Placing on the market
Placing on the market is the moment a product first reaches the EU market. This moment decides whether it counts as a legacy product or has to meet the full requirements.
Placing on the market is the first making available of a product with digital elements on the market of the European Union. It happens once per individual unit, and for software once per version; any later supply is only making available on the market.
Definition in the Regulation
Article 3, point (21), of Regulation (EU) 2024/2847 defines placing on the market as "the first making available of a product with digital elements on the Union market". The manufacturer's main obligations are tied to it: under Article 13(12), technical documentation, conformity assessment, EU declaration of conformity and CE marking must be completed before placing on the market. Article 69(2) sets out the transitional rule: products placed on the market before 11 December 2027 fall under the requirements only if they are substantially modified after that date. Under Article 71(2), the reporting obligation under Article 14 has applied since 11 September 2026 and, under Article 69(3), also covers products placed on the market before 11 December 2027, including products that have been on the market for a long time.
What it means for manufacturers
For hardware, every single unit counts. A device that goes to the distributor in November 2027 is a legacy product; an identical device from January 2028 production must conform. For software, according to the Commission guidance C(2026) 5252 (paragraph 13), the version counts: version 1.0.0 is placed on the market on the day it first becomes available; later downloads of the same version are only making available. A substantially modified version is regarded as newly placed on the market (paragraph 122). Under recital 20, merely uploading software to an open package repository is not, in itself, making it available on the market and therefore not placing it on the market. For planning purposes, this means that if you are still shipping series production up to 11 December 2027, the production standard from that date on must conform.
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- Making available on the market
- Substantial modification
- Legacy products (transitional provisions)
- Commercial activity