When the EC Pressure Equipment Directive (PED) 97/23/CE was adopted in May 1997, it became clear that pressure equipment designed and built to standards other than European standards could carry the CE mark. This was made possible by the European New Approach, in which Essential Safety Requirements (ESR) are established in the Directives, and standards are used to support them. The PED 97/23/CE has now been substantially amended and replaced by Directive 2014/68/EU, issued 15 May 2014. The new PED shall be applied no later than July 19, 2016, except that Article 13 shall be applied from June 1, 2015.
