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After the last revision in 2016, the EU Commission published the expected new version of the so-called Blue Guide on 29.06.2022. The “Blue Guide” serves as a central guide for the application and interpretation of European product regulations. Prominent among the amendments is Market Surveillance Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 (MSR).

On June 30, 2021, the Commission published its proposal for a General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR-E) to replace the existing Directive 2001/95/EC of December 3, 2001 (the so-called General Product Safety Directive). Despite agreeing to reform European product safety law by means of regulation, the Parliament criticized the Commission’s draft in many respects and therefore introduced far-reaching proposed amendments as part of the legislative process at the end of last year.

On 15 June2022, the Ordinance on Accessibility Requirements for Products and Services under the Barrier-Free Act (Ordinance on the Barrier-Free Act – BFSGV) was issued and was promulgated in the Federal Law Gazette on 22 June 2022.

The EU Parliament, Council of Ministers and Commission have agreed on a proposal published by the Commission in September 2021 to amend Directive 2014/53/EU (the so-called EU Wireless Equipment Directive). It is expected that from mid-2024 smartphones and devices with compara-ble power requirements will have to have a USB-C charging interface and support the fast-charging protocol USB Power Delivery.

Already last year, the EU announced the creation of a Cyber Resilience Act (CRA), as so far no sufficient legal framework exists that anchors specific cyber security requirements for the entire life cycle of a digital product. The proposed legislation serves to strengthen consumer protection and the EU’s competitiveness in the area of digitalisation (of products).