The new Radio Equipment Directive (RED) will supersede the Radio and Telecommunications Terminal Equipment (R&TTE) Directive on 12 June 2016. New products placed on the market after that date must comply with the RED, though manufacturers with existing products that are compliant with the R&TTE have a further year to comply with the RED.

Domestic appliances with an integral radio function will be covered by the RED but appliances without a radio function will continue to be covered by the EMC (Electromagnetic Compatibility) Directive.

This is complicated by the fact that the harmonised standards listed as demonstrating conformity with RED do not include those that are already listed for EMC, even though the essential requirements for EMC are the same.

In addition, since RED covers safety, technically the Low Voltage Directive (LVD) standards should also be listed under RED – and that’s a very long list