Assessing conformity to European standards
National and European marks of conformity to standards

The development of international trade has led to the need for a degree of coordination in the award of national marks of conformity, to prevent these marks from becoming obstacles to international trade, as manufacturers have to apply for the national mark of each country in which they wish to sell their product.

The first condition for such coordination is that the standards themselves are harmonized, i.e. identical in different countries. Indeed, a mark of conformity to standards is only likely to be recognized in another country if the standards of both countries contain identical prescriptions. The harmonization of standards is developing effectively in the electrical field (see article