CE marking: does your product need it — and what else the EU requires
CE marking is required only where a harmonised EU rule mandates it — and for those products it's mandatory, not optional. Certification-required families include toys, electrical and electronic goods (low-voltage, EMC, radio), PPE, machinery, measuring instruments, and medical devices. Ordinary clothing and textiles without a protective function, plain furniture, and jewelry are outside the CE regime (check your specific product), and cosmetics follow their own EU notification regime (CPNP) instead of CE. The trap for online sellers: CE-marked goods also need an economic operator established in the EU before you can lawfully sell them there.
Status by product family
Certification required (CE): toys, electronics of essentially every kind (LVD/EMC/RED), PPE such as work gloves and helmets, machinery, measuring instruments, medical devices, and the other families on the EU's official list cited below. Selling these without the full conformity assessment, technical file, Declaration of Conformity, and the mark itself is prohibited — and marking a product that's outside the regime is equally prohibited.
Not covered by CE (different rules may still apply): ordinary textiles and clothing with no protective function, standard furniture, and jewelry — labeling, chemical (REACH), and general product-safety rules still apply to them. Cosmetics: professional-review territory — they skip CE but require the EU CPNP notification and a designated responsible person under their own regulation.
The EU responsible-person rule is the real online-seller gate
Under the Market Surveillance Regulation (2019/1020, Art. 4), CE-regulated products may only be placed on the EU market if an economic operator established in the EU — manufacturer, importer, authorised representative, or fulfilment provider — is responsible for compliance tasks. A non-EU seller shipping direct-to-consumer needs to appoint one; marketplaces increasingly block listings without it. Budget this as a real cost of entering the EU with electronics or toys, alongside the conformity assessment itself.
For Great Britain: the UK continues to recognise CE marking as of mid-2026 (with sector exceptions), so EU compliance usually carries GB too — verify your sector before relying on it.
Common questions
- Can I self-certify?
- For many families the manufacturer performs the conformity assessment themselves against the harmonised standards; higher-risk categories require a notified body. Which path applies is defined per directive — that's a professional-review question for your exact product.
- My supplier says the product 'has CE'. Is that enough?
- Ask for the Declaration of Conformity and technical file, and check the mark's legitimacy. As the importer/seller you carry obligations yourself — a logo printed on the casing is not compliance.
Official sources behind these numbers
- CE marking is only required for products covered by harmonised EU rules that specifically mandate it; if no such EU requirement exists for a product, CE marking must not be affixed. Products without CE-specific rules fall under general product safety rules instead. European Union (Your Europe) · verified 2026-07-22
- Official (non-exhaustive) list of product families requiring CE marking: toys, drones, electrical and electronic equipment, pyrotechnic products, recreational craft and personal watercraft, some kinds of pressure equipment, gas appliances, batteries, machinery, weighing and measuring equipment, personal protective equipment, and medical devices including diagnostic equipment. European Union (Your Europe) · verified 2026-07-22
- Common ecommerce product families with no CE-marking legislation — ordinary textiles/clothing without protective function, furniture without a machinery/electrical function, and most jewellery — do not require (and must not carry) CE marking; they are covered by general product safety rules (GPSR) instead. European Union (Your Europe) · verified 2026-07-22
- Cosmetics are governed by their own regime, Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009, not CE marking: the responsible person (and in certain cases distributors) must notify each cosmetic product via the free Cosmetic Products Notification Portal (CPNP) for products placed or made available on the EU market; one CPNP notification covers all member states (no further national notification). European Commission (DG GROW) · verified 2026-07-22
- For CE-marked products, the manufacturer must carry out the conformity assessment, set up the technical file, issue the EU declaration of conformity and affix the CE marking; importers and distributors must ensure that products they import or distribute meet the requirements and that only compliant CE-marked products reach the EEA market. European Commission (DG GROW) · verified 2026-07-22
- Under Article 4 of Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 (Market Surveillance), products subject to listed harmonisation legislation (incl. toys, low voltage, EMC, radio equipment, PPE, machinery, gas appliances, pressure equipment, construction products) may only be placed on the EU market if an economic operator established in the Union is responsible for compliance tasks. That operator can be the manufacturer, an importer (when the manufacturer is not in the EU), an authorised representative, or a fulfilment service provider; tasks include verifying/keeping the EU declaration of conformity and technical documentation, informing surveillance authorities of risk, cooperating to remedy non-compliance, and having their name and contact details indicated on the product or packaging. EUR-Lex (Official Journal of the EU) · verified 2026-07-22
- As of mid-2026, the UK government continues to recognise the CE marking, alongside or in place of the UKCA marking, for the Great Britain market, under The Product Safety and Metrology (Amendment) Regulations 2024. Sector-specific rules differ for construction products, medical devices, marine equipment, rail products and transportable pressure equipment. UK Government (gov.uk, Department for Business and Trade) · verified 2026-07-22