Does your business produce goods that are sold in other EU markets? Do you regularly have to deal with formalities such as CE marking and conformity assessment?
In that case, you will already be dealing with procedures under the New Legislative Framework (NLF) – which sets out principles/overall rules for product legislation/conformity assessment in the EU. It also clarifies the use of CE marking and creates a toolbox of measures for use in product legislation. Decision No 768/2008/EC and Regulation (EC) No 765/2008 together are called the NLF.
The European Commission is currently evaluating this legislation and would therefore be very pleased to hear your views, experiences and suggestions.
In the first instance, your input would be gratefully received through the targeted online survey, which can be accessed via this link: https://s.chkmkt.com/?e=247142&h=C1AACB78C5458E9&l=en. More information can be found on the survey introduction page.
We are also looking for a few volunteers (businesses) to participate in interviews to help us find out whether the NLF continues to be fit for purpose in the current economic reality, where products are digital and continuously modified after they have been put into service.
If you would like to be interviewed, please send a mail to: Mark Whittle <mwhittle@cses.co.uk>
Further information
The New Legislative Framework (NLF) ensures that products comply with legislation at the time they are placed on the market. Many things have changed since the time this legislation was approved:
- Nowadays, products are increasingly digital – they are frequently updated or upgraded after they have been put into service.
- Products with artificial intelligence embedded in them evolve over time
- Remanufacturing of products is an ever-growing business where circular economy and product safety objectives need to be adequately tackled.
We are evaluating whether the NLF is still fit for purpose in the current economic situation and changing digital environment.
In addition, the conformity assessment procedures ensuring that products placed on the European Union market comply with the applicable legislation must still be fit for purpose in this changing environment.
Where an independent third party (the so called “notified bodies”) intervenes in the conformity assessment procedure, the competence of such a body needs to be guaranteed.
The current legislation foresees the possibility of accreditation of notified bodies to demonstrate their competence – but this is not compulsory in the EU.
In addition, the recent COVID-19 crisis has put to test the resilience of Union product legislation based on the provisions of the NLF, posing challenges for adequately coping with a crisis. When certain products which were instrumental in the fight against COVID-19 (in particular personal protective equipment and medical devices) became scarce, the fast entrance of new products into the market appeared challenging, due to the need to get acquainted with the relevant legislation and standards, and complete the conformity assessment procedures.
