§7.3.1 National infrastructures

Market surveillance is the responsibility of national public authorities (Article 10(1) of Regulation (EU) 2019/1020). This is, in particular, to guarantee the impartiality of market surveillance activities. Each Member State can decide upon the market surveillance infrastructure. For example, there are no requirements at Union level on the allocation of responsibilities between authorities, whether on a functional or geographical basis, as long as surveillance is effective and covers the whole territory. Member States organise and carry out market surveillance through the establishment of market surveillance authorities (287) (Article 10(2) of Regulation (EU) 2019/1020). Market surveillance authorities are the authorities of a Member State responsible for carrying out market surveillance on their territory (Article 3(4) of Regulation (EU) 2019/1020). Surveillance of the market by public authorities is a fundamental element for the good implementation of Union harmonisation legislation. Each Member State must designate a single liaison office that performs certain coordination tasks among the market surveillance authorities, as well as between these authorities and those in charge of the control on products entering the Union. Single liaison offices coordinate, in particular, the position of the national authorities in the cooperation activities undertaken at EU level (Article 10(4) of Regulation (EU) 2019/1020). Member States must entrust market surveillance authorities with the powers, resources and knowledge necessary for the proper performance of their tasks (inter alia Article 14(1) of Regulation (EU) 2019/1020). Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 includes a minimum set of investigative and enforcement powers that Member States must confer on their authorities. Member State may require that certain powers be exercised by recourse to other public authorities or through courts decisions (Article 14(3) of Regulation (EU) 2019/1020). Member States may confer additional powers to those in the Regulation. Market surveillance authorities have to exercise their powers with proportionality (Article 14(2) of Regulation (EU) 2019/1020). As regards personnel resources, the authorities have to possess, or have access to, a sufficient number of suitably qualified and experienced staff, with the necessary professional integrity. This must include the necessary capacities to address products made available online and offline with the same effectiveness (Article 10(5) of Regulation (EU) 2019/1020). It could include the designation of dedicated structures and staff for monitoring and tracing dangerous and non-compliant products sold online (288). Market surveillance authorities must exercise their powers and carry out their duties independently, impartially and without bias (Article 11(2) of Regulation (EU) 2019/1020). In carrying out their activities, they may use their own testing facilities or any other resources. They may also subcontract technical tasks (such as testing or inspection) to another body, provided that they retain the responsibility for their decisions. If technical tasks are subcontracted to a body which carries out conformity assessment activities for economic operators, there must be no conflict of interest between these conformity assessment activities and compliance assessment for the market surveillance authority. When subcontracting, the market surveillance authority should exercise great care to ensure that the impartiality of the advice it receives is beyond reproach. Responsibility for any decision taken on the basis of such advice should lay with the market surveillance authority.

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