The new Machinery Regulation 2027 — how it affects your machine marking

The EU Machinery Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 replaces the Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC and applies from 20 January 2027. Here is what it means for the nameplate, which details are still required, and what is new around digital instructions, cybersecurity and AI.

On 20 January 2027 the EU's new Machinery Regulation, (EU) 2023/1230, becomes applicable. It replaces the Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC that has underpinned CE marking of machinery for almost two decades. If you build or integrate machinery, this affects technical documentation, risk assessment — and the marking on the machine itself.

A directive becomes a regulation — and why that matters

The key formal difference is the legal instrument. A directive must be transposed into each member state's national law, which historically produced differences in interpretation and timing between countries. A regulation applies directly in every member state with no national implementation. Same text, same requirements, same day across the EU.

Equally important: there is no transition period with two parallel rule sets. Machinery placed on the market from 20 January 2027 must comply with the regulation. You cannot phase the requirements in product by product after that date, so preparation needs to be complete before it.

What the nameplate must still carry

The fundamentals of machine marking do not change in substance. The machine must carry marking containing at least:

The manufacturer's name and full address (and, where applicable, the authorised representative).
The designation of the machine — the name or type designation that identifies the product.
The serial or manufacturing number, where one exists.
The year of construction, meaning the year manufacturing was completed.
The CE marking, applied according to the rules on proportions and legibility.

Beyond the content there is an equally important requirement: the marking must be durable and legible. The details must remain readable throughout the machine's expected service life, in the environment where the machine is actually used. A label that fades or lifts after a few years does not meet the requirement in practice, even if the text was correct when applied.

That is why material choice is a compliance question and not only an aesthetic one. Anodised aluminium and laser-engraved stainless steel are common choices precisely because they survive UV, cleaning, chemicals and abrasion over time. Attachment belongs here too — riveting, screwing or structural adhesive rather than plain tape on an exposed surface.

What is new

The regulation modernises the framework on several points that reflect how machinery looks today:

Digital instructions are permitted. Instructions may be supplied in digital format, but safety-critical information must be provided physically — and the user must be able to obtain a paper version on request.
Cybersecurity is addressed explicitly. Protection against control systems and safety functions being manipulated, deliberately or accidentally, becomes part of the requirements.
Machinery with AI and self-evolving behaviour is covered, with requirements tied to how safety functions are affected by systems that change their behaviour over time.

For marking, digital instructions have a practical consequence: when documentation lives online, the user needs a reliable route to it. That makes a QR code or equivalent machine-readable reference on or beside the nameplate more valuable — and that code has to stay readable as long as the rest of the plate.

Preparing your marking in good time

Inventory the nameplates and machine plates you use today and which product ranges are affected.
Check that all mandatory details are present and that the layout has room for additions.
Assess whether the current material and attachment really last the machine's full service life in its actual environment.
Decide how digital documentation will be reached — QR code, article number or serial-number lookup.
Plan the changeover so new plates are available in production before 20 January 2027.

Important disclaimer

This text is a general introduction, not legal advice. Always check the regulation text in force — (EU) 2023/1230 — together with any harmonised standards and guidance applicable to your machine type, and confirm with whoever owns the CE process in your organisation. We are happy to help with the physical marking: material, method, layout and durability.