The competent body is responsible for issuing the technical reports or certificates referred to in Article 10.2 of the EMC directive. They carry out an extremely important task to help the manufacturer to assess and declare conformity to the Directive. Such tasks must, nevertheless, be proportional and limited to the objective being pursued and to the intended use of the apparatus.

Under the EMC Directive, a body is considered to be competent if it fulfils the criteria set out in Annex II of the Directive. Bodies which are able to provide proof of their conformity with Annex II by presenting accreditation or other means of documentary proof, as defined below, to their Competent Authorities and the Commission Authorities and the Commission are considered competent and in this respect they conform to the requirements of the Directive. The appropriate (voluntary) harmonised standards of EN 45000 series provide presumption of conformity to Annex II.

A manufacturer's laboratory can be recognised as a Competent Body provided that it satisfies the criteria set out in the Annex II of the EMC Directive and in particular, provided that it can give assurances regarding its independence and impartiality from the design and production processes.

A Competent body must ensure that it is ready to accept any request, wherever this request comes from, taking into account its capabilities and work load.

A body can be recognised as a competent :

• Either by an accreditation body recognised as a such by the competent authority of a member State of the EEA;
• Or by a body representing the supervisory authority of a Member State of the EEA.

The Competent Bodies designated by the Member States must fulfil the following minimum conditions:

• Availability of personnel and of the necessary means and equipment;
• Technical competence and professional integrity of personnel;
• Independence, in carrying out the tests, preparing the reports, issuing the certificates and performing the verification function provided for in this Directive, of staff and technical personnel in relation to all circles, groups directly or indirectly concerned with the product in question;
• Maintenance of professional secrecy by personnel;
• Possession of civil liability insurance, unless such liability is covered by the state under national law

Fulfilment of the conditions under points 1 and 2 shall be verified at intervals by the competent authorities of the member states.