S.I. 636/2023, the EAA Compliance Pack for Irish SMBs

1. Member States shall ensure, in accordance with paragraphs 2, 3 and 5 of this Article and subject to Article 14, that economic operators only place on the market products and only provide services that comply with the accessibility requirements set out in Annex I. 2. All products shall comply with the accessibility requirements set out in Section I of Annex I. All products, except for self-service terminals, shall comply with the accessibility requirements set out in Section II of Annex I. 3. Without prejudice to paragraph 5 of this Article, all services, except for urban and suburban transport services and regional transport services, shall comply with the accessibility requirements set out in Section III of Annex I. Without prejudice to paragraph 5 of this Article, all services shall comply with the accessibility requirements set out in Section IV of Annex I. 4. Member States may decide, in the light of national conditions, that the built environment used by clients of services covered by this Directive shall comply with the accessibility requirements set out in Annex III, in order to maximise their use by persons with disabilities. 5. Microenterprises providing services shall be exempt from complying with the accessibility requirements referred to in paragraph 3 of this Article and any obligations relating to the compliance with those requirements. 6. Member States shall provide guidelines and tools to microenterprises to facilitate the application of the national measures transposing this Directive. Member States shall develop those tools in consultation with relevant stakeholders. 7. Member States may inform economic operators of the indicative examples, contained in Annex II, of possible solutions that contribute to meeting the accessibility requirements in Annex I. 8. Member States shall ensure that the answering of emergency communications to the single European emergency number '112' by the most appropriate PSAP, shall comply with the specific accessibility requirements set out in Section V of Annex I in the manner best suited to the national organisation of emergency systems. 9. The Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 26 to supplement Annex I by further specifying the accessibility requirements that, by their very nature, cannot produce their intended effect unless they are further specified in binding legal acts of the Union, such as requirements related to interoperability.

1. Importers shall place only compliant products on the market. 2. Before placing a product on the market, importers shall ensure that the conformity assessment procedure set out in Annex IV has been carried out by the manufacturer. They shall ensure that the manufacturer has drawn up the technical documentation required by that Annex, that the product bears the CE marking and is accompanied by the required documents and that the manufacturer has complied with the requirements set out in Article 7(5) and (6). 3. Where an importer considers or has reason to believe that a product is not in conformity with the applicable accessibility requirements of this Directive, the importer shall not place the product on the market until it has been brought into conformity. Furthermore, where the product does not comply with the applicable accessibility requirements, the importer shall inform the manufacturer and the market surveillance authorities to that effect. 4. Importers shall indicate their name, registered trade name or registered trade mark and the address at which they can be contacted on the product or, where that is not possible, on its packaging or in a document accompanying the product. The contact details shall be in a language easily understood by end-users and market surveillance authorities. 5. Importers shall ensure that the product is accompanied by instructions and safety information in a language which can be easily understood by consumers and other end-users, as determined by the Member State concerned. 6. Importers shall ensure that, while a product is under their responsibility, storage or transport conditions do not jeopardise its compliance with the applicable accessibility requirements. 7. Importers shall, for a period of five years keep a copy of the EU declaration of conformity at the disposal of the market surveillance authorities and shall ensure that the technical documentation can be made available to those authorities upon request. 8. Importers who consider or have reason to believe that a product which they have placed on the market is not in conformity with this Directive shall immediately take the corrective measures necessary to bring that product into conformity, or, if appropriate, to withdraw it. Furthermore, where the product does not comply with the applicable accessibility requirements, importers shall immediately inform the competent national authorities of the Member States in which they made the product available to that effect, giving details, in particular, of the non-compliance and of any corrective measures taken. In such cases, importers shall keep a register of products which do not comply with applicable accessibility requirements, and of the related complaints.

1. Service providers shall ensure that they design and provide services in accordance with the accessibility requirements of this Directive. 2. Service providers shall prepare the necessary information in accordance with Annex V and shall explain how the services meet the applicable accessibility requirements. The information shall be made available to the public in written and oral format, including in a manner which is accessible to persons with disabilities. Service providers shall keep that information for as long as the service is in operation. 3. Without prejudice to Article 32, service providers shall ensure that procedures are in place so that the provision of services remains in conformity with the applicable accessibility requirements. Changes in the characteristics of the provision of the service, changes in applicable accessibility requirements and changes in the harmonised standards or in technical specifications by reference to which a service is declared to meet the accessibility requirements shall be adequately taken into account by the service providers. 4. In the case of non-conformity, service providers shall take the corrective measures necessary to bring the service into conformity with the applicable accessibility requirements. Furthermore, where the service is not compliant with applicable accessibility requirements, service providers shall immediately inform the competent national authorities of the Member States in which the service is provided, to that effect, giving details, in particular, of the non-compliance and of any corrective measures taken. 5. Service providers shall, further to a reasoned request from a competent authority, provide it with all information necessary to demonstrate the conformity of the service with the applicable accessibility requirements. They shall cooperate with that authority, at the request of that authority, on any action taken to bring the service into compliance with those requirements.

1. Where the market surveillance authorities of one Member State have sufficient reason to believe that a product covered by this Directive does not comply with the applicable accessibility requirements, they shall carry out an evaluation in relation to the product concerned covering all requirements laid down in this Directive. The relevant economic operators shall fully cooperate with the market surveillance authorities for that purpose. Where, in the course of the evaluation referred to in the first subparagraph, the market surveillance authorities find that the product does not comply with the requirements laid down in this Directive, they shall without delay require the relevant economic operator to take all appropriate corrective action to bring the product into compliance with those requirements within a reasonable period, commensurate with the nature of the non-compliance, as they may prescribe. Market surveillance authorities shall require the relevant economic operator to withdraw the product from the market, within an additional reasonable period, only if the relevant economic operator has failed to take adequate corrective action within the period referred to in the second subparagraph. Article 21 of Regulation (EC) No 765/2008 shall apply to the measures referred to in the second and third subparagraphs of this paragraph. 2. Where the market surveillance authorities consider that non-compliance is not restricted to their national territory, they shall inform the Commission and the other Member States of the results of the evaluation and of the actions which they have required the economic operator to take. 3. The economic operator shall ensure that all appropriate corrective action is taken in respect of all the products concerned that it has made available on the market throughout the Union. 4. Where the relevant economic operator does not take adequate corrective action within the period referred to in the third subparagraph of paragraph 1, the market surveillance authorities shall take all appropriate provisional measures to prohibit or restrict the product's being made available on their national markets or to withdraw the product from that market. The market surveillance authorities shall inform the Commission and the other Member States, without delay, of those measures. 5. The information referred to in the second subparagraph of paragraph 4 shall include all available details, in particular the data necessary for the identification of the non-compliant product, the origin of the product, the nature of the non-compliance alleged and the accessibility requirements with which the product does not comply, the nature and duration of the national measures taken and the arguments put forward by the relevant economic operator. In particular, the market surveillance authorities shall indicate whether the non-compliance is due to either: (a) the failure of the product to meet the applicable accessibility requirements; or (b) the shortcomings in the harmonised standards or in the technical specifications referred to in Article 15 conferring a presumption of conformity. 6. Member States other than the Member State initiating the procedure under this Article shall without delay inform the Commission and the other Member States of any measures adopted and of any additional information at their disposal relating to the non-compliance of the product concerned, and, in the event of disagreement with the notified national measure, of their objections. 7. Where, within three months of receipt of the information referred to in the second subparagraph of paragraph 4, no objection has been raised by either a Member State or the Commission in respect of a provisional measure taken by a Member State, that measure shall be deemed justified. 8. Member States shall ensure that appropriate restrictive measures, such as withdrawal of the product from their market, are taken in respect of the product concerned without delay.