The European Low Voltage Directive governs the manufacture or importation of electrical appliances.

The Low Voltage Directive and the Machinery Directive already cover many issues in this regard.

Low Voltage Directive, European directive 2006/95/EC for the safety of electrical equipment sold within the European Union.

The Low Voltage Directive does not supply any specific technical standards that must be met, instead relying on IEC technical standards to guide designers to produce safe products.

These implement into UK law the European Council Directive 2006/95/EEC - commonly referred to as the Low Voltage Directive (LVD).

If a socket outlet unit contains additional control circuits or surge protection circuits they will fall within the scope of the Low Voltage Directive 2006/95/EC and must be CE marked.

The Low Voltage Directive (LVD) 2006/95/EC is one of the oldest Single Market Directives adopted by the European Union before the "New" or "Global" Approach.

Products that conform to the general principles of the Low Voltage Directive and the relevant particular safety standards are marked with the CE marking to indicate compliance and acceptance throughout the EU.

For example, most electrical or electronic products must comply with the Low Voltage Directive and the EMC Directive, but electrical/electronic toys must also comply with the Toy Safety Directive.

In Europe, plugs and sockets without additional control or surge protection circuits are outside the scope of the Low Voltage Directive 2006/95/EC and controlled by National regulations, and therefore must not be CE marked.

Identifying which directive(s) may be applicable, as there may be more than one, involves a simple exercise of reading the scope of each directive to establish which apply to the product (An example of the scope of the Low Voltage Directive below).