RED Directive - 2: Where the RED sits in EU product law

by Fares

The CE marking on a radio product is not granted by a single directive. It is the visible result of complying with every applicable EU harmonisation directive. For a radio product, the Radio Equipment Directive (RED) is the central one, but several other directives apply in parallel and must be assessed independently.

This post is the second in a series on the RED. It maps the relationship between the RED and the other directives that share the CE marking framework, then walks through the internal structure of the consolidated text.

The CE marking ecosystem

A radio product placed on the EU market typically falls within the scope of more than one harmonisation directive. The most common are:

RED — Directive 2014/53/EU: radio equipment.
EMC Directive — 2014/30/EU: electromagnetic compatibility.
Low Voltage Directive (LVD) — 2014/35/EU: electrical safety within defined voltage limits.
RoHS Directive — 2011/65/EU: restriction of hazardous substances.
Ecodesign Directive — 2009/125/EC: energy-related product requirements.
Batteries Regulation — (EU) 2023/1542: batteries and waste batteries.

The RED absorbs EMC and LVD

Article 1(4) of the RED states that, where radio equipment falls within the scope of the Directive, the EMC Directive and the Low Voltage Directive do not apply. The essential requirements of Article 3(1)(a) and (b) of the RED cover the same protection objectives — electrical safety and electromagnetic compatibility — and apply without a lower voltage limit. A Wi-Fi router, for example, requires only RED compliance for these aspects.

Other directives apply in parallel

Absorption is limited to EMC and LVD. RoHS, Ecodesign, the Batteries Regulation, the Machinery Regulation, the Medical Devices Regulation, and others continue to apply alongside the RED according to their own scopes. CE marking can only be affixed once all applicable requirements have been met.

Anatomy of the consolidated Directive

The consolidated text dated 30 May 2026 is organised into three structural layers.

Chapters (8 total)

Chapter I — General provisions
Chapter II — Obligations of economic operators
Chapter III — Conformity of radio equipment
Chapter IV — Notification of conformity assessment bodies
Chapter V — Union market surveillance, control of radio equipment entering the Union, and Union safeguard procedure
Chapter Va — Emergency procedures (inserted by Directive 2024/2749)
Chapter VI — Delegated acts, implementing acts, and the committee
Chapter VII — Final and transitional provisions

Articles (60 unique articles)

Key groupings include:

Articles 1–2: scope and definitions
Article 3: essential requirements (the core of the Directive)
Article 3a: information and labelling obligations (added by the USB-C amendment)
Articles 6–15: economic operator duties
Article 15a: aviation equipment provisions (added by Regulation 2018/1139)
Articles 16–18: presumption of conformity through harmonised standards
Article 17: conformity assessment procedures
Articles 19–20: CE marking rules
Articles 22–38: notification and operation of conformity assessment bodies
Articles 39–43: market surveillance
Articles 43a–43e: emergency procedures (added by Directive 2024/2749)
Articles 44–52: final and transitional provisions

Annexes (9 total)

Annex I — Equipment outside the scope of the Directive
Annex Ia — Common charger specifications (added by Directive 2022/2380)
Annex II — Conformity assessment module A: internal production control
Annex III — Conformity assessment module B: EU-type examination
Annex IV — Conformity assessment module H: full quality assurance
Annex V — Contents of the technical documentation
Annex VI — EU Declaration of Conformity (full form)
Annex VII — Simplified EU Declaration of Conformity
Annex VIII — Correlation table mapping R&TTE articles to RED articles

Coming next in the series

The next post covers the stakeholders responsible for RED compliance — manufacturers, authorised representatives, importers, distributors, notified bodies, and market surveillance authorities — and defines the six anchor terms required to read the rest of the series: radio equipment, essential requirements, harmonised standard, conformity assessment, CE marking, and economic operator.