The "CE" mark has a number of purposes, the primary one being to
exclude non-European equipment from internal market. Hello Big
Brother!

On a personal level I'd take any Krell, Levinson, Boulder, or Audio
Research power amplifier over anything ever made on the European
continent with the possible exception of a Quad II. They may not have
a "CE" painted on their rear end though. You may ask, what is the
purpose of the CE stamp?

As stated on
http://europa.eu.int/comm/enterprise...n/index_en.htm, the
primary purpose of the CE mark is to give preferential treatment to
European products.

Quoting, "The main actions include of the CE a

The promotion of European standardisation in support of European
policies and legislation.

Enhancing the application of the New and Global Approaches by
strengthening coherence and efficiency of the existing legal framework
in order to continue to a business-friendly and high quality regulatory
environment.

The assessment of the transposition of the acquis by candidate
countries and the contribution to the development of their quality
infrastructures. This includes the negotiation and implementation of
PECA (Protocols to Europe Agreements on Conformity Assessment and
Acceptance of Industrial Products) and similar agreements, the
management of the Customs Union with Turkey, and the design of related
technical assistance and co-operation projects.

The development of policy on implementation of WTO/TBT agreement, the
implementation of Mutual Recognition Agreements, the promotion of
regulatory convergence (including, wherever possible, the promotion of
our own regulatory approach), and the implementation of administrative
co-operation and market access problems solving, both at bilateral and
multilateral level.

The protection of the principle of free movement of goods through the
application of the Treaty rules and of specific measures."

Nothing more need be said as far as I'm concerned...