Introduction to the European Radio Equipment Directive

The European Radio Equipment Directive (RED) establishes a regulatory framework for placing radio equipment on the market. RED thus governs access to the European Union Single Market and introduces so-called essential requirements that need to be complied with by any product under the scope of RED. Originally, those essential requirements were limited to (i) the protection of health and safety of persons and of domestic animals and the protection of property, (ii) electromagnetic compatibility and (iii) the efficient and effective use of spectrum. More recently, additional requirements were put into force through Delegated Acts which were beforehand inactive. Those include requirements related to introducing a common charger, ensuring caller location in emergency communications from mobile devices as well as requirements on Cyber Security and Privacy. Furthermore, the possible activation of Article 3(3)(i) and Article 4 are under discussion with the objective to ensure that the combination of software and hardware remains compliant after installation of software updates. In the present chapter, we give an overview of all those elements and further outline the expected relation of RED to the future Cyber Resilience Act.