Case 3 : Application of the EMC Directive to motor vehicles (95/54/EC)

The EMC protection and safety requirements applicable to motor vehicles are laid down by the Directive 95/54/EC, that amends the Directive 72/245/EEC concerning electromagnetic interference produced by spark ignition engines intended to be fitted into motor vehicles.

In recognition of the need for more stringent safety standards for the electromagnetic compatibility of vehicles and related components, the Member States and Industry agreed the establishment of specific EMC provisions, under the terms of the EMC Directive. Directive 95/54/EC, the so-called 'Automotive EMC Directive' was thereby adopted, entering into force on 1 Jan 1996, as a specific Directive with respect to 89/336/EEC.

Scope and application of the Automotive EMC Directive

• For new types of vehicles placed on the EEA market after 1/01/1996, new types of components and new types of separate technical units intended to be fitted into 95/54/EC is mandatory. These products must bear the 'e' marking that confers free movement throughout the EEA area.
• For new components and new separate technical units type-approved before 1/01/96 within the Directive 72/245/EEC, which continue to be placed on the EEA market and/or put into service after 1/01/1996, compliance with Directive 95/54/EC is optional until 1st October 2002.

For those products, Directive 95/54/EC will become mandatory only on 1st October 2002. In other words, Directive 95/54/EC has a certain degree of optionality for such items until 1 October 2002. The circumstances under which the EMC Directive may continue to apply to products in the vehicle sector, for which the Directive 95/54/EC is optional, are described in more detail later on.

Specific case of in-car entertainment products

Entertainment products (eg radios,cassette and compact disc players), intended for fitting in vehicles, fall within the scope of Directive 95/54/EC and are governed by substantive provisions therein.

With the aim of clarifying the applicability of both EMC Directive 89/3336/EEC and the Automotive EMC Directive (95/54/EC amending 72/245/EEC), to in-car entertainment products intended to be incorporated into a motor vehicle, such as car radios, CD players etc., during the period 1/1/96 to 1/10/2002, the commission issued a communication setting out its interpretation of the application of Directive 95/54/EC. This interpretation is as follows :

• Directive 95/54/EC establishes more stringent and appropriate safety requirements for the electromagnetic compatibility for vehicles and their components than are found in the general Directive 89/336/EEC. Therefore Directive 95/54/EC, which entered into force on 1 Jan 1996 constitutes a specific Directive for the purposes of the EMC Directive 89/366/EEC.
• Entertainment products (eg radios, cassette and compact disc players), intended for fitting in vehicles, fall within the scope of Directive 95/54/EC and are governed by the substantive provisions therein. For the purposes of type approval for such products, these provisions apply on an optional basis until 1 Oct 2002, as stated in the Directive. From that date the provisions become mandatory.
• During this optional phase of the Directive, Member States may deny free circulation to such products, intended for fitment in vehicles and which comply with Directive 89/336/EEC, on duly motivated safety grounds.
• Therefore, due to its more stringent provisions, only compliance with Directive 95/54/EC provides a guarantee of free circulation within the EEA with respect to the electromagnetic compatibility of products intended for fitting in vehicles.
• Products which are intended for fitting in both vehicles and other applications (such as boats or caravans) may be CE-marked in respect of that other application but such marking does not confer free circulation for products intended for fitting in vehicles.