Directive 2007/47 - Amendment of Council Directive 90/385/EEC on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to active implantable medical devices, Council Directive 93/42/EEC concerning medical devices and Directive 98/8/EC concerning the placing of biocidal products on the market - Main contents

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 247/21

Council Directive 93/42/EEC (3) requires the Commission to submit a report to the Council, no later than five years from the date of implementation of that Directive, concerning: (i) information on incidents occurring following the placing of devices on the market, (ii) clinical investigation carried out in accordance with the procedure set out in Annex VIII to Directive 93/42/EEC, and (iii) design examination and EC type examination of medical devices that incorporate, as an integral part, a substance which, if used separately, may be considered to be a medicinal product as defined in Directive 2001/83/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 November 2001 on the Community code relating to medicinal products for human use (4) and which is liable to act upon the body with action ancillary to that of the device.

The Commission brought forward the conclusions of that report in its Communication to the Council and the European Parliament on medical devices which, at the request of the Member States, was expanded to cover all aspects of the Community regulatory framework for medical devices.

This Communication was welcomed by the Council in its Conclusions on medical devices of 2 December 2003 (5). It was also discussed by the European Parliament which on 3 June 2003 adopted a resolution on the health implications of Directive 93/42/EEC (6).

Following from the conclusions drawn in that Communication it is necessary and appropriate to amend Council Directive 90/385/EEC (7), Directive 93/42/EEC and Directive 98/8/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (8).

To ensure consistency of interpretation and implementation between Directives 93/42/EEC and 90/385/EEC the legal framework related to issues such as authorised representative, the European databank, health protection measures, and the application of Directive 93/42/EEC as regards medical devices incorporating stable derivates of human blood or human plasma, as introduced by Directive 2000/70/EC (9), should be extended to Directive 90/385/EEC. The application of the provisions on medical devices incorporating stable derivates of human blood or human plasma includes application of Directive 2002/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 January 2003 setting standards of quality and safety for the collection, testing, processing, storage and distribution of human blood and blood components and amending Directive 2001/83/EC (10).

It is necessary to clarify that software in its own right, when specifically intended by the manufacturer to be used for one or more of the medical purposes set out in the definition of a medical device, is a medical device. Software for general purposes when used in a healthcare setting is not a medical device.

Particular care should be taken to ensure that the reprocessing of medical devices does not endanger patients’ safety or health. It is therefore...