EU RED Radio Equipment Scope

Directive 2014/53/EU applies to radio equipment made available on the market or put into service in the Union. The definition covers electrical or electronic products that intentionally emit or receive radio waves for radio communication or radiodetermination, and products that need an accessory such as an antenna to do so.

For a scope memo, write the answer as a chain of facts: the product is electrical or electronic, it intentionally emits or receives electromagnetic waves below 3 000 GHz propagated in space without an artificial guide, and the radio function is for communication or radiodetermination. If one link in that chain is missing, explain why the product is outside RED or why another regime remains relevant.

The Directive excludes equipment listed in Annex I and radio equipment exclusively used for public security, defence, State security, certain State economic-security matters, and State criminal-law activities. The Commission RED Guide also warns that dual-use equipment is covered when it is not exclusively used for those excluded activities.

Annex I excludes qualifying amateur-radio equipment not made available on the market, covered marine equipment, specified aviation equipment, and custom-built evaluation kits destined for professionals for use solely at research and development facilities for research and development purposes. The aviation exclusion requires Regulation (EU) 2018/1139 scope and exclusively airborne use. It covers manned aircraft and associated equipment; unmanned aircraft and associated equipment qualify only where their design is certified under Article 56(1) and they are intended to operate solely on International Telecommunication Union (ITU) frequencies allocated for protected aeronautical use. An ordinary radio-controlled drone does not qualify merely because it flies.

The difficult RED scope calls are usually not labelled products such as phones or routers; they are receivers, modules, kits, antennas, infrared equipment, wired devices with embedded radio functions, and products that use electromagnetic waves for a non-radio purpose. The RED Guide treats these as fact-specific cases rather than one-word categories.

Examples from Commission guidance include radio and television receivers within scope, equipment operating below 9 kHz within scope, radiodetermination equipment within scope, active antennas within scope, passive antennas sold alone generally outside RED, pure DVB-C receivers outside RED, other DVB receivers in scope, and construction kits in scope when the assembled product is intended to be made available on the Union market.

A radio module can help the manufacturer reuse test evidence, but it does not settle the host product's RED status or conformity. The party placing the finished equipment on the Union market must assess the final combination, including the module's installation, antenna, enclosure, power supply, software, other radio interfaces, intended use, and any conditions or limitations in the module evidence.

A RED scope record should be usable by engineering, regulatory, procurement, and support teams. It should name the exact product configuration, accessories, antennas, software or firmware version, radio interfaces, intended purpose, Union market fact pattern, exclusions considered, and the conclusion reached.

When RED applies, the scope record should link forward to the Article 3 requirement matrix, harmonised standards or alternative technical specifications, test reports, EU declaration of conformity, and any notified-body certificate. Annex V technical documentation also expects a general description, software or firmware versions affecting compliance, user information, design and manufacturing material, standards or other solutions, declarations, certificates where relevant, examinations, test reports, and Article 10 information.