The Competent Authorities are represented by the administrations of the Member States of the EEA responsible for fulfilling the obligations of market control incumbent on them.

The main task of the competent authorities is market surveillance. The mechanisms for surveillance of the market intervene at the distribution and marketing stage or once the products are on the market and aim at ensuring that all requirements of the EMC Directive have been effectively respected by all the operators, including manufacturers, importers and the bodies involved in the conformity assessment.

In order to verify whether the product on the market is in conformity or not, the Competent Authorities may have recourse either to their own testing or inspection facilities, or to external accredited laboratories not involved in the original evaluation of the product in question.