Brussels hosted last 11-14 November the first meeting of the Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) Committee, the 21st meeting of the working party on Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMCWP), the 40th meeting of the Telecommunications Terminal Equipment and Radio Equipment Conformity Assessment and Market Surveillance Committee (TCAM) and the 6th meeting of the TCAM Experts Group.
The meetings were chaired by the European Commission (EC) and attended by representatives from various member states, the Association of Notified Bodies, standardisation bodies and relevant consumer organisations.
The main topics considered were the following:
- EMC Directive - the EMC Committee was established in the scope of the new EMC directive, Directive 2014/30/EC. There will be two committees: EMC, in which only member states participate, and a larger EMCWP, involving stakeholders, specifically standardisation bodies, industry representatives, consumer representatives, representatives of notified bodies and other guest experts. The EMC Committee will deal with acts associated to application/implementation of the EMC Directive and questions concerning the notified bodies;
- The EC aims to make uniform for all directives the system to use for the safeguard clause: the Rapid Alert System (RAPEX), the Information and Communication System on Market Surveillance (ICSMS), the databases or another to be defined. The issue is ripe for decision, after hearing the member states’ position;
- Generic standards versus product standards. The general opinion was that specific standards should be used to assess conformity of a device and not generic product standards. This information should thus be placed on the list of harmonised standards to be published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU), which will facilitate the work of manufacturers and market surveillance agents;
- Radio Equipment Directive (2014/53/EU) - the workshop on transposition of the Radio Equipment Directive was held on 13 November 2014. Technical issues raised during this event will be analysed at the specially scheduled working group (WG) meeting to be held in March 2015;
- Performance of mobile telephone receiving antennas. The standardisation mandate includes the preparation of a standard on receiving antenna performance. Some defend a label/labelling system for such devices, to indicate antenna coverage and performance;
- The seventh market surveillance campaign will begin on 1 January 2015 and be dedicated to drone equipment functioning in 2.4 GHz. It may also include other on-board radio systems, such as products with video transmission at 5.8 GHz.
The next meetings will be held on 14-15 November 2015.
