Standards and the law
EU Directives
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“New Approach” European Directives define essential safety requirements that are given technical detail in standards. The European Commission then issues a standardization request (called a "mandate") that a "harmonized" European Standard describing these technical details is to be developed. These European Standards are then to be adopted at national level. Products manufactured according to these standards can be presumed to comply with the essential requirements of the relevant directive and can thus be placed on the European market (“presumption of conformity”).
