Regulations •

CE Marking: Meaning, Requirements and the Link to the DPP

What CE marking means, which products require it, how to get it in six steps, what the EU Declaration of Conformity is, and how CE marking and the Digital Product Passport complement each other under the ESPR.

Author: myDPP Team

CE Marking: Meaning, Requirements and the Link to the DPP

Key takeaways

CE marking is the manufacturer’s declaration that a product meets the applicable EU requirements for health, safety and environmental protection. “CE” stands for Conformite Europeenne (European Conformity). It is mandatory for products that fall under one of the roughly two dozen EU harmonisation rules - such as machinery, toys, electrical equipment, radio equipment or medical devices - before they are placed on the market in the European Economic Area. CE marking is not a quality seal and not a proof of origin; it is a legal declaration of conformity that the manufacturer affixes on its own responsibility. For the Digital Product Passport the key point is this: under the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) a product will carry both - the CE marking for its ecodesign requirements and a DPP. The passport is the medium that makes the accompanying EU Declaration of Conformity and technical documentation accessible via the QR code.

If you would first like to understand the basics of the passport itself, we recommend the introductory article Digital Product Passport in 15 Minutes: What the DPP Is and Why the EU Is Introducing It.

What does CE marking mean?

The abbreviation CE stands for Conformite Europeenne - French for “European Conformity”. By affixing the CE marking, the manufacturer declares, on its own responsibility, that its product complies with all applicable EU legislation and meets the essential requirements for safety, health and environmental protection set out in it.

The CE marking is therefore first and foremost a statement about legal conformity, not about quality. It acts as a visible “passport” for the EU single market: if a product carries the marking legitimately, it may move freely throughout the entire European Economic Area (EEA - the EU plus Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein) without additional national approval.

What CE marking is not

To avoid misunderstandings, the boundaries matter as much as the definition:

  • Not a quality seal. The CE marking says nothing about how good a product is - only that it meets the legal minimum requirements.
  • Not a proof of origin. It does not mean a product was made in the EU. Goods from third countries must also carry the marking when they are imported into the EEA.
  • Not a check by an authority. In most cases the manufacturer declares conformity itself. Only for higher risk classes is an independent body involved.
  • Not a “China Export” mark. A claim circulates that a similar-looking logo with letters set closer together stands for “China Export”. No such official mark exists - a CE marking that is misused or wrongly affixed remains an infringement.

Which products require CE marking?

CE marking is not required for every product, only for those covered by an EU harmonisation rule under the “New Legislative Framework”. These cover around two dozen product groups, including:

  • Machinery (Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC until 19 January 2027, then Machinery Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 from 20 January 2027)
  • Toys (Directive 2009/48/EC)
  • Electrical equipment (Low Voltage Directive 2014/35/EU)
  • Electromagnetic compatibility (Directive 2014/30/EU)
  • Radio equipment (Directive 2014/53/EU)
  • Medical devices (Regulation (EU) 2017/745, MDR) and in-vitro diagnostics (Regulation (EU) 2017/746)
  • Personal protective equipment (Regulation (EU) 2016/425)
  • Construction products, pressure equipment, gas appliances, lifts, measuring instruments and others

Equally important is what CE marking does not cover: cosmetics, food, chemicals (REACH) and medicines have their own rules and carry no CE marking. Anyone placing a product on the market must therefore first check which legislation applies at all - and whether several apply at once (an electrical toy, for example, falls under more than one directive).

This list is abridged. The complete list of all thirty-odd acts, with numbers, product scope and where a product passport is already attached, is in which products require CE marking.

How do you obtain CE marking? Six steps

In practice, the route to legitimate CE marking follows six steps:

  1. Identify the applicable legislation. Determine every EU directive and regulation that applies to your product.
  2. Identify the requirements and harmonised standards. Harmonised standards (listed in the EU Official Journal) create a “presumption of conformity”: meeting them means you are deemed to comply with the related requirements.
  3. Determine the conformity assessment procedure. Clarify whether a self-declaration is enough or whether a notified body must be involved - this depends on the risk class.
  4. Test the product and demonstrate conformity. Carry out the required tests and document the results.
  5. Compile and keep the technical documentation. These records must be available to authorities for a defined period (often ten years).
  6. Draw up the EU Declaration of Conformity and affix the CE marking. Only then may the product be placed on the market.

The EU Declaration of Conformity

The EU Declaration of Conformity (DoC) is the central document of the process. In it the manufacturer states - naming the product, the applied legislation and standards and, where relevant, the notified body - that all requirements are met. If a notified body is involved, its four-digit identification number follows the CE marking.

What does CE marking cost?

The CE marking itself is not “bought”; there is no fee for the mark. Costs arise from testing, harmonised standards, technical documentation and - where required - the notified body. The effort therefore depends heavily on the product and its risk class: anything from a pure self-declaration to a demanding type-examination is possible.

CE marking and the Digital Product Passport under the ESPR

This is where the circle closes with the DPP. The Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR, Regulation (EU) 2024/1781) is built on the same “New Legislative Framework” as the classic CE rules. For the ecodesign requirements the Commission sets per product group, the ESPR provides for a conformity assessment, an EU Declaration of Conformity and the CE marking.

In concrete terms this means: a product covered by an ESPR delegated regulation will carry two parallel obligations:

  • the CE marking as proof that it meets the ecodesign requirements, and
  • a Digital Product Passport that makes the mandated product data available in a structured, machine-readable way.

Both draw on the same technical documentation. The EU Declaration of Conformity, the applied harmonised standards and - where relevant - the notified body’s identification number are exactly the kind of compliance evidence a DPP can hold and make accessible via the QR code or GS1 Digital Link. The battery passport already shows the principle: conformity information and product data sit together in one digital carrier.

Why CE marking and the DPP belong together

From a business perspective, CE marking and the DPP address the same underlying problem - proving product conformity - on two levels: CE marking as the legal declaration, the DPP as the discoverable, up-to-date data carrier for the information behind it. If you already maintain the technical documentation for CE marking, you have a large part of the DPP data foundation in place.

An honest framing matters here: a Digital Product Passport - and myDPP - does not perform conformity assessment and does not issue CE marking. The CE mark requires testing against harmonised standards, in some cases with a notified body - work done by test houses, not a data system. What myDPP does is store, version and make communicable the EU Declaration of Conformity, the document references and the relevant conformity data through the passport, so that authorities, retailers and customers find them in one place.

Frequently asked questions (FAQ)

What does CE marking mean, simply put?

It is the manufacturer’s declaration that a product meets all applicable EU requirements for safety, health and environmental protection and may therefore be sold in the European Economic Area.

What does the abbreviation CE stand for?

CE stands for Conformite Europeenne, French for “European Conformity”.

When is CE marking required?

Whenever a product falls under an EU harmonisation rule - for example as machinery, a toy, electrical equipment, radio equipment or a medical device. Products such as cosmetics, food or chemicals, by contrast, carry no CE marking.

Is there a “China Export” mark?

No. There is no official “China Export” logo. A similar-looking or wrongly affixed CE marking is an infringement and can be penalised by market surveillance.

Does the Digital Product Passport replace CE marking?

No. They are two separate obligations. The DPP replaces neither the conformity assessment nor the CE marking - it makes the related evidence, such as the EU Declaration of Conformity, available digitally and discoverably.

Further reading

Sources

Back to Knowledge Base