CE marking
The manufacturer declares that the product meets every EU law that requires the CE marking for it, and takes responsibility for that conformity. For mains chargers and appliances the main law is the Low Voltage Directive, which covers equipment rated between 50 and 1,000 V AC or 75 and 1,500 V DC.
A mark tells you what the maker declares, never that the product is safe.
- What it looks like
- The letters C and E, each drawn from part of a circle, with a short middle bar in the E. It must be at least 5 mm high unless a product law sets another size, and enlarged or reduced copies must keep the proportions of the drawing in Annex II of Regulation 765/2008.
- Who may apply it
- Only the manufacturer or its authorised representative may affix it, and only to products whose EU law provides for it; putting it on anything else is not allowed. Under the Low Voltage Directive the procedure is internal production control (Module A): the manufacturer itself checks the product and declares conformity on its sole responsibility, and no outside body has to be involved.
- Where it goes
- On the product or its data plate, or on the packaging and accompanying documents where that is not possible. It must be in place before the product is placed on the market.
What it does not promise
It is not an approval by a government or a test lab. For ordinary electrical goods nobody outside the manufacturer is required to have checked it. A four-digit number next to the CE is the ID of a notified body and appears only when one took part. Marks that could mislead people about the meaning or form of the CE marking are prohibited, so a lookalike is a reason for doubt.
Other marks with the same shapes
Sources
Each page below was fetched and read on the date shown. Where a symbol’s IEC 60417 or ISO 7000 number is given, a public page listing that number is among them.
- EUR-Lex (Official Journal of the EU): Regulation (EC) No 765/2008 — Article 30 and Annex II, the CE marking — Article 30: “The CE marking shall be affixed only by the manufacturer or his authorised representative”; by affixing it “the manufacturer indicates that he takes responsibility for the conformity of the product”; misleading markings are prohibited. Annex II: the graduated drawing, proportions kept, at least 5 mm high. Checked 2026-09-24.
- EUR-Lex (Official Journal of the EU): Directive 2014/35/EU (Low Voltage Directive) — Article 1, Article 17 and Annex III — Article 1: applies to equipment with a voltage rating between 50 and 1 000 V AC and 75 and 1 500 V DC. Article 17: affixed to the equipment or data plate, else packaging and documents, before placing on the market. Annex III, Module A: the manufacturer “declares on his sole responsibility”. Checked 2026-09-24.
- Your Europe (European Union): CE marking — obtaining the certificate, EU requirements — Explains when a notified body is needed; “If a notified body is used, its 4-digit ID number must appear next to the CE marking.” Warns that “voluntary certificates” are not valid for CE marking. Checked 2026-09-24.
Written in our own words; quotations are the sources’ wording.