The European System of Accreditation

Since 2008, Regulation (EC) 765/2008 establishes the first legal framework for accreditation in Europe, setting out requirements for accreditation relating to the marketing of products.

It gives a harmonized, rigorous approach to accreditation across EU Member States – so that ultimately one accreditation certificate or report will be enough to demonstrate the technical capacity of an accredited body.

The main principles of accreditation in the Regulation – which complements ISO/IEC 17011 and the other international standards for conformity assessment bodies – are:

• one accreditation body per Member State;
• accreditation is operated as a public authority activity;
• no competition between national accreditation bodies, and between them and conformity assessment bodies;
• not-for-profit activity;
• stakeholder representation.

In accordance with article 11 of the Regulation, accreditation provides a presumption of conformity: accredited certificates and reports can be recognised in all EU Member States.