As I may have mentioned a few times on here before, the trouble with all these "medical equipment directives" is that there are just too many of them; and how many attempts at a "universal" (global) set of standards have we seen? Frankly, I have lost count (or maybe it's just that I hardly bother keeping up with it all any more).
In my (undoubtedly biased) opinion, the "European norms" have (almost by definition) tended towards the lowest common denominator. But never mind, as a fair few folk have made lucrative careers out of imposing endless layers of **** upon us lesser mortals.
I still believe that the (old) British Standards - in all regards, not just medical equipment - were the best in the world. I'm not sure that the "UK people" you allude to are of the same breed as their forebears - but I can only hope that is the case.
