What is a Harmonised Standard?
The European Commission refers to European Standards that are produced by CEN, CENELEC, or ETSI under a mandate given by the European Commission as 'harmonised standards' (hEN). In general, these standards support the essential requirements of the New Approach Directive.
List of Harmonised Standards Please click on 'Subject (short title of directive)' to view the list of titles and references of harmonised standards under the directive.
What are the CEN-CENELEC Products?
The portfolio of documents produced by CEN-CENELEC, known collectively as CEN-CENELEC publications, are as follows:
• European Standards (ENs),
• Technical Specifications (TSs),
• Technical Reports (TRs),
• Guides
• Harmonization Documents (CENELEC only; HDs)
• CEN-CENELEC Workshop Agreements (CWAs).
European Standards and Harmonisation Documents are “regional standards” within the sense of the ISO/IEC definitions.
Are European Standards free of charge?
No, European Standards are the result of extensive efforts performed by the market players who provide the expertise and fund the infrastructure of standardisation in Europe. They represent an exceptional value for the users, who support this work and infrastructure through their purchase.
CEN and CENELEC standards can be purchased from CEN and CENELEC's National Members/National Committees and also form Affiliates for a reasonable fee.
NB: Certain CEN Workshop Agreements are available free of charge under special arrangements, for example, where industry has offset the loss of sales.
Where can I purchase European Standards and draft standards?
CEN and CENELEC do not sell or distribute Standards or any other deliverable (at the exception of some CWAs in the ICT domain).
All European Standards (ENs) and drafts (prENs), as well as Harmonisation Documents (HDs) or any other approved documents (Technical Specifications (TSs), Technical Reports (TRs) and CEN Workshop Agreements (CWAs), can be purchased from:
Where can I access the CEN and CENELEC online catalogues of published standards?
The lists of the entire collections of both published standards and standards under development from CEN and CENELEC are available via the 'Search standards' functions:
Is there copyright on European Standards?
Is certification a CEN or CENELEC activity?
CEN and CENELEC are not certification bodies and therefore certification is not part of their activities.
To receive support in this domain, please contact your National Body/National Committee.
What is CE Marking?
The 'CE marking' (sometimes improperly known as 'CE Mark') represents the declaration that the product conforms to all applicable European legislation.
A useful reference is the European Commission's 'Guide to the implementation of Directives based on the New Approach and Global Approach', more specifically Chapter 7 dedicated to CE Marking, which can be downloaded
here.
CE MARKING IS NOT PART OF CEN or CENELEC ACTIVITIES.
Who can answer my technical question?
Technical questions are the competence of CEN-CENELEC Technical Committees.
However, please note that, as a rule, Technical Committees do not deal directly with questions from private experts.
Your best source for technical question is :
• CEN National Standards Body
• CENELEC National Committee
What is the CEN-CENELEC SME HELPDESK ?
The CEN-CENELEC SME Helpdesk is the one stop service point to introduce SMEs to the benefits of European Standards and to the business tools required to access the European Standardisation System of CEN and CENELEC. More at
http://sme.cencenelec.eu
What is a Notified Body?
A Notified body is a certification body that is designated by the notifying authority of a Member State to carry out the tasks pertaining to the conformity assessment procedures, referred to in the applicable New Approach directives when a third party is required.
What are ICSs numbers ?
Technical standards are classified according to the
International Classification for Standards (ICS). This system classifies standards by industrial sectors and was elaborated by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in order to unify the classification of data about standards throughout the world.
Where do I find EC directives and regulations?
The full text of European Directives, Regulations and other EU legislation can be obtained from
EUR-LEX, where you can find a 'Directory of Community Legislation in Force' and other acts of the European Community institutions.
The texts are also available on paper from sales agents of the
Office for Official Publications of the European Communities (EUR-OP) throughout the world.
What is a Mandate ?
A Mandate is a political request from the European Commission (EC) (and European Free Trade Association (EFTA), agreed upon by the Member States (generally via a decision of the Standing Committee of the Directive 98/34), addressed to CEN or CENELEC, in support of an action from the EC. This can be in support of legislative work such as a directive (some directives, not all, are 'New Approach' Directives), or in support of an industrial policy action from the EC.
Where can I find the text of a specific EC standardisation Mandate ?