EU compliance glossary

An authorised representative is a natural or legal person established in the EU who has received a written mandate from a manufacturer to act on its behalf for specified tasks under the applicable EU legislation; the mandate cannot transfer the duty to design and manufacture a compliant product.

Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 lays down sustainability, safety, labelling, marking and information requirements for placing batteries on the EU market, battery due diligence obligations, and rules on extended producer responsibility and the collection and treatment of waste batteries; it applies in stages from 18 February 2024.

The battery passport is the electronic record that every LMT battery, industrial battery above 2 kWh and electric vehicle battery placed on the market must have from 18 February 2027, accessible through a QR code and containing the model and battery-specific information listed in Annex XIII of the Batteries Regulation.

The CE marking is the marking by which a manufacturer indicates that a product conforms to all applicable requirements of the EU harmonisation legislation that provides for its affixing; only the manufacturer or its authorised representative may affix it.

Conformity assessment is the process demonstrating whether specified requirements relating to a product, process, service, system, person or body have been fulfilled; for products it is carried out by the manufacturer, with a notified body where the legislation requires third-party involvement.

The EU declaration of conformity is the document in which the manufacturer states that fulfilment of the requirements of the applicable EU harmonisation legislation has been demonstrated; by drawing it up, the manufacturer assumes responsibility for the compliance of the product.

A delegated act is a non-legislative act of general application that the Commission adopts under a power delegated by a legislative act to supplement or amend its non-essential elements; under the ESPR, delegated acts are the instruments that set the actual ecodesign and product passport requirements for each product group.

A digital product passport is a set of data specific to a product that includes the information specified in the applicable delegated act adopted under the ESPR and that is accessible by electronic means through a data carrier, such as a QR code, connected to a unique product identifier.

A distributor is any natural or legal person in the supply chain, other than the manufacturer or the importer, who makes a product available on the market; it must act with due care and verify the required markings, documents and contact details before supplying a product.

The due diligence statement is the electronic declaration an operator must submit through the EU information system, from 30 December 2026, before placing relevant products on the market or exporting them; it contains the Annex II information and confirms that due diligence was exercised and that no or only a negligible risk was found.

Regulation (EU) 2024/1781 establishes a framework for setting ecodesign requirements that almost any physical product must meet to be placed on the EU market, introduces the digital product passport and bans the destruction of certain unsold consumer products; it replaced the Ecodesign Directive on 18 July 2024.

An economic operator is the manufacturer, the authorised representative, the importer, the distributor, the fulfilment service provider or any other natural or legal person who is subject to obligations in relation to the manufacture of products or their making available on the market under the applicable EU legislation.

Regulation (EU) 2023/1115 prohibits placing on the EU market, making available or exporting cattle, cocoa, coffee, oil palm, rubber, soya and wood and the products made from them unless they are deforestation-free, produced legally and covered by a due diligence statement; it applies from 30 December 2026.

Extended producer responsibility is the principle, defined in the Waste Framework Directive, that producers of products bear the financial, or financial and organisational, responsibility for managing the waste stage of their products' life cycle, implemented through national schemes for packaging, batteries and electrical equipment.

A fulfilment service provider is any natural or legal person offering, in the course of commercial activity, at least two of the services warehousing, packaging, addressing and dispatching without owning the products, excluding postal, parcel delivery and freight transport services; it is an economic operator with its own obligations.

Regulation (EU) 2023/988 on general product safety requires economic operators to place or make available on the market only safe consumer products, and sets obligations for manufacturers, importers, distributors, responsible persons and online marketplaces; it has applied since 13 December 2024.

An environmental claim is any non-mandatory message or representation stating or implying that a product, brand or trader has a positive or zero environmental impact, is less damaging than others or has improved over time; Directive (EU) 2024/825 requires Member States to prohibit generic and unsubstantiated versions of such claims; the national rules transposing it apply from 27 September 2026.

A harmonised standard is a European standard adopted by CEN, CENELEC or ETSI on the basis of a request from the Commission for the application of EU harmonisation legislation; once its reference is published in the Official Journal, using it gives a presumption of conformity with the requirements it covers.

An importer is any natural or legal person established in the EU who places a product from a third country on the Union market; it may only do so after verifying that the manufacturer has met its obligations, and it must put its own name and address on the product.

The Low Voltage Directive 2014/35/EU covers electrical equipment with a voltage rating between 50 and 1 000 V AC or 75 and 1 500 V DC and requires it not to endanger persons, domestic animals or property when properly installed and used; the manufacturer declares conformity without a notified body.

A manufacturer is any natural or legal person who manufactures a product, or has a product designed or manufactured, and markets that product under its own name or trademark; it carries the primary responsibility for the conformity and safety of the product.

Market surveillance means the activities carried out and measures taken by market surveillance authorities to ensure that products comply with the applicable EU legislation and to protect the public interests it covers, such as health, safety, consumer protection and the environment.

Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 on market surveillance and compliance of products lays down the rules, powers and cooperation framework for market surveillance of products covered by EU harmonisation legislation, the controls on products entering the EU, and the requirement for a responsible economic operator in the Union.

A notified body is a conformity assessment body that a Member State has designated and notified to the Commission to carry out third-party conformity assessment tasks under a specific piece of EU harmonisation legislation; it must be independent, impartial and technically competent.

A provider of an online marketplace is a provider of an intermediary service using an online interface that allows consumers to conclude distance contracts with traders for the sale of products; under the GPSR it has specific product-safety obligations of its own.

Regulation (EU) 2025/40 establishes requirements for the entire life cycle of packaging as regards environmental sustainability and labelling, together with rules on extended producer responsibility, packaging waste prevention, re-use and recycling; it applies from 12 August 2026 and replaces Directive 94/62/EC.

Directive (EU) 2024/2853 lays down common rules on the no-fault liability of economic operators for damage caused to natural persons by defective products, including software; it replaces Directive 85/374/EEC for products placed on the market from 9 December 2026.

The Radio Equipment Directive 2014/53/EU sets the regulatory framework for making available and putting into service radio equipment, meaning products that intentionally emit or receive radio waves, with essential requirements on health and safety, electromagnetic compatibility, efficient use of spectrum and, for specified categories, privacy safeguards and common chargers.

REACH is Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals, which requires substances to be registered before they are manufactured or placed on the EU market and restricts or subjects to authorisation those of greatest concern, including in articles.

A recall is any measure aimed at achieving the return of a product that has already been made available to the end user or consumer; under the GPSR the economic operator responsible must offer consumers an effective, cost-free and timely remedy and publish a recall notice.

The responsible person is the economic operator established in the EU who must exist before a product can be placed on the Union market: a manufacturer, importer, mandated authorised representative or, failing those, a fulfilment service provider, whose name and contact details appear on the product.

RoHS is Directive 2011/65/EU on the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment; it prohibits placing on the market EEE containing lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, PBB, PBDE and four phthalates above set concentration limits, with listed exemptions.

The Safety Business Gateway is the web portal maintained by the Commission through which economic operators and online marketplaces notify market surveillance authorities of dangerous products, accidents caused by products and corrective measures, as required by the General Product Safety Regulation.

Safety Gate is the EU rapid alert system through which Member States notify the Commission and each other of corrective measures taken against dangerous non-food products, and the public portal that publishes those alerts; it continues the RAPEX system created under the General Product Safety Directive.

A serious risk is a risk which, based on a risk assessment and taking into account the normal and foreseeable use of the product, is considered to require rapid intervention by the market surveillance authorities, including cases where the effects of the risk are not immediate.

A substance of very high concern is a substance meeting the criteria of Article 57 of REACH (carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic to reproduction, persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic, very persistent and very bioaccumulative, or of equivalent concern) that has been identified under Article 59 and placed on the Candidate List.

The technical documentation is the file a manufacturer must draw up before placing a product on the market, containing the information that demonstrates the conformity of the product with the applicable requirements; it must be kept and made available to market surveillance authorities on request.

Regulation (EU) 2025/2509 on the safety of toys lays down safety rules for products designed or intended for use in play by children under 14, replacing Directive 2009/48/EC; it applies from 1 August 2030 and introduces a digital product passport for every toy.

WEEE is electrical or electronic equipment that has become waste, including its components, sub-assemblies and consumables; Directive 2012/19/EU requires its separate collection and proper treatment and makes producers responsible for financing and registering in each Member State where they sell.

A withdrawal is any measure aimed at preventing a product in the supply chain from being made available on the market; unlike a recall, it concerns products that have not yet reached the end user.