EMC Directive 2014/30/EU: scope, standards and the paperwork you need

The Directive defines electromagnetic compatibility as “the ability of equipment to function satisfactorily in its electromagnetic environment without introducing intolerable electromagnetic disturbances to other equipment in that environment” (Art. 3(1)Directive 2014/30/EU, Electromagnetic Compatibility Directive (consolidated text of 30 May 2026)Article 3, paragraph 1Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., point 4). When someone asks whether a product is “EMC compliant”, the question is whether it meets the two requirements in Annex I and the manufacturer has said so in an EU declaration of conformity (Art. 6Directive 2014/30/EU, Electromagnetic Compatibility Directive (consolidated text of 30 May 2026)Article 6Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 15(1)Directive 2014/30/EU, Electromagnetic Compatibility Directive (consolidated text of 30 May 2026)Article 15, paragraph 1Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.).

The EMC Directive covers finished apparatus and fixed installations

The Directive applies to “equipment”, which is any apparatus or fixed installation (Art. 2(1)Directive 2014/30/EU, Electromagnetic Compatibility Directive (consolidated text of 30 May 2026)Article 2, paragraph 1Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 3(1)Directive 2014/30/EU, Electromagnetic Compatibility Directive (consolidated text of 30 May 2026)Article 3, paragraph 1Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., point 1). Online sellers deal with apparatus. It is defined as:

• Apparatus: any finished appliance, or combination of them, made available on the market as a single functional unit, intended for the end user and liable to generate electromagnetic disturbance, or whose performance is liable to be affected by it (Art. 3(1)Directive 2014/30/EU, Electromagnetic Compatibility Directive (consolidated text of 30 May 2026)Article 3, paragraph 1Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., point 2).
• Components and sub-assemblies intended to be built into an apparatus by the end user, where they can generate or be affected by disturbance (Art. 3(2)Directive 2014/30/EU, Electromagnetic Compatibility Directive (consolidated text of 30 May 2026)Article 3, paragraph 2Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., point 1).
• Mobile installations: a combination of apparatus, and where applicable other devices, intended to be moved and operated in a range of locations (Art. 3(2)Directive 2014/30/EU, Electromagnetic Compatibility Directive (consolidated text of 30 May 2026)Article 3, paragraph 2Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., point 2).

A fixed installation is a particular combination of several types of apparatus, and where applicable other devices, assembled, installed and intended to be used permanently at a predefined location (Art. 3(1)Directive 2014/30/EU, Electromagnetic Compatibility Directive (consolidated text of 30 May 2026)Article 3, paragraph 1Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., point 3). Apparatus sold on the market that may end up in a fixed installation carries all the duties of apparatus. Apparatus built for one particular fixed installation and not otherwise made available on the market is not bound by Articles 6Directive 2014/30/EU, Electromagnetic Compatibility Directive (consolidated text of 30 May 2026)Article 6Click opens the article on EUR-Lex. to 12Directive 2014/30/EU, Electromagnetic Compatibility Directive (consolidated text of 30 May 2026)Article 12Click opens the article on EUR-Lex. and 14Directive 2014/30/EU, Electromagnetic Compatibility Directive (consolidated text of 30 May 2026)Article 14Click opens the article on EUR-Lex. to 18Directive 2014/30/EU, Electromagnetic Compatibility Directive (consolidated text of 30 May 2026)Article 18Click opens the article on EUR-Lex. (the essential requirements, the duties of economic operators, the conformity assessment, the declaration, the CE marking and the information on use); its papers must identify the installation and say what precautions its incorporation needs. The installation itself must be built with good engineering practice, and that practice is documented for the authorities (Art. 19(1)Directive 2014/30/EU, Electromagnetic Compatibility Directive (consolidated text of 30 May 2026)Article 19, paragraph 1Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Annex I point 2).

The Directive covers products that are new to the EU market when placed on it: new products from an EU-based maker, and products, new or second-hand, imported from a third country (recital 6). It applies to every form of supply, distance selling included (recital 7). An online offer targeted at EU end users counts as making the product available on the EU market (Art. 6Regulation (EU) 2019/1020, Market Surveillance RegulationArticle 6Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.).

What the EMC Directive does not cover

The Directive does not apply to (Art. 2(2)Directive 2014/30/EU, Electromagnetic Compatibility Directive (consolidated text of 30 May 2026)Article 2, paragraph 2Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.):

• Radio equipment. The Directive names equipment “covered by Directive 1999/5/EC”. The Radio Equipment Directive repealed that Directive from 13 June 2016, and references to it are read as references to the Radio Equipment Directive (Art. 50Directive 2014/53/EU, Radio Equipment Directive (consolidated text of 30 May 2026)Article 50Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). Radio equipment is an electrical or electronic product that intentionally emits or receives radio waves for radio communication or radiodetermination (Art. 2(1)Directive 2014/53/EU, Radio Equipment Directive (consolidated text of 30 May 2026)Article 2, paragraph 1Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., point 1). Its electromagnetic compatibility requirement is the one in this Directive, applied through the Radio Equipment Directive (Art. 3(1)Directive 2014/53/EU, Radio Equipment Directive (consolidated text of 30 May 2026)Article 3, paragraph 1Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., point (b)).
• Aviation equipment within Regulation (EU) 2018/1139 that is intended exclusively for airborne use: aircraft other than unmanned aircraft, with their engines, propellers, parts and non-installed equipment, and certified unmanned aircraft that operate only on protected aeronautical frequencies.
• Radio amateur equipment, unless it is made available on the market. Kits of components for radio amateurs to assemble, and equipment modified by and for radio amateurs, do not count as made available.
• Equipment that is benign by its nature: its physical characteristics mean it cannot generate or contribute to emissions above the level at which other equipment still works as intended, and it works without unacceptable degradation in the disturbance normally to be expected in use.
• Custom-built evaluation kits for professionals, used only at research and development facilities.

Two more rules limit the Directive. Where other EU law lays down the same essential requirements more specifically, this Directive stops applying to those requirements from the date that law is implemented (Art. 2(3)Directive 2014/30/EU, Electromagnetic Compatibility Directive (consolidated text of 30 May 2026)Article 2, paragraph 3Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). And it does not affect EU or national law on the safety of equipment (Art. 2(4)Directive 2014/30/EU, Electromagnetic Compatibility Directive (consolidated text of 30 May 2026)Article 2, paragraph 4Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.).

The two essential requirements are emissions and immunity

Equipment must meet the essential requirements in Annex I (Art. 6Directive 2014/30/EU, Electromagnetic Compatibility Directive (consolidated text of 30 May 2026)Article 6Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). For apparatus, designed and made with regard to the state of the art, there are two:

1. Emissions. The electromagnetic disturbance it generates must not exceed the level above which radio and telecommunications equipment or other equipment cannot operate as intended.
2. Immunity. It must have a level of immunity to the disturbance to be expected in its intended use that lets it operate without unacceptable degradation of that use.

Annex I adds a third rule for fixed installations: install them with good engineering practice and respect the information on the intended use of their components.

The product must come with information on any specific precautions to take when it is assembled, installed, maintained or used, so that it stays within the emissions and immunity requirements. Where compliance is not ensured in residential areas, the product must carry a clear indication of that restriction, and where appropriate the packaging must carry it too (Art. 18Directive 2014/30/EU, Electromagnetic Compatibility Directive (consolidated text of 30 May 2026)Article 18Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.).

How the EMC Directive sits beside the low-voltage, RoHS and radio equipment laws

One product can fall under several CE marking laws. Each answers a different question.

RoHS has its own substance limits. The CE marking on a product is one marking that covers every law that provides for it. The laws online sellers meet most are listed in CE marking.

Harmonised standards give a presumption of conformity

Equipment that conforms to harmonised standards, or parts of them, whose references are published in the Official Journal of the EU is presumed to meet the Annex I requirements those standards cover (Art. 13Directive 2014/30/EU, Electromagnetic Compatibility Directive (consolidated text of 30 May 2026)Article 13Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). Using a standard is optional. If you do not apply one, the technical documentation must describe the solutions you adopted and list the other technical specifications you used, and if you apply one in part it must say which parts (Annex II, point 3(d)). Since Directive (EU) 2024/2749, standards named by the Commission for crisis-relevant goods give a presumption only while an internal market emergency mode is active (Art. 40b(5)Directive 2014/30/EU, Electromagnetic Compatibility Directive (consolidated text of 30 May 2026)Article 40b, paragraph 5Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.).

The Commission’s summary list of references, generated on 19 September 2022, shows these standards for common product types. The Commission’s EMC page lists decisions up to 9 June 2022. The last to amend Implementing Decision 2019/1326 is Decision (EU) 2022/910 of that date, and there is no later decision as of 5 October 2026. EN IEC 55014-1:2021 and EN IEC 55014-2:2021 are not cited; the EN 55014 editions in the table remain the cited ones.

EN 55035:2017 first entered the Official Journal in Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2019/1326 (its Annex I); the A11:2020 version took over from 16 March 2021.

The older standards for the same jobs have ended. The Commission’s list shows EN 55022:2010, the old emissions standard for information technology equipment, withdrawn on 5 March 2017, and EN 55024:2010, its immunity partner, withdrawn on 16 September 2022. EN 55032:2012 and EN 55014-1:2006 were withdrawn on 4 May 2022. A test report that cites one of them rests on a standard that no longer gives a presumption of conformity. The standard you cite in the declaration is cited “including the date of the standard” (Annex IV, point 6).

EMC testing is evidence in your file, not a certificate

The Directive asks for an electromagnetic compatibility assessment of the apparatus “on the basis of the relevant phenomena”, covering all normal intended operating conditions and, where the apparatus has several configurations, every configuration the manufacturer identifies as representative of its intended use (Annex II, point 2). Test reports are part of the technical documentation “wherever applicable” (Annex II, point 3(f)).

That is all the Directive says about testing. It names no laboratory, no number of tests and no price. How much testing is enough rests on the manufacturer’s own assessment. A laboratory report is evidence inside your file. It is not the declaration, and it is not an EMC certificate. The only certificate the Directive provides for is the EU-type examination certificate a notified body issues under the optional procedure described below (Annex III, point 6).

The Commission warns that certificates issued by bodies not acting as notified bodies are “unregulated” or “voluntary”. It says that under EU law “voluntary or other additional certificates are not a recognised means to prove compliance” and “have no value in the case of checks by market surveillance authorities or customs” (Commission, EMC Directive page).

Internal production control is enough, and a notified body is optional

Compliance with the essential requirements is shown by either of two procedures (Art. 14Directive 2014/30/EU, Electromagnetic Compatibility Directive (consolidated text of 30 May 2026)Article 14Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.):

1. Internal production control, Module A in Annex II. The manufacturer does the assessment, writes the technical documentation, makes sure production matches it, affixes the CE marking and signs the declaration.
2. EU-type examination followed by conformity to type, Modules B and C in Annex III. A notified body of the manufacturer’s choice examines the technical design from the technical documentation, without a specimen, and issues an EU-type examination certificate if the type meets the requirements. The manufacturer then makes sure production matches the approved type, affixes the CE marking and signs the declaration.

The manufacturer may limit the second procedure to some aspects of the essential requirements, provided it uses the first for the rest (Art. 14Directive 2014/30/EU, Electromagnetic Compatibility Directive (consolidated text of 30 May 2026)Article 14Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). Neither procedure is tied to a product type. The Directive does not say that any product must go to a notified body. Where a notified body took part, the declaration names it (Annex IV, point 7).

Affixing the CE marking and drawing up the declaration (Annex II, point 5) may be carried out by an authorised representative, on the manufacturer’s behalf and under its responsibility, if the mandate says so (Annex II, point 6). The authorised representative cannot take over the production control or the technical documentation (Art. 8(1)Directive 2014/30/EU, Electromagnetic Compatibility Directive (consolidated text of 30 May 2026)Article 8, paragraph 1Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.).

What the technical documentation holds

The file across all the CE laws is in CE technical file. The manufacturer draws up the technical documentation (Art. 7(2)Directive 2014/30/EU, Electromagnetic Compatibility Directive (consolidated text of 30 May 2026)Article 7, paragraph 2Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). It must make it possible to assess the product against the requirements and include an adequate analysis and assessment of the risks. Where applicable it holds at least (Annex II, point 3):

• a general description of the apparatus;
• design and manufacturing drawings and schemes of components, sub-assemblies and circuits;
• the descriptions and explanations needed to read them and understand how the apparatus works;
• the harmonised standards applied in full or in part, and, where none were applied, descriptions of the solutions adopted and a list of the other technical specifications used;
• results of design calculations and examinations;
• test reports.

The manufacturer keeps the file for 10 years after the product is placed on the market (Art. 7(3)Directive 2014/30/EU, Electromagnetic Compatibility Directive (consolidated text of 30 May 2026)Article 7, paragraph 3Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). An importer does not have to hold it, but must make sure it can be made available to the authorities on request (Art. 9(7)Directive 2014/30/EU, Electromagnetic Compatibility Directive (consolidated text of 30 May 2026)Article 9, paragraph 7Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.).

What the EU declaration of conformity states

The declaration states that the Annex I requirements have been shown to be fulfilled (Art. 15(1)Directive 2014/30/EU, Electromagnetic Compatibility Directive (consolidated text of 30 May 2026)Article 15, paragraph 1Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). It follows the model in Annex IV, is kept up to date, and is translated into the language or languages required by the EU country where the product is placed or made available (Art. 15(2)Directive 2014/30/EU, Electromagnetic Compatibility Directive (consolidated text of 30 May 2026)Article 15, paragraph 2Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). The model has these points:

1. The apparatus model or product, with a type, batch or serial number.
2. The name and address of the manufacturer or its authorised representative.
3. A statement that it is issued under the sole responsibility of the manufacturer.
4. The object of the declaration, identified so it can be traced; a colour image is allowed.
5. A statement that the object conforms to the relevant EU harmonisation legislation.
6. The harmonised standards used, or other technical specifications, each with its date.
7. Where applicable, the notified body, what it did and the certificate it issued.
8. Additional information, then place, date, name, function and signature.

Giving the declaration a number is optional. A product under more than one EU act that requires a declaration gets a single declaration that names all of them with their publication references (Art. 15(3)Directive 2014/30/EU, Electromagnetic Compatibility Directive (consolidated text of 30 May 2026)Article 15, paragraph 3Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). By signing it, the manufacturer takes responsibility for the product’s compliance (Art. 15(4)Directive 2014/30/EU, Electromagnetic Compatibility Directive (consolidated text of 30 May 2026)Article 15, paragraph 4Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). The wider rules, and a template, are in EU declaration of conformity.

How CE marking works under the EMC Directive

The CE marking goes on the apparatus or its data plate, visibly, legibly and indelibly. Only where that is not possible or not warranted does it go on the packaging and the accompanying documents. It is affixed before the apparatus is placed on the market (Art. 17(1)Directive 2014/30/EU, Electromagnetic Compatibility Directive (consolidated text of 30 May 2026)Article 17, paragraph 1Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 17(2)Directive 2014/30/EU, Electromagnetic Compatibility Directive (consolidated text of 30 May 2026)Article 17, paragraph 2Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). The general rules of the marking are those of Article 30Regulation (EC) No 765/2008, accreditation and market surveillance (CE marking)The whole regulationClick opens the law on the EU Publications Office. of Regulation (EC) No 765/2008Regulation (EC) No 765/2008, accreditation and market surveillance (CE marking)The whole regulationClick opens the law on the EU Publications Office. (Art. 16Directive 2014/30/EU, Electromagnetic Compatibility Directive (consolidated text of 30 May 2026)Article 16Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.): only the manufacturer or its authorised representative affixes it, and by doing so the manufacturer takes responsibility for the product’s conformity (Art. 30(1)Regulation (EC) No 765/2008, accreditation and market surveillance (CE marking)Article 30, paragraph 1Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 30(3)Regulation (EC) No 765/2008, accreditation and market surveillance (CE marking)Article 30, paragraph 3Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). How the mark is drawn and sized is in CE marking.

A CE marking is not an EMC mark on its own. It states conformity with every EU law that provides for it and applies to the product.

What each role owes

In short: the manufacturer produces the proof, the importer makes sure it exists before the product enters the EU, and the distributor checks what is visible. Put your own brand on a product and you are the manufacturer, whoever made it (Art. 11Directive 2014/30/EU, Electromagnetic Compatibility Directive (consolidated text of 30 May 2026)Article 11Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.).

What changes when you sell online from outside the EU

The Directive defines an importer and an authorised representative as persons established in the EU (Art. 3(1)Directive 2014/30/EU, Electromagnetic Compatibility Directive (consolidated text of 30 May 2026)Article 3, paragraph 1Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., points 12 and 13). A seller outside the EU that ships straight to EU buyers therefore has no importer behind it. It is still the manufacturer, if its name or brand is on the product, and the online offer counts as making the product available in the EU (Art. 6Regulation (EU) 2019/1020, Market Surveillance RegulationArticle 6Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.).

The EMC Directive is one of the laws listed in Art. 4(5)Regulation (EU) 2019/1020, Market Surveillance RegulationArticle 4, paragraph 5Click opens the article on EUR-Lex. of Regulation (EU) 2019/1020Regulation (EU) 2019/1020, Market Surveillance RegulationThe whole regulationClick opens the law on the EU Publications Office.. A product under it may be placed on the market only if an economic operator established in the EU is responsible for the tasks listed in Art. 4(3)Regulation (EU) 2019/1020, Market Surveillance RegulationArticle 4, paragraph 3Click opens the article on EUR-Lex. (Art. 4(1)Regulation (EU) 2019/1020, Market Surveillance RegulationArticle 4, paragraph 1Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). That operator is any of these: a manufacturer established in the EU; the importer, where the manufacturer is outside the EU; an authorised representative with a written mandate; or, only where none of those is established in the EU, an EU fulfilment service provider for the products it handles (Art. 4(2)Regulation (EU) 2019/1020, Market Surveillance RegulationArticle 4, paragraph 2Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). It keeps the declaration at the authorities’ disposal, makes sure the technical documentation can be produced, answers reasoned requests and cooperates on corrective action (Art. 4(3)Regulation (EU) 2019/1020, Market Surveillance RegulationArticle 4, paragraph 3Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). Its name and contact details, postal address included, go on the product, its packaging, the parcel or an accompanying document (Art. 4(4)Regulation (EU) 2019/1020, Market Surveillance RegulationArticle 4, paragraph 4Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.).

An authorised representative under the EMC Directive cannot take over the duty to design the product to Annex I or to draw up the technical documentation (Art. 8(1)Directive 2014/30/EU, Electromagnetic Compatibility Directive (consolidated text of 30 May 2026)Article 8, paragraph 1Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). That stays with the manufacturer. Who can hold the EU role and what it costs is the EU Responsible Person; how it differs from an authorised representative is EU responsible person vs authorised representative.

What happens if you do nothing

An importer must make sure the assessment, the technical documentation, the CE marking and the required documents exist before placing the apparatus on the market, and a distributor must check the marking, the documents and the details on the product before making it available (Art. 9(2)Directive 2014/30/EU, Electromagnetic Compatibility Directive (consolidated text of 30 May 2026)Article 9, paragraph 2Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 10(2)Directive 2014/30/EU, Electromagnetic Compatibility Directive (consolidated text of 30 May 2026)Article 10, paragraph 2Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). A product without them stays off the shelf.

Once a product is on the market, an authority that finds the CE marking missing or wrongly affixed, the declaration missing or wrong, the technical documentation unavailable or incomplete, or the manufacturer’s or importer’s details absent, false or incomplete, requires the operator to end the non-compliance. If that persists, the EU country takes all appropriate measures to restrict or prohibit the apparatus, or to have it recalled or withdrawn (Art. 40Directive 2014/30/EU, Electromagnetic Compatibility Directive (consolidated text of 30 May 2026)Article 40Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). A manufacturer or importer that has reason to believe a product on the market does not conform must take the corrective measures at once and, where the product presents a risk, inform the authorities of every EU country where it was made available (Art. 7(8)Directive 2014/30/EU, Electromagnetic Compatibility Directive (consolidated text of 30 May 2026)Article 7, paragraph 8Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 9(6)Directive 2014/30/EU, Electromagnetic Compatibility Directive (consolidated text of 30 May 2026)Article 9, paragraph 6Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.).

Penalties are laid down by each EU country. They must be effective, proportionate and dissuasive, and may include criminal penalties for serious infringements (Art. 42Directive 2014/30/EU, Electromagnetic Compatibility Directive (consolidated text of 30 May 2026)Article 42Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). For improper use of the CE marking, penalties may include criminal sanctions for serious infringements (Art. 30(6)Regulation (EC) No 765/2008, accreditation and market surveillance (CE marking)Article 30, paragraph 6Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.).

Great Britain has its own EMC Regulations

Great Britain applies the Electromagnetic Compatibility Regulations 2016 (SI 2016/1091), not the EU Directive. The UK government’s product marking table, published on 31 March 2026, lists the markings for electromagnetic compatibility as UKCA or CE for Great Britain, and CE, or UKNI and CE, for Northern Ireland. Its guidance lists the Regulations among those under which the manufacturer can self-declare conformity for all products (UK government). The EU rules on this page apply to products you sell into the EU. For the UK declaration, see EU declaration of conformity.

What the law leaves open

• How much testing is enough. Annex II asks for an assessment of the relevant phenomena and for test reports “wherever applicable”. It sets no number of tests, no test house and no price.
• What counts as benign equipment. Art. 2(2)Directive 2014/30/EU, Electromagnetic Compatibility Directive (consolidated text of 30 May 2026)Article 2, paragraph 2Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., point (d) excludes equipment that cannot generate disturbance above the tolerated level and works despite normal disturbance. The Directive gives no list of products.
• Whether your product is an apparatus. The definition turns on a finished appliance, sold as a single functional unit, that is liable to generate or be affected by disturbance (Art. 3(1)Directive 2014/30/EU, Electromagnetic Compatibility Directive (consolidated text of 30 May 2026)Article 3, paragraph 1Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., point 2). The Directive names no product types.
• Which edition of a standard applies. The presumption covers a harmonised standard whose reference is published in the Official Journal (Art. 13Directive 2014/30/EU, Electromagnetic Compatibility Directive (consolidated text of 30 May 2026)Article 13Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.). The Commission lists every edition and its start and withdrawal dates; the declaration must give the standard and its date (Annex IV, point 6).
• Language of the declaration and the instructions. Each EU country sets it (Art. 7(7)Directive 2014/30/EU, Electromagnetic Compatibility Directive (consolidated text of 30 May 2026)Article 7, paragraph 7Click opens the article on EUR-Lex., Art. 15(2)Directive 2014/30/EU, Electromagnetic Compatibility Directive (consolidated text of 30 May 2026)Article 15, paragraph 2Click opens the article on EUR-Lex.).

What you can skip