EAA FAQ Authority Response

For products, prepare the file a market surveillance authority would need to evaluate the product against the EAA: product identification, role in the supply chain, applicable accessibility requirements, conformity assessment, EU declaration of conformity where relevant, CE-marking evidence where relevant, technical documentation, and any Article 14 assessment relied on.

For services, prepare the information required to assess service compliance: the covered service, the accessibility requirements applied, the information made available to users about how the service meets those requirements, complaint or report handling, corrective action status, and the authority contact owner. Record the service compliance authority named in the national implementing law rather than assuming the product authority handles both tracks.

The response should show the authority how the conclusion was reached. For products, keep the technical documentation complete enough to identify the product, the applied requirements, the conformity assessment route, the standards or technical specifications used, and the test or design evidence supporting the declaration.

For services, keep the current service information in an accessible format or equivalent document. The record should explain how the service meets the applicable requirements and how users, complaints, incidents, or authority findings lead to corrective action.

Article 14 is not a shortcut for missing evidence. If an economic operator relies on fundamental alteration or disproportionate burden, the response should include the documented assessment, the criteria applied, the result, and the accessibility requirements still implemented to the extent required. A microenterprise dealing with products is exempt from documenting the assessment but must provide the relevant facts if a market surveillance authority requests them.

Authorities can review whether the Article 14 assessment was carried out and whether its results were used correctly. Service providers relying on disproportionate burden also need to renew the assessment when the service changes, when requested by the service authority, and at least every five years.

If an authority identifies non-compliance, the response should focus on the corrective action the EAA framework actually describes: what is non-compliant, which requirement is affected, what action will bring the product or service into compliance, who owns it, and how completion will be evidenced.

For products, market surveillance authorities must require corrective action and, if adequate action is not taken within the prescribed period, must require withdrawal within an additional reasonable period. They must then take appropriate provisional measures to prohibit or restrict the product or withdraw it from the national market if adequate corrective action is still not taken. For services, Member State procedures must verify that the service provider has taken necessary corrective action. National penalties should be handled by country-specific counsel or verified national implementing law, not guessed in an FAQ response.