EMC Directive amended: emergency procedures, 30 May

Hugues Orgitello updated 7 Oct 2026 6 min read

Directive (EU) 2024/2749 had to be transposed by Member States by 29 May 2026, with national measures to apply from 30 May 2026 (Article 11). It inserts an "emergency procedures" chapter into ten harmonisation directives in a single move, including the EMC Directive 2014/30/EU and the RED directive 2014/53/EU. It is only the second amendment to the text of the EMC Directive: the EUR-Lex consolidated version lists Regulation (EU) 2018/1139 (M1, which rewrote the aviation-equipment exclusion in Article 2(2)(b)) and Directive (EU) 2024/2749 (M2).

In short:

Ten directives are amended, among them EMC, RED, low voltage, machinery and ATEX. A twin act, Regulation (EU) 2024/2748, does the same for six regulations, including the Machinery Regulation 2023/1230.
Nothing switches on by itself: the Council must first activate internal market emergency mode and list the crisis-relevant goods, then the Commission must activate the product procedures by implementing act.
The EMC and low voltage directives receive only two of the four mechanisms: crisis standards or common specifications, and priority market surveillance. No notified-body prioritisation, no national derogation.
Without activation, nothing changes in an ordinary certification campaign.

Dates

Date	Event	Source
9 October 2024	Directive 2024/2749, Regulation 2024/2747 (IMERA) and Regulation 2024/2748 adopted	The three acts
8 November 2024	Publication in the Official Journal	The three acts
28 November 2024	Entry into force (twentieth day after publication)	Article 12 of 2024/2749
29 May 2026	Transposition deadline for 2024/2749; IMERA and Regulation 2024/2748 apply	Article 11(1) of 2024/2749, Article 48 of 2024/2747, final article of 2024/2748
30 May 2026	Member States apply their transposition measures	Article 11(2) of 2024/2749
4 June 2026	First formal meeting of the IMERA Board announced by the Commission	Commission news, 29 May 2026
20 January 2027	Directive 2006/42/EC repealed: the machinery emergency procedures then sit in Articles 25a to 25e of Regulation 2023/1230	Regulation 2024/2748

How the procedures are switched on

The directive does not give Member States or the Commission a free hand. Each new chapter opens with an "application of emergency procedures" article (Article 40a for EMC, Article 43a for RED) that sets three cumulative conditions:

Internal market emergency mode is active. Under Article 18(4) of Regulation 2024/2747, it is the Council that activates it, by implementing act on a Commission proposal, for a maximum of six months. Article 19 allows extensions of no more than six months at a time.
The product is a crisis-relevant good. The list is adopted in the same Council implementing act (Article 18(4)), and Article 3(6) of IMERA defines crisis-relevant goods by reference to that list.
The Commission has activated the product procedures by implementing act under Article 28 of IMERA. Article 28(1) adds a condition of its own: there must be a shortage of certain crisis-relevant goods. The activation lasts no longer than the emergency mode (Article 28(2)).

What each directive receives

The headings below are those of the articles inserted by Directive 2024/2749. A dash means the directive has no such article.

Directive	Articles inserted	Notified-body prioritisation	National derogation from notified-body procedures	Crisis standards or common specifications	Priority market surveillance
2000/14/EC (outdoor noise)	17a to 17d	17b	17c		17d
2006/42/EC (machinery)	21b to 21f	21c	21d	21e	21f
2010/35/EU (transportable pressure equipment)	33a to 33d	33b	33c		33d
2014/29/EU (simple pressure vessels)	38a to 38e	38b	38c	38d	38e
2014/30/EU (EMC)	40a to 40c			40b	40c
2014/33/EU (lifts)	41a to 41e	41b	41c	41d	41e
2014/34/EU (ATEX)	38a to 38e	38b	38c	38d	38e
2014/35/EU (low voltage)	22a to 22c			22b	22c
2014/53/EU (RED)	43a to 43e	43b	43c	43d	43e
2014/68/EU (pressure equipment)	43a to 43e	43b	43c	43d	43e

The two gaps follow from the conformity assessment routes. The first two mechanisms only concern procedures "that require the mandatory involvement of a notified body". The low voltage directive has none, and under the EMC Directive the manufacturer can always use internal production control (Annex II), so there is nothing for a notified body to prioritise or for a Member State to waive.

The four mechanisms, as written

Mechanism	What the text actually says
Notified-body prioritisation (RED Article 43b)	Notified bodies "shall make best efforts" to process applications for listed crisis-relevant goods as a priority, including applications lodged before activation. Prioritisation "shall not result in additional disproportionate costs" for the manufacturer. Notified bodies make "reasonable efforts" to increase testing capacity.
National derogation (RED Article 43c)	On a duly justified request, a Member State may authorise placing on its own market a product whose notified-body procedure has not been carried out, if compliance with the essential requirements has been demonstrated by procedures set out in the authorisation. The authorisation is valid in that Member State (and in any Member State that recognises it) until the Commission extends it to the whole Union by implementing act. It must carry an end date no later than the last day of the emergency mode. The product does not bear the CE marking, and a product covered by a Union-wide extension is marked as a "crisis-relevant good".
Crisis standards or common specifications (EMC Article 40b, RED Article 43d)	Available when no harmonised standard reference is published and none is expected within a reasonable period, or when the emergency severely restricts the use of published harmonised standards. The Commission lists European, national or international standards, and adopts common specifications only where no such standard exists. Presumption of conformity ends the day after the emergency mode expires or is deactivated, but products already placed on the market keep it unless there is reason to believe they present a risk.
Priority market surveillance (EMC Article 40c, RED Article 43e)	Member States prioritise market surveillance of the listed goods, coordinated through the Union Product Compliance Network, and assist one another during the emergency mode.

Claims the texts contradict

Common reading	What the texts say
"The Commission triggers internal market emergency mode."	The Council activates it by implementing act on a Commission proposal (IMERA Article 18(4)). The Commission then activates the product procedures under Article 28, and only if there is a shortage.
"The EMC Directive now has accelerated conformity assessment and a national derogation."	The EMC chapter contains only Articles 40a, 40b and 40c: application conditions, crisis standards or common specifications, and priority market surveillance. The prioritisation and derogation articles exist in RED, not in EMC or the low voltage directive.
"Notified bodies must process crisis applications first."	The obligation is one of "best efforts", and it only applies to goods listed in the Commission activation act.
"A nationally authorised product carries the CE marking."	The derogation articles state the product shall not bear the CE marking. Recital 12 says CE marking can only be affixed where all harmonised rules have been respected.
"Common specifications become a permanent conformity route in the EMC Directive."	Article 40b implementing acts apply only until the last day of the emergency mode, and the presumption they give ends the day after it expires. Nothing in Directive 2024/2749 creates a permanent common specification route.
"National measures have applied everywhere since 30 May 2026."	Article 11 sets the date by which Member States must apply their measures. Whether a given Member State transposed on time is a separate question, to check in its national law.

What to take away

Nothing to do right now on an existing technical file: every mechanism waits for a Council activation and a Commission activation act, both published in the Official Journal.
Regulatory references: the EUR-Lex consolidated versions of 2014/30/EU and 2014/53/EU dated 30 May 2026 include the new chapters. Consolidated texts are documentation tools; the legal reference remains "Directive 2014/30/EU as amended by Directive (EU) 2024/2749".
Machinery: from 20 January 2027, look for the emergency procedures in Regulation 2023/1230 (Articles 25a to 25e, inserted by Regulation 2024/2748), not in Directive 2006/42/EC.