (EU) 2023/1230, allowing any legal, contractual or technical reference to the repealed directive to be correctly interpreted.

Does every article of Directive 2006/42/EC have an exact equivalent in the Regulation?

Not necessarily. The Regulation introduces new categories (such as artificial-intelligence-based safety components and machinery cybersecurity) that did not exist under the previous directive, so some references require a case-by-case analysis beyond the Annex XII table.

Does this repeal affect machinery already placed on the market before 2027?

Machinery lawfully placed on the market under Directive 2006/42/EC before its repeal retains the validity of its documentation in accordance with the Regulation's specific transitional provisions, which are governed by articles other than Article 51, dedicated exclusively to the regulatory repeal regime.

Must Member States amend their national legislation that transposed Directive 2006/42/EC?

Article 51 does not expressly require every national instrument to be amended, but it establishes that any reference made in national law to the repealed directive shall be understood as a reference to the Regulation, in accordance with Annex XII, which in practice requires Member States to review their transposing legislation to avoid interpretative contradictions.