What EN 415 Means for Equipment Buyers and Manufacturers
The European Commission published a new implementing decision on 13 March 2026, updating the harmonised safety standards underpinning the EU Machinery Directive.
For packaging professionals, two standards stand out: a revised EN 415-8 for strapping machines, and a brand-new EN 415-2 covering packaging machines for pre-formed rigid containers. If you buy, specify, or manufacture packaging equipment for the European market, this could be important for you and your compliance with the CE mark.
The Machinery Directive and Why Harmonised Standards Matter
Under Directive 2006/42/EC, the EU’s Machinery Directive, equipment manufacturers are required to demonstrate that their products meet essential health and safety requirements. One of the most practical ways to do that is by conforming to harmonised standards published in the Official Journal of the European Union. Compliance with a harmonised standard gives you a presumption of conformity with the Directive, which makes the whole CE marking process considerably more straightforward.
Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2026/546 amends the existing list of standards, adding new ones, updating others, and, in two cases, publishing standards with explicit restrictions where the Commission has found gaps. The decision covers a wide range of machinery sectors, from tower cranes to agricultural dusters, but I’ll focus on what’s relevant to packaging.
EN 415-2:2025: A New Standard for Pre-Formed Rigid Container Packaging Machines
Perhaps the most significant development for the sector is the introduction of EN 415-2:2025, a new harmonised standard covering safety for packaging machines handling pre-formed rigid containers. This category includes the kind of filling, closing, and sealing equipment widely used in food, beverage, pharmaceutical, and consumer goods manufacturing.
Previously, EN 415-2 existed in an earlier form but was not listed as a harmonised standard under the Machinery Directive in the same way. The 2025 edition has now been assessed, found to satisfy the relevant safety objectives, and added to the official list.
For equipment manufacturers, this means a clearer, more direct route to CE marking for machines in this category. For buyers and end users, it means that when you specify new equipment, you have a more robust benchmark to hold suppliers against.
EN 415-8:2025: Strapping Machines Get an Update
Strapping machines also get attention in this decision. EN 415-8:2025 replaces the previous EN 415-8:2008, which had been in place for nearly two decades. The 2025 revision has been assessed and approved, and the old 2008 standard will be withdrawn, though the Commission is allowing a transition period to give manufacturers time to adapt.
Strapping is one of those areas that can look deceptively simple but carries real operator risk, particularly around entanglement, unexpected tensioning cycles, and the stored energy in the tensioned strap. An updated standard after 17 years is overdue, given how much strapping technology has evolved in that time, particularly with the shift toward fully automated inline systems integrated into end-of-line packaging.
Transition Timing: Don’t Leave This Until the Last Minute
The decision came into force on 13 March 2026, but the withdrawal of the old standards is deferred to give manufacturers room to adapt. The key date to add to your compliance calendar is 20 January 2027, when certain provisions of this decision take full effect, and the referenced old standards lose their presumption of conformity.
That sounds like plenty of time, but if you are in the middle of a packaging equipment project or about to go to tender for new machinery, it makes sense to specify compliance with the 2025 editions now, rather than accept equipment built to the older standards and risk a potential compliance gap later.
What to Do Now
If you are a packaging machinery manufacturer selling into the EU, the practical steps are fairly straightforward. Check whether your current equipment documentation references EN 415-8:2008. If it does, start the process of aligning with the 2025 edition ahead of the January 2027 withdrawal. For new machinery procurement, specify EN 415-2:2025 and EN 415-8:2025 in your technical requirements from the outset.
The full text of Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2026/546 is available in the Official Journal of the European Union if you want to read the complete annex listing the affected standards.
I can’t link to the individual standards; you’d need to purchase those.
