New EU Machinery Regulation (EU) 2023/1230: what changes from 20/01/2027

In short: from 20 January 2027, new machinery placed on the European Union market must comply with Regulation (EU) 2023/1230, which replaces the Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC. Machinery placed on the market before that date under the Directive can still be sold and used. The main changes are digital instructions and declarations of conformity (with a right to ask for paper), cybersecurity requirements, rules for safety components using artificial intelligence, a revised list of higher-risk machinery and clearer rules on who becomes the manufacturer when a machine is modified.

Why the Machinery Directive is being replaced

Since 2009, machinery safety in the EU has been based on Directive 2006/42/EC, transposed in Portugal by Decree-Law No. 103/2008. Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 was adopted on 14 June 2023 and published in the Official Journal on 29 June 2023. It entered into force on 19 July 2023, but most of its rules only apply from 20 January 2027. On that date, Directive 2006/42/EC is repealed.

The difference between the two instruments matters:

• A directive sets objectives that each Member State must transpose into national law. National transpositions can differ slightly.
• A regulation applies directly and in the same way in every Member State, with no transposition. Member States only need to adopt implementing rules, such as competent authorities and penalties.

According to DGADR, the Portuguese agriculture and rural development directorate, a national implementing decree-law that will repeal Decree-Law No. 103/2008 is being prepared. Market surveillance of machinery remains with ASAE, the Portuguese economic and food safety authority.

Another point that is often missed: the Regulation deals with the design and construction of machinery at the moment it is placed on the market or put into service. It does not deal with how each company uses, maintains or inspects its equipment. That remains governed by workplace health and safety law.

Key dates

What changes: the main points

1. Higher-risk machinery and notified body assessment

Annex IV of the Directive is replaced by Annex I of the Regulation, split into two parts:

• Part A: conformity assessment by a notified body (third party) is always mandatory, even if the manufacturer applies harmonised standards. The list covers removable mechanical transmission devices and their guards, vehicle servicing lifts, portable cartridge-operated fixing and other impact machinery, and safety components and machinery with fully or partially self-evolving behaviour that use machine learning to ensure safety functions.
• Part B: the manufacturer may use internal production control (module A) only if it has applied harmonised standards or common specifications covering all the relevant essential health and safety requirements. Otherwise, a notified body is required (EU type-examination followed by conformity to type, full quality assurance or unit verification).

For anyone working with aerial work platforms, item 14 of Part B is the most relevant: devices for lifting persons, or persons and goods, involving a hazard of falling from a vertical height of more than 3 metres. Mobile elevating work platforms (MEWPs) fall into this category, as they already did under Annex IV of the Directive. Part B also includes roll-over protective structures (ROPS), falling-object protective structures (FOPS), protective devices designed to detect persons and logic units that ensure safety functions.

Machinery not listed in Annex I can still be assessed by the manufacturer itself (module A).

2. Digital instructions and the right to ask for paper

The Regulation allows instructions for use to be supplied in digital format. In that case, the manufacturer must:

• mark on the machine (or, where that is not possible, on the packaging or in an accompanying document) how to access the instructions;
• provide them in a format that can be printed, downloaded and saved on an electronic device, so they are available at all times, including during a breakdown, even when they are embedded in the machine's software;
• keep them accessible online for the expected lifetime of the machine and for at least 10 years after it is placed on the market.

If the user asks at the time of purchase, the manufacturer must supply the instructions on paper, free of charge, within one month. For machinery intended for non-professional users, or that can reasonably be used by them, the essential safety information must always be supplied on paper. The instructions must be in a language easily understood by users, as determined by each Member State.

Practical tip: if your team relies on the manual kept on the machine, ask for paper instructions when you place the order. After the purchase, the Regulation no longer guarantees that right.

3. Digital EU declaration of conformity

The EU declaration of conformity can accompany the machine on paper or, alternatively, the manufacturer can give in the instructions an internet address or a machine-readable code (for example, a QR code) where the declaration can be accessed. A digital declaration must remain accessible online for the expected lifetime of the machine and for at least 10 years after it is placed on the market or put into service.

The declaration follows the model in Annex V, Part A, and must be translated into the language required by the Member State where the machine is placed on the market. The manufacturer keeps the technical documentation and the declaration for at least 10 years.

4. Cybersecurity: protection against corruption

This is one of the biggest changes. The new essential requirement 1.1.9 of Annex III, "Protection against corruption", requires that:

• connecting another device to the machine, directly or remotely, does not create a hazardous situation;
• the hardware, software and data that are critical for the machine to meet the safety requirements are protected against accidental or intentional corruption;
• the machine identifies the safety software installed and can provide that information at any time;
• the machine collects evidence of legitimate or illegitimate interventions in that software or its configuration.

Control systems must also withstand reasonably foreseeable malicious attempts by third parties that could create a hazardous situation. Interventions and the versions of safety software uploaded after the machine is placed on the market are logged for five years.

In practice, this affects machines with telematics, remote control, software updates or app connectivity. The aim is not data protection, but preventing a software change from undermining the machine's safety.

5. Artificial intelligence and self-evolving safety components

The Regulation distinguishes "conventional" software from systems with fully or partially self-evolving behaviour, meaning systems that learn and change their behaviour after being placed on the market:

• safety components using machine learning to ensure safety functions, and machinery that embeds them, are in Part A of Annex I and always require a notified body;
• the risk assessment must take into account the foreseeable evolution of that behaviour;
• self-evolving control systems must not perform actions beyond their defined task and movement space, must record data on safety decisions (kept for one year) and must always remain correctable.

The Regulation also introduces requirements for autonomous mobile machinery, such as a remote supervisory function that only allows the machine to be stopped, started or moved to a safe position.

In July 2026, Regulation (EU) 2026/1744 (the "Digital Omnibus" on AI) amended Regulation 2023/1230. The Commission must adopt delegated acts adding requirements to Annex III for high-risk AI systems in machinery. Those requirements are to apply by 2 August 2028. The 20 January 2027 date has not changed.

6. Substantial modification: whoever modifies becomes the manufacturer

The Regulation defines "substantial modification" as a physical or digital modification, made after the machine is placed on the market or put into service, that:

• was not foreseen or planned by the manufacturer;
• affects safety by creating a new hazard or increasing an existing risk;
• requires adding guards or protective devices that need changes to the safety control system, or additional measures to ensure stability or mechanical strength.

Anyone who carries out a substantial modification is considered the manufacturer. They must ensure the machine complies (or only the affected part, if it belongs to an assembly of machinery and the risk assessment shows this), apply the conformity assessment procedure and issue a new declaration. The exception is a non-professional user modifying a machine for their own use.

For an importer or distributor the rule is broader: they take on the manufacturer's obligations if they sell the machine under their own name or trademark, or modify it in a way that might affect compliance.

Examples of changes that call for careful analysis on an aerial work platform: increasing the platform capacity, changing the height or outreach, altering or bypassing limiters and sensors, or changing the safety software. Maintenance and the replacement of parts with equivalent parts, carried out according to the manufacturer's instructions, are not substantial modifications.

7. Obligations of importers and distributors

Importers and distributors must also ensure that storage and transport do not compromise compliance, take corrective action when a machine does not comply and cooperate with the authorities.

Transition: before and after 20 January 2027

What counts is the date on which each unit is first placed on the EU market or put into service, not the date the end customer buys it or the date the model was launched.

EC type-examination certificates issued under the Directive remain valid until they expire. Until 2027, the European Commission allows manufacturers to state on the declaration of conformity of a machine that complies with the Directive that it also complies with the new Regulation, where applicable.

What it means for buyers and users of aerial work platforms

New machines

From 20 January 2027, new machines entering the EU market must carry CE marking and an EU declaration of conformity under Regulation (EU) 2023/1230. A new machine that was placed on the market earlier under the Directive and is still in stock can still be sold.

Used machines already on the EU market

A used platform that was placed on the EU market under the Directive does not need to be re-certified when it changes owner. Reselling within the EU is not a new placing on the market. The original declaration of conformity and manual remain the reference documents. Before you buy, follow our checklist for buying a used aerial work platform.

Used machines imported from outside the EU

This is where things change. The Regulation covers products that are new to the EU market, including new or used machinery imported from third countries. A used machine imported and placed on the EU market for the first time on or after 20 January 2027 must comply with the new Regulation, with CE marking, technical documentation and a declaration of conformity. Whoever imports it takes on the importer's obligations. If no one in the EU takes on the role of manufacturer, the import may not be viable. See also our guide on importing construction machinery.

Modifying machines you already own

If you substantially modify a machine after 2027, the substantial modification rules apply to that machine, even if it was placed on the market under the Directive. Before any modification affecting capacity, stability or safety systems, talk to the manufacturer or the brand's dealer.

Use on site: what does not change

For companies that use platforms, day-to-day obligations remain under Portuguese Decree-Law No. 50/2005, which sets the minimum safety requirements for work equipment. The employer must ensure the equipment is suitable, in good condition and checked after installation, periodically and after exceptional events. Equipment made available to workers for the first time must comply with the applicable design and marketing legislation. See our guide on mandatory inspections of aerial work platforms.

Checklist for buying a machine from 2027

1. Check whether the machine was placed on the EU market before or after 20 January 2027 and under which legislation the declaration of conformity was issued.
2. Ask for the EU declaration of conformity (on paper or via the address or QR code given in the instructions) and check the name and address of the manufacturer and, where applicable, the importer.
3. Make sure the instructions are in Portuguese and, if you want paper, ask for it at the time of purchase.
4. For platforms lifting people more than 3 metres, check whether the declaration lists the harmonised standards applied or the notified body involved.
5. Ask which safety software is installed, how updates are made and how each intervention is logged.
6. For a used machine, ask for the maintenance and inspection history and confirm there have been no changes to capacity, outreach or safety systems.
7. For a machine imported from outside the EU, confirm who takes on the manufacturer and importer obligations before closing the deal.

How Trapézio de Prismas can help

Trapézio de Prismas is the official JLG and Power Curbers dealer in Portugal.

• New machines: if you are planning to buy a machine before or after 20 January 2027, talk to us about new JLG machines or Power Curbers machines and about the conformity documentation and instructions for each model. Request a quote.
• Used machines: see the used JLG machines available.
• Technical inspection: before buying a used machine or putting it to work, request a technical inspection.
• Service: JLG service and JLG parts.

This article is for information only and does not replace the official text of the Regulation or legal advice. For specific cases, contact ASAE, ACT (the Portuguese labour inspectorate) or a specialist.