France: Commission Implementing Decision on justification of a safeguard measure taken by France concerning Apple entered into force

On 1 September 2025, the Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2025/1760 of 19 August 2025 entered into force following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJ L 2025/1760). The Decision, adopted by the European Commission under Article 41(1) of Directive 2014/53/EU, confirmed that the safeguard measure taken by France through the French National Frequency Agency (ANFR) requiring the withdrawal of the Apple iPhone 12 A2403 was justified. The national measure, first notified on 5 October 2023 via the Information and Communication System for Market Surveillance (ICSMS), was based on findings that the device exceeded the limb specific absorption rate (SAR) limit of 4 W/kg prescribed by harmonised standard EN 50566:2017, which implements Council Recommendation 1999/519/EC. Tests by the accredited laboratory CETECOM confirmed retained SAR values of 5.615 W/kg and 5.740 W/kg, resulting in a withdrawal decision of 12 September 2023. Although Apple issued a corrective software update (iOS 17.1) to activate the “on-body” state of the Body Detect function permanently, its availability was limited to France. The Commission determined that corrective measures must be Union-wide under Article 40(3) of Directive 2014/53/EU, thereby validating the French safeguard measure.