Chapter II, accessibility requirements and free movement
Article 6: Free movement
A member state may not block a product or service that complies with this Directive on accessibility grounds.
- Citation
- Article 6, CELEX 32019L0882 (Directive)
- Binds
- Member States.
- In the instrument
- Chapter II, accessibility requirements and free movement
- Applies from
- 28 June 2025 for products placed and services provided from that date (Article 31(2)). The Article 4(8) 112 duty may be deferred to 28 June 2027 where a member state uses Article 31(3).
- Source
- EUR-Lex, CELEX 32019L0882
What it requires
Article 6 is the free-movement side of the bargain. Once a product or service complies with this Directive, a member state cannot refuse it market access, or restrict its supply, for reasons connected to accessibility requirements.
The article binds member states, not economic operators. For a business it is a market-access protection: a national rule that goes further than the Directive must survive Articles 5 and 6. For an enforcement authority it is a limit on what can be demanded of a compliant good.
In practice
Keep the conformity pack close when a member state asks for a national extra. The article protects a compliant product or service, so the first response is the declaration, the technical file or the Annex V information, followed by the question of which national provision requires the extra feature. Without the pack the argument is theoretical.
What to do
- Keep the conformity evidence that lets you claim the protection.
- Raise the article when a member state asks for an accessibility feature the Directive does not require.
- Do not treat it as a defence where the product or service does not actually comply.
Evidence to keep
- The EU declaration of conformity or the service information that supports the claim.
- A note of the national demand and the article or annex it is said to rest on.
Dates
- 2025-06-28Compliant products and services gain the free-movement protection as the measures apply. (Article 31(2))
Cross-references
Where teams get this wrong
Free movement protects compliance, not intention. A file that says the product was designed for accessibility but has no declaration or technical documentation will not carry the argument.
Read from the Official Journal text of Directive (EU) 2019/882, OJ L 151/70, 7 June 2019, Article 6. Check it yourself: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32019L0882. This page states the provision in our own words and is not legal advice; it does not certify any product or service.