Role under the Regulation
Authorised representative
The manufacturer's mandated EU presence.
An authorised representative is a person or company in the Union holding a written mandate from a manufacturer to act on its behalf. The core of the mandate is documentary: keep the EU declaration of conformity and the technical documentation at the disposal of authorities, and cooperate with them on request F-034.
Why the role exists
Appointing one is optional: a manufacturer may do so by written mandate F-034. For a manufacturer outside the Union, the representative gives authorities a reachable counterpart inside it, and its Member State is where that manufacturer's Article 14 reports are routed F-034.
What it does not do
Article 18(2) keeps the manufacturer's core duties out of the mandate — the essential requirements, the risk assessment and drawing up the technical documentation among them — so the representative keeps the documentation available rather than producing it F-034. Treating a representative as an outsourced compliance department is a category error.
Verified facts this page relies on
- F-034 A manufacturer may appoint an authorised representative by written mandate; the representative keeps the declaration of conformity and technical documentation at the disposal of authorities and cooperates with them. Non-EU manufacturers: reporting is routed via the representative's Member State. Art. 18, Art. 3(15), Art. 14(7)
- F-016 Technical documentation (Annex VII) is drawn up before placing on the market and kept, with the EU declaration of conformity, for at least ten years after placing on the market or the support period, whichever is longer. Art. 13(12)–(13), Art. 31
Facts are maintained and human-verified in the CEMarque Facts Table (v2026.09.4, verified 2026-09-10).
Editorial review: Claude (AI reviewer, delegated by the editor), 2026-10-08. Methodology and correction process: how this site works.