Standards underpin global trading models, acting as a common language of communities of actors agreeing with one another through consensus on how to behave.

Standards create markets, support global competitiveness, overcome technical barriers to trade and foster market access. Standards can lift the research and innovation outcomes and take them right ahead of the curve into the work of making markets before they exist, ahead of their material existence in the world.

Partnership frameworks

CEN and CENELEC have established partnerships with many standardization bodies outside Europe. These partnerships vary according to the specific interests and cooperation needs of each partner and the engagement is through a defined cooperation framework:

• Affiliate status for national standards bodies from countries which are candidates for EU membership,in order to align these Affiliates with the European Standardization System and prepare them for CEN and CENELEC membership
• Companion Standardization Body (CSB) status for national standards bodies which have direct access to the European Standards catalogue, for adoption or for review by their technical bodies, and to our network of standards developing bodies.
• Memoranda of Understanding with regional standardization organizations
• Cooperation Agreements with national standardization bodies

CEN and CENELEC are also partners in two projects that maintain standardization experts in India and China. More information on Visibility Projects.