The ATEX Directive 2014/34/EU was published on 29 March 2014, by the European Parliament. It refers to the harmonisation of the laws of the Member States relating to equipment and protective systems intended for use in potentially explosive atmospheres. The aim of of the directive is to allow the free trade of ‘ATEX’ equipment and protective systems within the EU by removing the need for separate testing and documentation for each member state. See it as a equipment passport for the countries in the EU. It is not replacing the CE marking for the machine directive. It is an additional requirement for some of the components In the USA a similar standard that is the HAZLOC standard. This standard also defines and classifies hazardous locations such as explosive atmospheres. ATEX in simple terms is trying to avoid that in a dangerous environment a component is able to set a fire or an explosion. In a dangerous environment like explosive gasses, dust or fibers it doe