Brussels hosted last 10-11 July the 20th meeting of the Electromagnetic Compatibility working party (EMCWP), the 39th meeting of the Telecommunications Conformity Assessment and Market Surveillance Committee (TCAM) and the 5th meeting of the TCAM experts group. The meetings were chaired by the European Commission (EC) and attended by representatives from various member states, the Association of Notified Bodies, standardisation bodies and relevant and consumer organisations.
The following stand out among subjects covered at the meetings:
- EMC Directive - a presentation was given on Directive 2014/30/EC, the new EMC directive published on 9 March 2014 in line with the New Legislative Framework (NLF). The EC will hold this coming 12 November a workshop on the directive's transposition and asked member states to submit contributions by 30 July;
- Approach and possible scheme for cable certification - because several problems are associated to cabling the EC is preparing a study to ascertain which economic players would be interested in this cable certification scheme, what kinds of cables and files would be covered and the associated impacts and costs, etc. The study aims to verify whether a scheme like this one is justified; plans call for it to be finished in March 2015;
- RED Directive - the Radio Equipment Directive (2014/53/EU) was published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) last 22 May. A seminar is scheduled for November, depending on the member states' respective interest, which can be gauged via the sent questions;
- Performance of mobile phone receiving antennas - a presentation on antenna performance was given by the Groupe Speciale Mobile Association (GSMA) with the aim of helping activities of industry and regulators. The GSMA published a document (TS.24) setting the minimum values recommended by operators. There is willingness to create a labelling system, not a simplistic system but rather one providing real information about quality and enabling transparency for consumers;
- Sixth European market control campaign - devoted to GSM repeaters used in buildings. Eleven member states took part in this European campaign. Only four of the 36 equipment items evaluated complied with all technical and administrative requirements, corresponding to 11 percent compliance. The next campaign (seventh) will begin on 1 January 2015 and focus on equipment (drones and toys) operating in 2.4 GHz. Other on-board radio systems may also be included, such as 5.8 GHz video transmission products.
The next meetings will be held this coming 13-14 November.
