EMC Directive 2014/30/EU

Last reviewed: May 2026 · Legal status verified against EUR-Lex.

Directive 2014/30/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on the harmonisation of the laws of the Member States relating to electromagnetic compatibility — commonly the "EMC Directive" — applies to all equipment liable to cause electromagnetic disturbance or whose performance is liable to be affected by such disturbance. It replaced Directive 2004/108/EC and has applied since 20 April 2016. The Directive was published in the OJEU as OJ L 96, 29.3.2014, p. 79. No replacement regulation is under preparation as of May 2026.

Legal status and timeline

• Adoption: 26 February 2014.
• Publication in the OJEU: 29 March 2014.
• Date of application: 20 April 2016.
• Repeal of predecessor (Directive 2004/108/EC): 20 April 2016.
• Status in May 2026: applies, no replacement in train.

Scope: products covered

Article 2(1) of the Directive applies to "any apparatus or fixed installation". Article 3(1)(1) defines "apparatus" as any finished appliance or combination thereof made commercially available as a single functional unit, intended for the end-user and liable to generate electromagnetic disturbance, or the performance of which is liable to be affected by such disturbance. "Fixed installation" (Article 3(1)(3)) is a particular combination of several types of apparatus assembled, installed, and intended to be used permanently at a predefined location.

Article 2(2) — exclusions

Equipment outside the EMC Directive's scope:

• Equipment covered by Directive 2014/53/EU (Radio Equipment Directive), which absorbs EMC requirements for radio equipment;
• Aeronautical products, parts and appliances under Regulation (EU) 2018/1139;
• Radio equipment used by radio amateurs in accordance with the ITU Radio Regulations, unless made commercially available;
• Equipment whose physical characteristics are such that it is incapable of generating or contributing to electromagnetic emissions exceeding a level allowing radio and telecommunication equipment to operate as intended, and its operation in the presence of electromagnetic disturbance customarily present in its intended use is not unacceptably degraded (Article 2(2)(d) — the "inherently benign" exclusion);
• Custom-built evaluation kits destined for professionals to be used solely at research and development facilities for such purposes (Article 2(3)).

Fixed installations

Fixed installations are subject to the essential requirements (Article 19, Annex II) but are not CE-marked and do not require a Declaration of Conformity. The person responsible for the assembly must apply good engineering practice, document the practices used, and keep the documentation for as long as the installation is in operation. Apparatus that is part of a fixed installation and is also placed on the market as standalone equipment must comply with the Directive in its own right.

Essential requirements

Annex I sets out two essential requirements:

1. Emission — equipment must be designed and manufactured so that the electromagnetic disturbance generated does not exceed a level above which radio and telecommunication equipment or other equipment cannot operate as intended.
2. Immunity — equipment must have a level of immunity to the electromagnetic disturbance to be expected in its intended use which allows it to operate without unacceptable degradation of its intended use.

The Directive does not prescribe quantitative limits. These come from the harmonised standards. The choice of which standards apply depends on the type of equipment (e.g., residential vs. industrial, audio vs. lighting, IT vs. industrial measurement).

Conformity assessment

Article 14 and Annex II / Annex III provide two conformity assessment options for apparatus:

• Module A — Internal production control (Annex II). The manufacturer performs the EMC assessment, draws up the technical documentation, manufactures in conformity, affixes CE marking, signs the Declaration of Conformity. No Notified Body. This is the standard route for the vast majority of EMC products.
• Module B + Module C — EU type-examination + conformity to type (Annex III). Used at the manufacturer's option, typically where harmonised standards have not been applied in full and the manufacturer prefers third-party confirmation of the EMC assessment. A Notified Body issues an EU type-examination certificate.

The four-digit Notified Body identification number appears next to the CE marking only where Module B + C has been used (and even then, only where the Module C part involves the body — under plain B + C without C2 surveillance, the number does not appear on the product). In practice, the overwhelming majority of EMC-only products use Module A and bear no Notified Body number.

Technical documentation

Annex II, point 2, requires the technical documentation to make it possible to assess conformity with the essential requirements. It must contain:

• A general description of the apparatus;
• Conceptual design and manufacturing drawings and schemes of components;
• Descriptions and explanations necessary to understand the drawings and operation;
• A list of harmonised standards applied in full or in part, with OJEU references and dated editions;
• Description of solutions adopted to meet the essential requirements where harmonised standards have not been applied, including a description of the EMC assessment;
• Test reports — emission and immunity tests performed by the manufacturer or by an accredited laboratory.

The retention period is ten years from the date the apparatus was placed on the market (Article 7(7)).

EU Declaration of Conformity

Annex IV sets the contents. The Declaration must reference the EMC Directive and the harmonised standards applied. Where the apparatus is also covered by other Union acts (typically Low Voltage Directive, RoHS Directive), a single Declaration covering all applicable acts is issued. See EU Declaration of Conformity.

Marking and labelling

Article 18 requires the CE marking affixed in accordance with Article 30 of Regulation 765/2008 (affixing the CE mark). Annex V sets the dimensions and proportions (referencing Annex II of Regulation 765/2008). Apparatus must bear:

• Type, batch, or serial number (Article 7(5));
• Manufacturer's name, registered trade name or trade mark, and postal address (Article 7(6));
• Importer's name and contact details where applicable (Article 9(3));
• Instructions and information for installation, use, and maintenance in a language easily understood by end-users (Article 7(7) and Annex I, point 1).

Harmonised standards

EMC harmonised standards fall into three categories:

• Generic standards. The EN 61000-6 series covers generic emission and immunity for residential/commercial/light-industrial (EN 61000-6-3 emission, EN 61000-6-1 immunity) and industrial (EN 61000-6-4 emission, EN 61000-6-2 immunity) environments. Applied when no product-family standard exists.
• Product-family standards. EN 55014 (household appliances and electric tools), EN 55015 (lighting), EN 55032 (multimedia equipment, replacing EN 55013 and EN 55022 from March 2017), EN 55035 (multimedia immunity), EN 61326 (laboratory and process control), EN IEC 61547 (immunity for lighting).
• Basic standards. EN 61000-4 series — test and measurement methods. Cited by product standards rather than applied directly for presumption of conformity.

The Commission's harmonised standards list for the EMC Directive is updated regularly; see harmonised standards.

Recent and upcoming changes

No structural amendment to the EMC Directive has been adopted since 2016. The principal developments:

• The harmonised standard EN 55032:2015 + A11:2020 + A1:2020 replaced the older EN 55013 and EN 55022 for multimedia emission from March 2017.
• EN 55035:2017 + A11:2020 brought multimedia immunity into a single standard.
• The Commission has issued repeated updates to the OJEU list to align dated editions with current CISPR and IEC publications.
• The interplay with Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/30 under the Radio Equipment Directive means that EMC immunity for cybersecurity-sensitive products may also need to address resilience to deliberate disturbance — but this is via the RED, not the EMC Directive itself.

Related legislation

• Radio Equipment Directive 2014/53/EU — absorbs EMC requirements for radio equipment; the EMC Directive does not apply in parallel.
• Low Voltage Directive 2014/35/EU — applies to the same equipment for safety; the two directives apply in parallel for mains-powered equipment.
• Machinery Regulation 2023/1230 — applies in parallel for machinery.
• Medical Devices Regulation 2017/745 — medical devices apply only the MDR (which includes EMC requirements as part of Annex I); the EMC Directive does not apply in parallel under Article 2(2)(a).
• Directive 2014/90/EU on marine equipment — marine equipment uses its own regime, not the EMC Directive.

Common errors

• Applying the EMC Directive to radio equipment. Radio products are exclusively under the RED; EMC requirements are integrated within the RED's Article 3(1)(b). Applying both directives produces duplicate listings on the Declaration of Conformity.
• Self-declaration without test reports. Module A does not eliminate the need for test evidence. Emission and immunity tests must be performed and documented; "assessed by analysis only" is rarely defensible.
• Using generic standards where a product-family standard exists. Where a product-family standard (EN 55014 for household appliances, EN 55032 for multimedia) applies, generic EN 61000-6 standards do not produce a separate presumption.
• Forgetting the immunity requirement. Both emission and immunity must be addressed in the technical file. Emission-only assessments are incomplete.
• Fixed installations marked as CE. Fixed installations are subject to good engineering practice but are not CE-marked. Affixing the mark on the assembled installation is incorrect.

Sources

• Directive 2014/30/EU of 26 February 2014 (EMC) — EUR-Lex consolidated text.
• European Commission — EMC Directive sector page.
• European Commission — Harmonised standards for the EMC Directive.
• Commission Notice — Blue Guide 2022 — EUR-Lex.
• Decision No 768/2008/EC, Annex II Modules A and B+C — EUR-Lex.