Amsterdam hosted last 19-20 May a meeting of the Radio and Telecommunications Terminal Equipment Compliance Association (R&TTE CA) and notified bodies and competent authorities in the scope of the Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) Directive of the European Union Association of Notified Bodies (EUANB). The gathering was attended by 80 participants, representing administrations, the European Commission (EC), notified bodies, competent authorities, standardisation bodies and observers.
The EC representative gave a presentation on the current situation and major changes to the Radio Directive (RE-D) vis-à-vis the R&TTE Directive:
- sound and TV broadcast receivers, previously excluded, are henceforth within the scope of this directive;
- equipment operating below 9 kHz, previously excluded, is henceforth within the scope of this directive;
- radiodetermination equipment is explicitly included;
- telecommunications terminal equipment (fixed-line) is outside the directive’s scope;
- the current article 6.4, on prior notification of equipment that uses non-harmonised frequency bands, is withdrawn;
- the warning signal indicating usage limits is withdrawn;
- makers must provide on the package information about equipment usage restrictions;
- the instruction manual should include information about frequency bands and power used by the equipment.
The schedule for implementing the RE-D is the following:
- 20 days after publication in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU), specifically in the publication dated 22 May 2014; the member states have 24 months to transpose it, meaning it must be transposed by 12 June 2016;
- after the directive’s transposition there is a one-year transition period during which equipment still in accordance with the R&TTE Directive continues to be placed on the market.
Regarding the new Directive 2014/30/EU on EMC, the EC representative reported that it is aligned with the new legislative framework and was published in the OJEU on 29 March 2014. This means member states must transpose it by 19 April 2016; the current directive will be revoked as of 20 April 2016.
The list of harmonised standards will have to be made available before application of the EMC Directive.
The next meeting will be held in Brussels at a still undetermined date this coming November.
