G/TBT/W/511  
 
19 April 2018  
(18-2459) Page: 1/2 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade  Original: English  
 
EUROPEAN UNION – RADIO EQUIPMENT DIRE CTIVE  
STATEMENT BY THE EUR OPEAN UNION TO THE C OMMITTEE ON TECHNICA L BARRIERS TO TRADE  
21 AND 22 MARCH 2018  
The following communication, dated 16 April 2018, is being circulated at the request of the 
delegation of the European Union . 
 
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1.  We thank the Delegation of China for its comments on Directive 2014/53/EU on the 
harmonisation of the laws of the Member States relating to the making available on the market of 
radio equipment (so -called RED, Radio Equip ment Directive).  
2.  The EU notified this measure to the TBT Committee on 15 February 2013 and provided 90 days 
for comments.  
3.  As a first remark, the EU would like to emphasise that the concerns raised are linked to a 
problem of transition which has been resol ved and has not created barriers to trade.  
4.  As mentioned during the last TBT Committee meetings, the Radio Equipment Directive, like all 
other New Approach Directives, lays down essential requirements for radio equipment devices but 
does not prescribe itsel f any detailed technical solutions. Harmonised standards are a voluntary 
mean to demonstrate conformity with the law and neither their application nor their availability are 
mandatory. The RED provides alternatives to harmonised standards in order to place  equipment on 
the market, as provided for in its Article 17. Therefore, the RED can be applied also without the 
publication of harmonised standards, is technology neutral and allows for the use of any technical 
solution adopted by the manufacturers provide d that it fits with its essential requirements.  
5.  As to the extra cost caused by the intervention of notified bodies, this applies only in the lack of 
harmonised standards on Articles 3(2) and 3(3) of the RED and hits all manufacturers in the same 
way. In an y case, it is hereby stressed that the vast majority of harmonised standards on these 
articles have been listed in the OJEU. The EU would also like to stress that this extra cost and 
administrative burden is laid down as a rule in other countries ' legislat ions.  
6.  As an additional alternative to the certification of notified bodies, the lack of harmonised 
standards prepared for the essential requirements in Articles 3(1)(a) and 3(1)(b) of the Directive 
can be overcome by a self -declaration of conformity of th e manufacturers at no additional costs or 
administrative burden.  
7.  The responsibility for developing voluntary harmonised standards lies directly with the 
European Standardisation Organisations who operate on the basis of a request from the 
Commission and in  which foreign companies are strongly represented. The preparation of 
harmonised standards for the Radio Equipment Directive has been delegated to ETSI ( European 
Telecommunications Standards Institute ) and CENELEC (European Committee for Electrotechnical 
Standardization), so the unavailability of harmonised standards depends on them.  
8.  The current unavailability of very few voluntary harmonised standards applies to equipment 
manufactured in any country (i.e. EU or non -EU). Therefore, EU manufacturers are affe cted in the 
same way as non -EU ones. In addition, the list of harmonised standards is being populated as long G/TBT/W/511  
 
- 2 - 
 
  as these are sent by ETSI and CENELEC. On 9th March 2018 139 "unique"1 harmonised standards 
(on Articles 3(2) and 3(3)) have been published on the  OJEU. This includes the re -publication of 17 
harmonised standards from the former Radio and Telecommunication Terminal Equipment 
Directive (RTTED), whose last list was comprised of 125 "unique" harmonised standards2.  
9.  On 21 April 2017, the Commission enquired the available capabilities of NBs and 40% of them 
were working under a low load, whilst 20% on a normal. There is consequently no impediment in 
applying legal and viable solutions for the placement of radio equipment on the EU market. The 
capaciti es of Notified Bodies have never reached a critical level impacting the placement of radio 
equipment on the EU market.  
10.  In conclusion, the Commission believes that the current state of play of the Radio Equipment 
Directive is such that the placement of radi o equipment on the EU market is not prejudiced in any 
way. 
 
 
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1 I.e. not counting multiple versions of the same harmonised standard.  
2 Other than the 39 "unique" harmonised standards that ETSI declared obsolete and did not updated for 
the RED.