S.I. No. 123/1979 - European Communities (Low Voltage Electrical Equipment) Regulations, 1979.

S.I. No. 123 of 1979.

REGULATIONS entitled EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES (LOW VOLTAGE ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT) REGULATIONS, 1979.

I, DESMOND O'MALLEY, Minister for Industry, Commerce and Energy, in exercise of the power conferred on me by section 3 of the European Communities Act, 1972 (No. 27 of 1972), and for the purpose of giving effect to Council Directive 73/23/EEC*, hereby make the following Regulations:

1. These Regulations may be cited as the European Communities (Low Voltage Electrical Equipment) Regulations, 1979, and shall come into operation on the 11th day of April, 1979.

2. The European Communities (Low Voltage Electrical Equipment) Regulations, 1975 ( S.I. No. 62 of 1975 ), are hereby amended by the substitution in Regulation 3 of the following for the definition of "harmonised standards":

"'harmonised standards' means standards of safety—

(a) which have been drawn up by common agreement between the electrotechnical harmonising bodies notified by the Member States of the European Economic Community,

(b) which have been published in accordance with the Industrial Research and Standards Act, 1961 (No. 20 of 1961), and revised from time to time, or have been filed with the Institute for Industrial Research and Standards, and

(c) notice of the existence of which has been published by the Minister in Iris Oifigiúil;".

GIVEN under my Official Seal, this 6th day of April, 1979.

DESMOND O'MALLEY,

Minister for Industry, Commerce and Energy.

* OJ No. L77, 26.3.1973, p.29.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

These regulations are supplementary to the European Communities (Low Voltage Electrical Equipment) Regulations 1975 ( S.I. No. 62 of 1975 ) and 1976 ( S.I. No. 11 of 1976 ) already made giving effect to the European Communities Council Directive (73/23/EEC) of 19 February, 1973 on the harmonisation of the laws of Member States relating to electrical equipment designed for use within certain voltage limits (O. J. No. L 77/29—26/3/1973). They provide for the amendment of the definition of "harmonised standards" in Regulation 3, S.I. 62 of 1975.

The effect of these Regulations is to facilitate the publication of a harmonised standard by providing for filing of the text at the Institute for Industrial Research and Standards and by notifying the public of this.