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Prevention of technical barriers to trade
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Free movement in non-harmonised sectors
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Regulatory policy
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Regulated sectors
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Liability for defective products
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Fighting late payments
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Monitoring EC law application
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International aspects
Regulatory policy: common rules for products
The main objective of the regulatory policy on the free movement of goods is to contribute to the design, implementation and improvement of a flexible regulatory framework providing access to the single market while protecting essential public requirements. Apart from making use of the principle of mutual recognition, this objective is achieved by promoting the use of the New Legislative Framework, applicable to both New and Traditional Approach legislation.
The New Legislative Framework is designed to further facilitate harmonisation of Community legislation which, in turn, is one of the main tools used to facilitate the free movement of goods. It builds upon existing rules and introduces a comprehensive market surveillance framework as well as a horizontal framework on accreditation. It consolidates requirements related to CE marking, thus constituting a solid back up for the concrete enforcement and application of existing and future legislation.
The New Approach is a regulatory technique whereby product legislation is restricted to the requirements necessary to protect the public goals of health and safety. In addition it provides for the essential requirements to be combined with technical specifications agreed by stakeholders and experts in the field, usually harmonised European standards.
Another way to promote free movement of goods is to legislate to oblige all products of a certain type produced in the EU to respect the same detailed technical specifications set out in the EU legislation itself, which is the traditional form of harmonising legislation.