Free Movement
What are the requirements for free movement of my product within Europe?
COUNCIL DIRECTIVE 93/42/EEC
Article 2
Placing on the market and putting into service
Member States shall take all necessary steps to ensure that devices may be placed on the market and/or put into service only if they comply with the requirements laid down in this Directive when duly supplied and properly installed, maintained and used in accordance with their intended purpose.
Article 3
Essential requirements
The devices must meet the essential requirements set out in Annex I which apply to them, taking account of the intended purpose of the devices concerned.
Where a relevant hazard exists, devices which are also machinery within the meaning of Article 2(a) of Directive 2006/42/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 May 2006 on machinery shall also meet the essential health and safety requirements set out in Annex I to that Directive to the extent to which those essential health and safety requirements are more specific than the essential requirements set out in Annex I to this Directive.
Article 4
Free movement, devices intended for special purposes
1. Member States shall not create any obstacle to the placing on the market or the putting into service within their territory of devices bearing the CE marking provided for in Article 17 which indicate that they have been the subject of an assessment of their conformity in accordance with the provisions of Article 11.
2. Member States shall not create any obstacle to:
- devices intended for clinical investigation being made available to medical practitioners or authorized persons for that purpose if they meet the conditions laid down in Article 15 and in Annex VIII,
- custom-made devices being placed on the market and put into service if they meet the conditions laid down in Article 11 in combination with Annex VIII; Class IIa, IIb and III devices shall be accompanied by the statement referred to in Annex VIII, which shall be available to the particular patient identified by name, an acronym or a numerical code.
These devices shall not bear the CE marking.
3. At trade fairs, exhibitions, demonstrations, etc. Member States shall not create any obstacle to the showing of devices which do not conform to this Directive, provided that a visible sign clearly indicates that such devices cannot be marketed or put into service until they have been made to comply.
4. Member States may require the information, which must be made available to the user and the patient in accordance with Annex I, point 13, to be in their national language(s) or in another Community language, when a device reaches the final user, regardless of whether it is for professional or other use.
5. Where the devices are subject to other Directives concerning other aspects and which also provide for the affixing of the CE marking, the latter shall indicate that the devices also fulfil the provisions of the other Directives.
However, should one or more of these directives allow the manufacturer, during a transitional period, to choose which arrangements to apply, the CE marking shall indicate that the devices fulfil the provisions only of those directives applied by the manufacturer. In this case, the particulars of these directives, as published in the Official Journal of the European Communities, must be given in the documents, notices or instructions required by the directives and accompanying such devices.