What is an EC Marking?

The EC marking is an outdated term for CE marking. The term EC marking is generally not in use anymore. The CE marking is a significant indication (but not proof) of a product’s conformity with the EU legislation and enables free movement of products within the European market, whether or not they are manufactured in the EEA, Turkey or elsewhere.

The Member States of the European Economic Area (EEA: the EU Member States plus Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland) are not allowed to restrict the placing on the market of CE marked products, unless such measures are justified by evidence of non-conformity of the product. The same applies to products manufactured in third countries and sold in the EEA.

The CE marking does not imply that a product has been manufactured in the European Union. The CE marking indicates that the product complies with the requirements of the relevant EU harmonisation legisation. Therefore, the marking must be considered as essential information for the authorities of the Member States as well as for other relevant parties (such as distributors). The CE marking does not serve any commercial goals, meaning that it is not to be regarded as a marketing tool.

The CE marking is the visual result of a procedure comprising conformity assessment in a broad sense, indicating that the manufacturer of the particular product confirms that the product is compliant with the EU harmonisation legislation.

(source: The “Blue Guide” for the implementation of the EU product regulations).