Cyber Resilience Act (CRA)

Applicable: 11 June 2026

1. Member States shall notify the Commission and the other Member States of bodies authorised to carry out conformity assessments in accordance with this Regulation.
2. Member States shall strive to ensure, by 11 December 2026 that there is a sufficient number of notified bodies in the Union to carry out conformity assessments, in order to avoid bottlenecks and hindrances to market entry.

Applicable: 11 June 2026

1. Each Member State shall designate a notifying authority that shall be responsible for setting up and carrying out the necessary procedures for the assessment, designation and notification of conformity assessment bodies and their monitoring, including compliance with Article 41.
2. Member States may decide that the assessment and monitoring referred to in paragraph 1 shall be carried out by a national accreditation body within the meaning of and in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 765/2008.
3. Where the notifying authority delegates or otherwise entrusts the assessment, notification or monitoring referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article to a body which is not a governmental entity, that body shall be a legal entity and shall comply mutatis mutandis with Article 37. In addition, it shall have arrangements in place to cover liabilities arising from its activities.
4. The notifying authority shall take full responsibility for the tasks performed by the body referred to in paragraph 3.

Applicable: 11 June 2026

1. A notifying authority shall be established in such a way that no conflict of interest with conformity assessment bodies occurs.
2. A notifying authority shall be organised and shall function so as to safeguard the objectivity and impartiality of its activities.
3. A notifying authority shall be organised in such a way that each decision relating to notification of a conformity assessment body is taken by competent persons different from those who carried out the assessment.
4. A notifying authority shall not offer or provide any activities that conformity assessment bodies perform or consultancy services on commercial or competitive basis.
5. A notifying authority shall safeguard the confidentiality of the information it obtains.
6. A notifying authority shall have a sufficient number of competent personnel at its disposal for the proper performance of its tasks.

Applicable: 11 June 2026

1. Member States shall inform the Commission of their procedures for the assessment and notification of conformity assessment bodies and the monitoring of notified bodies, and of any changes thereto.
2. The Commission shall make the information referred to in paragraph 1 publicly available.

Applicable: 11 June 2026

1. For the purposes of notification, a conformity assessment body shall meet the requirements laid down in paragraphs 2 to 12.
2. A conformity assessment body shall be established under national law and have legal personality.
3. A conformity assessment body shall be a third-party body independent of the organisation or the product with digital elements it assesses.

   A body belonging to a business association or professional federation representing undertakings involved in the design, development, production, provision, assembly, use or maintenance of products with digital elements which it assesses, may, on condition that its independence and the absence of any conflict of interest are demonstrated, be considered to be such a third-party body.

4. A conformity assessment body, its top level management and the personnel responsible for carrying out the conformity assessment tasks shall not be the designer, developer, manufacturer, supplier, importer, distributor, installer, purchaser, owner, user or maintainer of the products with digital elements which they assess, nor the authorised representative of any of those parties. This shall not preclude the use of assessed products that are necessary for the operations of the conformity assessment body or the use of such products for personal purposes.

   A conformity assessment body, its top level management and the personnel responsible for carrying out the conformity assessment tasks shall not be directly involved in the design, development, production, import, distribution, the marketing, installation, use or maintenance of the products with digital elements which they assess, or represent the parties engaged in those activities. They shall not engage in any activity that may conflict with their independence of judgement or integrity in relation to conformity assessment activities for which they are notified. This shall in particular apply to consultancy services.

   Conformity assessment bodies shall ensure that the activities of their subsidiaries or subcontractors do not affect the confidentiality, objectivity or impartiality of their conformity assessment activities.

5. Conformity assessment bodies and their personnel shall carry out the conformity assessment activities with the highest degree of professional integrity and the requisite technical competence in the specific field and shall be free from all pressures and inducements, particularly financial, which might influence their judgement or the results of their conformity assessment activities, especially as regards persons or groups of persons with an interest in the results of those activities.

6. A conformity assessment body shall be capable of carrying out all the conformity assessment tasks referred to in Annex VIII and in relation to which it has been notified, regardless of whether those tasks are carried out by the conformity assessment body itself or on its behalf and under its responsibility.

   At all times and for each conformity assessment procedure and each kind or category of products with digital elements in relation to which it has been notified, a conformity assessment body shall have at its disposal the necessary:

   1. personnel with technical knowledge and sufficient and appropriate experience to perform the conformity assessment tasks;
   2. descriptions of procedures in accordance with which conformity assessment is to be carried out, ensuring the transparency of and ability to reproduce those procedures. It shall have appropriate policies and procedures in place that distinguish between tasks it carries out as a notified body and other activities;
   3. procedures for the performance of activities which take due account of the size of an undertaking, the sector in which it operates, its structure, the degree of complexity of the product technology in question and the mass or serial nature of the production process.

   A conformity assessment body shall have the means necessary to perform the technical and administrative tasks connected with the conformity assessment activities in an appropriate manner and shall have access to all necessary equipment or facilities.

7. The personnel responsible for carrying out conformity assessment activities shall have the following:
   1. sound technical and vocational training covering all the conformity assessment activities in relation to which the conformity assessment body has been notified;
   2. satisfactory knowledge of the requirements of the assessments they carry out and adequate authority to carry out those assessments;
   3. appropriate knowledge and understanding of the essential cybersecurity requirements set out in Annex I, of the applicable harmonised standards and common specifications, and of the relevant provisions of Union harmonisation legislation and implementing acts;
   4. the ability to draw up certificates, records and reports demonstrating that assessments have been carried out.

8. The impartiality of the conformity assessment bodies, their top level management and of the assessment personnel shall be guaranteed.

   The remuneration of the top level management and assessment personnel of a conformity assessment body shall not depend on the number of assessments carried out or on the results of those assessments.

9. Conformity assessment bodies shall take out liability insurance unless liability is assumed by their Member State in accordance with national law, or the Member State itself is directly responsible for the conformity assessment.
10. The personnel of a conformity assessment body shall observe professional secrecy with regard to all information obtained in carrying out their tasks under Annex VIII or any provision of national law giving effect to it, except in relation to the market surveillance authorities of the Member State in which its activities are carried out. Proprietary rights shall be protected. The conformity assessment body shall have documented procedures ensuring compliance with this paragraph.
11. Conformity assessment bodies shall participate in, or ensure that their assessment personnel are informed of, the relevant standardisation activities and the activities of the notified body coordination group established under Article 51 and apply as general guidance the administrative decisions and documents produced as a result of the work of that group.
12. Conformity assessment bodies shall operate in accordance with a set of consistent, fair, proportionate and reasonable terms and conditions, while avoiding unnecessary burden for economic operators, in particular taking into account the interests of microenterprises and small and medium-sized enterprises in relation to fees.

Applicable: 11 June 2026

Where a conformity assessment body demonstrates its conformity with the criteria laid down in the relevant harmonised standards or parts thereof the references of which have been published in the Official Journal of the European Union it shall be presumed to comply with the requirements set out in Article 39 in so far as the applicable harmonised standards cover those requirements.

Applicable: 11 June 2026

1. Where a notified body subcontracts specific tasks connected with conformity assessment or has recourse to a subsidiary, it shall ensure that the subcontractor or the subsidiary meets the requirements set out in Article 39 and shall inform the notifying authority accordingly.
2. Notified bodies shall take full responsibility for the tasks performed by subcontractors or subsidiaries wherever they are established.
3. Activities may be subcontracted or carried out by a subsidiary only with the agreement of the manufacturer.
4. Notified bodies shall keep at the disposal of the notifying authority the relevant documents concerning the assessment of the qualifications of the subcontractor or the subsidiary and the work carried out by them under this Regulation.

Applicable: 11 June 2026

1. A conformity assessment body shall submit an application for notification to the notifying authority of the Member State in which it is established.
2. That application shall be accompanied by a description of the conformity assessment activities, the conformity assessment procedure or procedures and the product or products with digital elements for which that body claims to be competent, as well as, where applicable, by an accreditation certificate issued by a national accreditation body attesting that the conformity assessment body fulfils the requirements laid down in Article 39.
3. Where the conformity assessment body concerned cannot provide an accreditation certificate, it shall provide the notifying authority with all the documentary evidence necessary for the verification, recognition and regular monitoring of its compliance with the requirements laid down in Article 39.

Applicable: 11 June 2026

1. The Commission shall assign an identification number to a notified body.

   It shall assign a single such number even where the body is notified under several Union legal acts.

2. The Commission shall make publicly available the list of the bodies notified under this Regulation, including the identification numbers that have been allocated to them and the activities for which they have been notified.

   The Commission shall ensure that that list is kept up to date.

Applicable: 11 June 2026

1. Where a notifying authority has ascertained or has been informed that a notified body no longer meets the requirements laid down in Article 39, or that it is failing to fulfil its obligations, the notifying authority shall restrict, suspend or withdraw notification as appropriate, depending on the seriousness of the failure to meet those requirements or fulfil those obligations. It shall immediately inform the Commission and the other Member States accordingly.
2. In the event of restriction, suspension or withdrawal of notification, or where the notified body has ceased its activity, the notifying Member State shall take appropriate steps to ensure that the files of that body are either processed by another notified body or kept available for the responsible notifying and market surveillance authorities at their request.

Applicable: 11 June 2026

1. The Commission shall investigate all cases where it doubts, or where doubt is brought to its attention regarding, the competence of a notified body to meet, or the continued fulfilment by a notified body of, the requirements and responsibilities to which it is subject.
2. The notifying Member State shall provide the Commission, on request, with all information relating to the basis for the notification or the maintenance of the competence of the body concerned.
3. The Commission shall ensure that all sensitive information obtained in the course of its investigations is treated confidentially.
4. Where the Commission ascertains that a notified body does not meet or no longer meets the requirements for its notification, it shall inform the notifying Member State accordingly and request it to take the necessary corrective measures, including de-notification if necessary.

Applicable: 11 June 2026

1. Notified bodies shall carry out conformity assessments in accordance with the conformity assessment procedures provided for in Article 32 and Annex VIII.
2. Conformity assessments shall be carried out in a proportionate manner, avoiding unnecessary burdens for economic operators. Conformity assessment bodies shall perform their activities taking due account of the size of undertakings, in particular as regards microenterprises and small and medium-sized enterprises, the sector in which they operate, their structure, their degree of complexity and the cybersecurity risk level of the products with digital elements and technology in question and the mass or serial nature of the production process.
3. Notified bodies shall however respect the degree of rigour and the level of protection required for the compliance of products with digital elements with this Regulation.
4. Where a notified body finds that the requirements set out in Annex I or in corresponding harmonised standards or common specifications as referred to in Article 27 have not been met by a manufacturer, it shall require that manufacturer to take appropriate corrective measures and shall not issue a certificate of conformity.
5. Where, in the course of the monitoring of conformity following the issuance of a certificate, a notified body finds that a product with digital elements no longer complies with the requirements laid down in this Regulation, it shall require the manufacturer to take appropriate corrective measures and shall suspend or withdraw the certificate if necessary.
6. Where corrective measures are not taken or do not have the required effect, the notified body shall restrict, suspend or withdraw any certificates, as appropriate.

Applicable: 11 June 2026

Member States shall ensure that an appeal procedure against decisions of the notified bodies is available.

Applicable: 11 June 2026

1. Notified bodies shall inform the notifying authority of the following:
   1. any refusal, restriction, suspension or withdrawal of a certificate;
   2. any circumstances affecting the scope of and conditions for notification;
   3. any request for information which they have received from market surveillance authorities regarding conformity assessment activities;
   4. on request, conformity assessment activities performed within the scope of their notification and any other activity performed, including cross-border activities and subcontracting.
2. Notified bodies shall provide the other bodies notified under this Regulation carrying out similar conformity assessment activities covering the same products with digital elements with relevant information on issues relating to negative and, upon request, positive conformity assessment results.

Applicable: 11 June 2026

The Commission shall provide for the organisation of the exchange of experience between the Member States’ national authorities responsible for notification policy.

Applicable: 11 June 2026

1. The Commission shall ensure that appropriate coordination and cooperation between notified bodies are put in place and properly operated in the form of a cross-sectoral group of notified bodies.
2. Member States shall ensure that the bodies notified by them participate in the work of that group, directly or by means of designated representatives.