The European Commission has extended the period of use of EN 55022 and its amendments as a harmonized standard until 1 October 2011. The standard had been set to lose its status as a harmonized standard giving a presumption of conformity with the emission requirements of the European EMC and R&TTE Directives, on 1 October 2009.
The Commission has not yet extended the date by which amendment 1 to the 2006 edition has to be applied if the manufacturer chooses this edition of the standard, although it is understood that this decision is currently being reviewed.
The decision was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 21 August 2009 and may be viewed at
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:C:2009:197:0003:0003:EN:PDF
This change means that until 1 October 2011, the following standards will provide a presumption of conformity with the EMC emission requirements of the directives:
EN 55022:1998 alone
EN 55022:1998 +A1:2000
EN 55022:1998 +A2:2003
EN 55022:1998 +A1:2000 +A1:2003
EN 55022:2006 alone (but A1:2007 has to be applied after 1 October 2010 unless the Commission changes that date)
EN 55022:2006 +A1:2007
It is understood that the change results from a request by the power line telecommunications industry (who supply products allowing home networking over the mains wiring) to allow them to continue to use the 1998 edition of the standard. The request was granted even though CENELEC, the European body responsible for the standard, confirmed that there are no differences in the test methods and limits for mains terminals between the 1998 and 2006 editions. It appears that the industry objected to the flowchart for selecting the test method, Figure C.6 of the 2006 edition.
The decision was not related to requirements above 1 GHz, although continuing use of the 1998 edition will delay the introduction of those requirements until 2011.
Brian Jones is an independent EMC Consultant, specializing in compliance with European legislation and standards. He is also secretary to the CENELEC EMC committee TC210, but is writing here in a personal capacity, and his views do not necessarily reflect the views of any organization. He may be contacted at emc@brianjones.co.uk
