The European Union (EU) directive on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to units of measurement is, in essence, the European law regarding measurement.
In a sense, this Directive is the European equivalent of the US Fair Packaging and Labeling Act, requiring that labels include metric measurements. But it goes beyond the corresponding American laws in that it applies to virtually all uses of measurement, including in advertising, product manuals, printed or molded on products themselves, etc., unlike the US laws, which apply only to product labels (and then only in certain cases).
The directive
Here’s a copy of the full text of the directive, as amended.
Article 3 is in the process of being amended. In the version of the directive shown here, it states that supplementary indications (i.e., the expression of measurements in any units other than those listed in the Directive) would be declared illegal beginning in 2010. However, that provision turned out to have so many undesirable side effects that the provision to ban other units is being eliminated in a 2009 amendment.
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