Electrical and Electronic Engineering Industries

  • Electrical and electronic engineering industries (EEI) include electrical devices, radio equipment and telecommunications industries. Examples are mobile phones, the mobile network infrastructure, tv sets, power supply units, wireless routers, maritime radars, sensors, and much more.
(data pre-Covid19)

Brussels,

EU legislation in the EEI sector is important to ensure European-wide harmonisation of a set of essential health and safety and other public interest requirements for products placed on the market.
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1. Electromagnetic compatibility: regulated by the electromagnetic compatibility directive, covering all equipment that can generate or be affected by electromagnetic disturbance.

2. Low voltage electrical equipment: regulated by the low voltage directive (LVD), covering health and safety risks caused by electrical equipment of specific voltage ranges.

3. Radio and telecommunication terminal equipment: regulated by the radio equipment directive (RED). It applies to all products using the radio frequency spectrum.
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EU Legislation explained
Industrial Alliances

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​Regulation on accreditation and market surveillance

Regulation (EC) No 765/2008 on accreditation and market surveillance, which has been applicable from January 2010, foresees an enhanced coordination role for the Commission and additional Community support.

Improving the enforcement of EU legislation (market surveillance) remains a priority, in order to ensure fair competition, the protection of the health and safety of consumers and workers, and improved efficiency in the use of radio spectrum.

Industrial policy approach and competitiveness

Promoting the competitiveness of the EU electric and electronic engineering industries involves the implementation of the industrial policy approach in this sector. In particular, this relates to innovation, entrepreneurship, global and sustainable competitiveness, including an evaluation of EU competitiveness, and addressing market access by means of trade instruments.
  • Study on the Competitiveness of the Electrical and Electronic Engineering Industry

EEI and international aspects

International activities are intended to help the industry face the challenges of globalisation. The Commission analyses the industrial policy of other countries and trade blocks and evaluates the likely economic impact on the sector.

EEI and innovation

The sector is highly innovative, especially in fields linked to information and communications technology (ITC), computing and mobile phones. Most innovation originates with the manufacturers in the sector. Appropriate follow-up is therefore needed, especially in the standardisation area. 

EEI and standards

The European Commission contributes to the standardisation activities developed by the European Standardisation Organisations: the European Committee for Standardisation (CEN); the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardisation (CENELEC); and the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) through specific financial means, such as grant agreements, etc.
Read more on Standards

Challenges faced by the sector

The European EEI needs to overcome the following challenges:
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  1. Production, product development and research relocating to East Asia and the resulting shortage of engineers and high-skilled personnel in advanced technologies
  2. Loss of skilled labour due to cuts in production costs
  3. Access to credit from financial institutions
  4. Lack of progress in energy supply infrastructure
  5. Lack of progress in energy efficiency (buildings, transport networks and industrial production)
  6. Investments in research and development (R&D): crucial to compete with the USA, Japan and China
  7. The development of smart technologies (smart grids, IoT, remote security, etc.)
  8. Unfair competition caused by non-compliant goods. Surveillance authorities have shown that compliance regulations need more effective enforcement. Especially in low-tech/low-cost market areas where compliance gets less attention due to price pressure