A critique on European Union EMC directive and its implications

From first January 1996, members of the European Union (EU) countries have adopted a unified approach for compliance to a unified approach for compatibility (EMC) requirements for the electrical or electronic equipments or systems being used in the EU member countries. The EMC Directive 89/336/EEC was originally slated to January 1992 for implementation end was subsequently accorded a phasing out time of four years and finally came into force on January Ist, 1996. While basic philosophy behind the effort was to harmonise various EMC standards followed by BU member countries causing trade barriers, adoption of the Directive has far-reaching implications on the other countries exporting equipments and systems to the EU member countries. This paper deals with various features of the EMC Directive, implementation procedures, current status and approach required to be adopted by the countries interested to export produces in the countries under the European Union.