CE-marking : the new European legislation for products

Three New Approach Directives of the European Union are of particular importance for companies in the electrical and mechanical engineering industries; they are the Machinery Directive, the EMC Directive and the Low Voltage Directive, which came into force in January 1995, January 1996 and January 1997 respectively.

All three comprise a series of conditions set out in Articles, followed by a series of Annexes.

The Articles contain conditions relating to the scope of activities, certification procedure and the actual CE Mark, and the Annexes largely contain descriptions of the fundamental health and safety criteria, the contents of the Declaration of Conformity, the examination and certification procedure and the use of the CE Mark.

This work presents and discusses specific features of each directive following an introduction to CE and the European Union.