ribbon cable - 300V vs. 50V

Why is ribbon cable (3M 3365 for example) rated to 300V in North America and only 50V in the European Union?

Metric volts perchance??? :-)

Some context might be useful. Outside of equipment, mains wiring (called Low Voltage) normally has to be double insulated in Europe. Since ribbon cable normally isn't, it would be restricted to Extra Low Voltage, which IIRC is 50V AC or 100 V ripple free DC. Inside an appliance, the rules are different.

One of the US telecom companies tried to get approval for using the standard US mains plug and socket in Europe. The max they could get them certified for in Europe was 2.5A and Extra Low Voltage. So you'll see the safety expectations are different.

Thanks. Now that I know the 'Extra-low voltage' term I found the definition in BS 7671 - 50VAC or 120VDC. Cheers.