CEN and CENELEC have joined forces with fellow quality infrastructure organizations to publish a joint concept note on the European Quality Infrastructure Network. Quality Infrastructure plays a vital role in fostering economic growth, protecting the environment, and supporting social well-being. The collaboration among the contributing organizations is key to its effectiveness.
A robust European Quality Infrastructure (QI) system is essential for a well-functioning Single Market. It facilitates international trade and supports businesses and policymakers navigate evolving challenges and expectations. Thanks to QI, European consumers enjoy high standards of quality, safety, and reliability in products and services.
QI is built on five interconnected pillars: Metrology, Standardization, Accreditation, Conformity Assessment, and Market Surveillance. Each pillar is represented by dedicated organizations that work together to ensure the system runs smoothly:
- Standardization is represented by the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) and the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (CENELEC);
- Metrology is supported by EURAMET (Europe’s Regional Metrology Organization) and WELMEC (the European Cooperation in Legal Metrology);
- Accreditation is covered by the European co-operation for Accreditation (EA);
- Conformity Assessment is represented by EUROLAB;
- Market Surveillance is overseen by PROSAFE, the Product Safety Forum of Europe.
Together, these organizations ensure quality, safety, and environmental protection are upheld throughout Europe. Their cooperation enables safe, reliable products and services, while also fostering innovation and facilitating trade, nationally and internationally alike.
The Role of Standards in Quality Infrastructure
The value of standardization lies in its technical and voluntary nature. Standards are voluntary documents that describe products, services, technologies, or processes for common and repeated use. The public sector, businesses and society all benefit from voluntary and consensus-based standards. By improving product safety and quality, standards build trust between market participants and reduce transaction costs. International standards lower barriers to trade and help businesses create or enter new markets.
Conformity Assessment and Accreditation: Building Confidence
Conformity assessment ensures that products and services meet established requirements – whether defined by law, technical regulations, or standards. It plays a critical role in creating trust between market participants and ensuring consumer safety and environmental protection.
Accreditation adds a further layer of confidence by ensuring that a conformity assessment body (CAB) meets the established requirements, through attestation by a national accreditation body. Due to accreditation, consumers, citizens, and users can have trust in products and services, which have been tested, certified, and verified by conformity assessment bodies.
Metrology and Market Surveillance: Cornerstones of Trust
Accurate and reliable measurement – metrology – is fundamental for quality assurance and lie at the heart of conformity assessment. Developing and improving a country’s measurement capabilities is essential to supporting technological innovation and industrial development.
Equally important is market surveillance, which ensures fair competition and safety. Market surveillance authorities check products to see whether they meet specified requirements under European law. As a result, consumers and workers are protected against unsafe products, and businesses are safe from unfair competition.
The European Quality Infrastructure system is a collective achievement that protects public interests, fosters innovation, and enables a dynamic, fair, and competitive marketplace. Through collaboration and commitment, the organizations behind the concept note affirm their shared responsibility to uphold the highest standards of quality and safety across Europe.
Read the concept note in detail.
