An overview of European norms and specifications with requirements of CE certification and implications

From 1st January 1996, members of the European Union (EU) countries have adopted a unified approach for compliance to electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) requirements for the electrical or electronic equipment or systems being used in the EU member countries. The EMC Directive 89/336/EEC was originally slated to January 1992 for implementation and was subsequently accorded a phasing out time of four years and finally came into force on 1st January, 1996. While the basic philosophy behind the effort was to harmonise various EMC standards followed by EU member countries causing trade barriers, adoption of the Directive has far-reaching implications on the other countries exporting equipment and systems to the EU member countries. This article deals with various features of the EMC Directive, implementation procedures, current status and the approach required to be adopted by the countries interested to export products in the countries under the European Union.