How Much Does EU Product Compliance Cost? (2026 Price Guide)

A single electronic product sold in two EU countries costs roughly €10,900 in the first year and about €5,500 a year after that, before lab testing. That is the honest headline number, and it is higher than most manufacturers expect — largely because the recurring obligations, not the one-off certification, are what actually accumulate. Below is every price broken out, what sits outside those prices, and three worked examples.

Most compliance providers will not publish this. We do, because the alternative is a discovery call whose only purpose is to find out whether you can afford the answer.

The full price list

The costs that are not in those numbers

This is the part that turns a €3,800 quote into a €9,000 invoice elsewhere, so it is worth being explicit. The following are real costs, and they are not ours to charge:

• Laboratory testing. EMC, electrical safety and radio testing are paid to accredited labs, not to us. This is usually the single largest variable in a CE project and it depends entirely on your product and the standards that apply. We coordinate it and give you an estimate before you commit, but the invoice is the lab's.
• Notified Body fees. Only relevant where the conformity assessment route requires third-party involvement. Most electronics use self-assessment routes and never touch a Notified Body.
• EPR eco-fees. The fee you pay the Producer Responsibility Organisation itself, calculated on the weight and material of what you put on the market. Entirely separate from the registration and reporting service fee. Low volumes can be tens of euros; high volumes run into thousands.
• CBAM certificates. The carbon price itself, priced against the EU ETS. The €1,500 covers the filings, not the carbon.
• Additional languages. Documentation pricing is per product for a single language. Each additional market language is extra.

Any provider quoting you an all-in number that includes lab testing before seeing your product is guessing.

Worked example 1: non-EU electronics manufacturer, one product, Germany and France

The most common case we see. A manufacturer outside the EU with a single mains-powered product with a wireless module, selling into two markets.

Note the shape of it. The one-off certification is €5,399 of that; the rest is annual and never stops. Manufacturers routinely budget for the first number and are caught out by the second.

Worked example 2: e-commerce seller, packaged goods, three countries

No CE-marked product, no electronics — just physical goods in packaging shipped to EU customers. People assume this is free. It is not.

• Product compliance assessment: €399, first year only
• PPWR packaging compliance, 3 countries × €1,000: €3,000 per year
• Plus the EPR eco-fees your packaging volume attracts, paid to each national scheme

Year one: €3,399. Thereafter: €3,000 per year, plus eco-fees. If you also sell electricals or batteries, the all-streams EPR service at €2,000 per country is cheaper than stacking single-stream services.

Worked example 3: steel importer into the EU and the UK

• CBAM reporting, both regimes: from €1,500 per year
• Plus CBAM certificates against the EU ETS carbon price — variable, and usually far larger than the service fee

The service cost here is trivial next to the carbon cost. What you are buying is not the filing; it is not being refused at the border for lacking Authorised CBAM Declarant status.

What actually drives the number up

1. Number of countries, not number of products. EPR and PPWR are priced per country per year. Selling into 8 markets instead of 2 quadruples your recurring cost while your certification cost stays flat.
2. Number of waste streams. A packaged electrical product with a battery touches three EPR streams. This is why an all-streams price beats buying them separately.
3. Product complexity. A wireless module pulls in the Radio Equipment Directive and its testing. A battery pulls in the Battery Regulation.
4. Languages. Manuals and labels must be in the official language of each market you sell into. Twelve markets means twelve language versions.
5. Discovering obligations late. The most expensive line item is the one you find out about after your goods are already at a border.

How to spend less

• Scope before you buy. Most overspending comes from purchasing services you did not need, or missing one you did and paying for the consequences. A €399 assessment that tells you EPR does not apply in four of your six markets pays for itself many times over.
• Register in your highest-volume markets first. Obligations are per country. If 80% of your revenue is in three countries, sequence those and phase the rest.
• Buy bundled streams, not single streams. All-streams EPR at €2,000 per country beats separate packaging, WEEE and battery registrations once you cross two streams.
• Collect supplier data once. The same emissions data serves EU and UK CBAM. The same technical documentation serves CE and UKCA with adjustments.
• Avoid hourly billing. Fixed-price providers carry the risk of the work taking longer. Hourly providers pass it to you.

Frequently asked questions

How much does CE marking cost?

EcoComply charges a fixed €3,800 per product for electronics, covering the technical file, risk assessment, Declaration of Conformity, lab coordination and supplier documentation verification. Laboratory testing is charged separately by the lab and depends on your product. Traditional consultants typically charge €8,000–15,000 on an hourly basis for equivalent scope.

Is lab testing included in the CE marking price?

No. Testing is paid to accredited laboratories and varies with product type and applicable standards. We coordinate the testing and provide an estimate upfront, but it is a separate cost. Anyone quoting a single all-in figure without seeing your product is estimating blind.

How much does EPR registration cost per country?

€2,000 per country per year for all streams — packaging, WEEE, batteries and textiles — including registration, reporting and authorised representation. Packaging alone is €1,000 per country per year. Separately, you pay eco-fees to each national scheme based on the weight and material of what you place on the market.

What is the cheapest way to start selling in the EU?

Establish what actually applies before buying anything. A €399 product compliance assessment maps every applicable directive, regulation and scheme for your product and target markets in 48 hours. The most expensive route is buying services piecemeal and discovering a missing obligation at customs.

Are these prices recurring or one-off?

CE marking, documentation and the assessment are one-off per product. Authorised representation, EPR, PPWR and CBAM are annual and continue for as long as you sell in that market. In the worked example above, €5,399 is one-off and €5,500 recurs every year.

Why do most compliance firms not publish prices?

Because their pricing is hourly, so there is no number to publish until the work is scoped. That is a legitimate model, but it moves the cost risk onto you: if the work takes longer than expected, you pay for it.

Get an exact number for your product

The prices above are real and fixed, but which of them apply to you depends on your product, your materials, your packaging and the markets you sell into. A €399 product compliance assessment returns that answer in 48 hours: every applicable obligation, what is missing, and what it will cost to fix, across nine obligation areas.

Service pages with full detail: CE marking, EU Authorised Representative, EPR registration, PPWR packaging, CBAM reporting, product documentation and labelling.