So unless you go through thousands of pages or paying a little fortune there's no way to know what directives and standards should be applied right? I mean some kind of an EU online tool or free EU service that can give you a responsible answer. Lobbying at its best...
Figuring out the directives is usually not that hard, as was stated earlier, this page lists all CE directives (product groups):
https://single-market-economy.ec.europa.eu/single-market/ce-marking/manufacturers_en(and just to be clear, the small fortune you pay mostly for the actual testing and there is really no way around that)
I am assuming the electronic device you are building is not:
- a medical device
- part of a machine (moving parts)
- a toy
- used in explosive atmospheres
- a regulated measuring device (like an electricity meter)
Then you are left with:
- either EMCD and LVD or
RED (if it has a radio transmitter/receiver)
- RoHS
- potentially Ecodesign (certain consumer/household equipment, list is here (Annex I)
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32008R1275)
From what you told us, you will probably end up with EMCD, LVD and RoHS. Now for the standards.
- Here is the list of all EMCD harmonised standards:
https://ec.europa.eu/docsroom/documents/51314The rule is to pick the most specific standard that applies to your product. There probably isn't one specifically for your niche product, so the most likely case is that you use one of the product family standards, like:
EN 55022/55024 Information technology equipment
EN 55032/55035 Multimedia equipment
EN 55103 Audio, video, audio-visual and entertainment lighting control apparatus for professional use
EN 61326 Electrical equipment for measurement, control and laboratory use
If none of the family standards apply, you would fall back to the generic EN 61000 standards. Note that the more specific standards refer to those in any case, they usually just contain additional information on how to apply them (test setups, what limits to test to and so on).
- Now for LVD:
https://ec.europa.eu/docsroom/documents/53895This list is annoyingly long, fortunately most of it is cables, electrical installation material and houeshold appliances. Again, a lot of products will use product family standards, in particular:
EN 60950 Information technology equipment
EN 61010 Electrical equipment for measurement, control, and laboratory use
EN 62368 Audio/video, information and communication technology equipment
- RoHS is essentially about collecting the right paperwork on your suppliers and components. There is currently only one harmonised standard, EN IEC 63000:2018.
Unfortunately not the case, you have to do both EMC and RED for a product with radio functionality.
You are both right (kind of). The EMC and LV directives do not apply to radio products but the RED includes most of the requirements from both. So only RED appears on the declaration of conformity, however you still need to do all the tests.
On the topic of "creative loopholes" I will just say that EU regulators are not stupid. Case in point, this is the actual wording in the LVD on the declaration of confirmity:
"The EU declaration of conformity shall state that the fulfilment of the safety objectives referred to in Article 3 and set out in Annex I has been
demonstrated." (emphasis mine) You are also required to create and keep technical documentation on this and may be asked to produce it later on (though usually only if something goes wrong). The LVD also does not mention the word "prototype", the question is rather whether the product has been "placed on the market" (which is usually not the case for a genuine prototype). So in any case, take legal advice from random guys on the internet with just a tiny grain of salt...