We do not know which languages the instructions must be in

No EU product act lists languages. They all use the same formula instead: instructions and safety information must be in a language which can be easily understood by consumers, as determined by the Member State in which the product is made available. The General Product Safety Regulation sets it for manufacturers and importers (Articles 9(7) and 11(4)) and makes distributors check it before selling (Article 12(1)). The language therefore follows the country of sale, and a product sold in five countries may need five language versions, or fewer where a Member State accepts a language spoken elsewhere. For products subject to Union harmonisation legislation, the GPSR's Articles 9 to 18 do not apply (Article 2(1)(b)); the sector act's own language rule takes their place, while Article 19 on online offers applies to both.^[1]

The sector directives repeat the formula. Under the Low Voltage Directive, manufacturers and importers ensure that electrical equipment comes with instructions and safety information in a language easily understood by consumers and other end users, as determined by the Member State concerned, and the instructions, safety information and labelling must be clear, understandable and intelligible (Directive 2014/35/EU Articles 6(7) and 8(4)). The EMC Directive applies the same rule to instructions and the Article 18 information (Directive 2014/30/EU Articles 7(7) and 9(4)), the Radio Equipment Directive to instructions and safety information (Directive 2014/53/EU Articles 10(8) and 12(4)), and the Toy Safety Directive to toys (Directive 2009/48/EC Articles 4(7) and 6(4)). From 1 August 2030 the Toy Safety Regulation (EU) 2025/2509 replaces that directive (Articles 56 and 59 of that regulation).^{[2][7][6][4][8]}

Warnings and contact details have their own rules. For toys, a Member State may stipulate that warnings and safety instructions are written in a language easily understood by its consumers (Directive 2009/48/EC Article 11(3)). The contact details that manufacturers and importers put on electrical, EMC and radio equipment must be in a language easily understood by end users and market surveillance authorities (Directive 2014/35/EU Articles 6(6) and 8(3); Directive 2014/30/EU Articles 7(6) and 9(3); Directive 2014/53/EU Articles 10(7) and 12(3)). When the product is sold online, the offer shows the warnings and safety information in the language the Member State determines (GPSR Article 19(d)).^[4][2][6][1]

Cosmetics split the label. The nominal content, the durability date, the precautions and the function are given in the language determined by the law of the Member State where the product reaches the end user (Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 Article 19(5)), while the ingredient list uses the common ingredient names of the glossary in every country (Article 19(6)). Distributors verify that the language requirements are met before selling (Article 6(2)). The Court of Justice has held that this language rule can also be applied to a seller established in another Member State that sells online to consumers in that country, because such labelling requirements fall outside the coordinated field of the e-commerce Directive (Case C-88/23).^[5]

Authorities have their own language claim. Manufacturers and importers provide documentation demonstrating conformity in a language the requesting authority easily understands (Directive 2014/35/EU Article 6(9); Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 Article 4(3)(b)), and the EU declaration of conformity under the Low Voltage Directive is translated into the language or languages required by the Member State where the equipment is placed or made available (Directive 2014/35/EU Article 15(2)). When products are found lacking, authorities can require warnings in the language or languages that Member State determines (Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 Article 16(3)(e)).^[2][3]