The CE symbol indicates compliance with European Directives. Nearly all equipment sold in Europe needs to be CE marked by law and there are severe penalties for not complying
The Low Voltage Directive 2006/95/EC
The LVD is an electrical safety directive and applies to products and equipment for which the hazards are primarily of an electrical nature and that operate between 50 and 1000Vac or 75 and 1500Vdc. The LVD's ‘essential requirements’ have been in effect since 1973 and mandate conformity for all safety aspects of electrical products including those of mechanical origin.
The EMC Directive 2004/108/EC
The EMC Directive controls the emissions and immunity characteristics of electrical products and machines. Electromagnetic compatibility is the ability of an apparatus to reject electromagnetic disturbances produced by electrical and electronic apparatus in its environment, whilst not affecting the correct functioning of other apparatus within that environment.
The Machinery Directive 891/392/EEC
In brief, a machine is defined as an assembly of linked parts of at least one that moves and is joined together for a specific application, for the processing, treatment, moving, or packaging of material. The directives' ‘essential requirements’ cover all safety aspects of machinery, including mechanical, electrical, and others. The low voltage directive is not needed for machinery, since compliance with electrical safety is also required by the machinery directive.
