First of all: Globanorm GmbH is a member of REDCA (The Radio Equipment Directive Compliance Association) and participates in the two bi-annual meetings. This allows us to be informed as early as possible about upcoming developments regarding the Radio Equipment Directive 2014/53/EU (RED) and, of course, to inform and advise our customers accordingly.
The last "REDCA Bi Annual Meeting" of REDCA took place on November 9 and 10, 2023. In this article, we would like to focus on some of the key aspects of the EU Commission representative.
Cybersecurity, this topic will be discussed in more detail in another newsletter article. It should be noted here that this topic is a high priority for the commission and the standards bodies because it must be applied from August 1, 2025. When the standards are published and listed, we will see. The topic was also frequently and hotly debated in the auditorium.
Standards, Standards, Standards
Tolerances in standards have recently become a new issue that the EU Commission has been working on. The aim of the Commission is to prevent the limit values in radio and EMC standards from being softened by tolerance specifications. Measurement uncertainties are not included in this consideration.
Impact:
- Further listings in the Official Journal of the EU (OJEU) of standards in the EN 301 489-XX series have been halted by the EU Commission until the issue has been resolved by ETSI.
- Some radio standards have already been listed with restrictions
Specific absorption rate (SAR measurements) (EMF)
EN 50566:2017 was not listed because measurements at a distance of 0 to 5 mm from body parts (palms, devices worn on the body) were not sufficiently defined. This is now to be corrected with the amendments to EN 50566/A1:20XX and EN 50566/A2:20XX. Listing in the OJEU will follow.
Common Charging Interface for Portable Devices
- There was an announcement that the list of affected devices is expected to be extended in 2025. A corresponding study by the EU Commission has been completed and should show the relevant gaps. The study is expected to be published in the coming months.
- Currently, the charging interface is only defined for wired devices. The EU Commission would also like to harmonize wireless charging. We are curious.
- Please note that the standards for the charging interface EN IEC 62680-1-3:2022 for USB Type-C connection and cable and EN IEC 62680-1-2:2022 for the charging protocol were recently amended directly in the RED. We reported on this in more detail in the last newsletter.
Reconfigurable Radio Systems (RRS)
These are radio devices that can be adjusted and updated via software. The commission has noted that there are products whose software update means that the "basic characteristics" defined in the directive can be influenced or changed. These are, for example: transmission power, modulation types, EM fields, safety properties.
This has actually been standard for years for mobile devices and WLAN devices that have to adapt to the regulations of the various countries.
The topic is covered in the directive (RED) with Article 3.3.i. and Article 4, but has never been activated by a delegated act.
RED Article 3.3.i: "They shall support certain functions intended to ensure that only software for which the conformity of its combination with the radio equipment has been demonstrated can be loaded." Article 4, heading: "Provision of information on the conformity of combinations of radio equipment and software" |
The EU Commission would now like to draw up and apply the delegated acts associated with the articles soon.
RED Article 5: "Registration of radio equipment types of certain categories"
This should have been implemented in June 2018.. So far, the topic has been rather quiet. Now the Commission has provided a first look at the interface of the registration system, which will be used for various registrations of different directives. We are waiting for the implementing rules and the list of device categories that need to be registered.
Last but not least, it has again been announced that the RED Guide from 2018 will be updated. The working group of national market surveillance authorities (ADCO-RED) is currently working on the document, which will then be submitted to the Commission for adoption and publication. In March 2023, publication was announced for the end of 2023. Now ADCO-RED wants to be ready by mid-2024. We are excited.
That was just a small excerpt from the REDCA meeting. We are always happy to answer any questions you may have.
Author
Dipl.-Ing. (FH) Torsten Sahm
Senior Product Compliance Consultant
