EU Directive · RED
Radio Equipment Directive
Directive 2014/53/EU
The Radio Equipment Directive governs placing radio equipment on the EU market, including the cybersecurity, privacy and fraud-protection requirements activated by its delegated act and demonstrated through the EN 18031 harmonised standards.
What it covers
Equipment that intentionally emits or receives radio waves — Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, cellular, LoRaWAN and similar.
How it applies to your product
For a radio product, RED conformity covers safety, electromagnetic compatibility and the efficient use of spectrum; since its delegated act, in-scope connected devices must also meet cybersecurity, privacy and fraud-protection requirements, demonstrated through the EN 18031 harmonised standards. Most consumer radio products can self-assess against harmonised standards; where they cannot, a Notified Body is involved.
Authoritative source
Always confirm against the primary text on EUR-Lex — the official EU legal database.
Read Directive 2014/53/EU on EUR-Lex ↗See also the RED entry in the glossary.
Guides on RED
From the Library
guide
CE marking for industrial sensors and gateways
EMC, LVD, RED, RoHS, ATEX, Machinery Regulation and CRA stack for industrial sensors, gateways and edge devices placed on the EU market.
guide
CE marking medical wearables — MDR + CRA overlap
How CE marking works for a medical wearable: MDR is binding, CRA is carved out by Article 2(2), and RED still applies to the wireless side.
guide
CE marking for IoT consumer products — end-to-end
End-to-end CE marking process for consumer IoT — RED, EMC, LVD, RoHS, CRA (from 11 December 2027), and GPSR — sequenced from scope to vulnerability handling.
reference
IEC 62443 family overview for product manufacturers
Practical map of the IEC 62443 industrial cybersecurity standards — what -1-1, -2-1, -2-4, -3-2, -3-3, -4-1 and -4-2 cover, and which parts hardware manufacturers actually need.
guide
EC REP cost guide 2026: what you pay, what you get, what to avoid
Cost guide for EU Authorised Representative services in 2026 by directive — CRA Article 18, RED Article 11, MDR Article 11 — what drives premium and how to verify a quote.
comparison
EC REP vs Importer: Responsibilities Under CRA, RED, and MDR
EC REP vs Importer — the two distinct EU economic operator roles, their obligations under CRA, RED, MDR, and Regulation 2019/1020, and when one entity can be both.
Check your product