§6.1 Why accreditation?

Accreditation provides the last level of public control in a quality chain underpinning the free movement of goods in the Union. Regulation (EC) No 765/2008 introduced a legal framework for accreditation for the first time. Accreditation of conformity assessment bodies had previously been used in both the regulated and non-regulated domains, but it was not governed by a legal framework at European level. The idea of regulating accreditation at European level is twofold. On the one hand a comprehensive European framework for accreditation provides the last level of public control in the European conformity assessment chain and is therefore an important element in ensuring product conformity – on the other it enhances the free movement of products and services across the EU by underpinning trust in their safety and compliance with other issues of public interest protection. Before the entry into force of the Regulation, the lack of common rules for accreditation across Member States meant that accreditation was being used very differently, with the result that accreditation certificates were not necessarily recognised by different national authorities and market operators - leading to multiple accreditation and therefore increased cost to business and conformity assessment bodies without producing the benefits described above. Introducing the legal framework for accreditation therefore reduced administrative burdens in the single market and enhanced public control over accreditation so that it serves as an essential tool for the functioning of the internal market. The accreditation framework set up by the Regulation explicitly applies both to the regulated and to the voluntary spheres. This is so, because the distinction between the two can become blurred as conformity assessment bodies are active, and products are used, in both fields. A differentiation would therefore lead to unnecessary burdens for public authorities and market actors while leading to contradictions between the voluntary and regulated domains.

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-09-07