One of the main objectives of the European Union is the development of the common market based on the principles of the free circulation of goods, services, capital and labor. The strategy “New Approach” was designed by the European Union in order to minimize and extinguish all the technical barriers during money and commercial transactions.

In the framework of the new policy created, the New Approach Directives are referring to the voluntary use of standards that will satisfy the essential requirements of the Directives.

• The mandatory implementation of the New Approach Directives is based on the following principles:
• The legislation is restricted to the essential requirements that the product must satisfy before entering the market.
• The standards that ensure that the products satisfy the requirements of the European Directives are developed by the European Standards Organizations in the framework of the agreement signed with the European Commission – these standards are called harmonized.
• The references of the harmonized standards are published in the Official Journal of the European Commission.
• The implementation of the harmonized standards and the technical specifications is voluntary.
• Only products that comply with the essential requirements of the Directives can circulate in the European market.
• The manufacturers, depending on the product, have the possibility to choose from the different methods of compliance referred in the Directives.
• The harmonized standards, developed by the European Standards Organizations, include Annex ZA, where the requirements that must be satisfied by the manufacturer and producer are specified.
• The revised list with all the harmonized standards is published in the Official Journal of the European Commission and it is sent to the Cyprus Organization for Standardization by CEN.

More information about the European Directives and Harmonized Standards can be obtained from the website:
http://www.newapproach.org/Directives/DirectiveList.asp