NEWS
The holiday season is a time of celebration, generosity, and togetherness. Homes are filled with festive lights, carefully wrapped gifts, and tables laden with seasonal treats. Behind this familiar Christmas magic, however, lies an invisible but essential framework that helps ensure safety, quality, and sustainability: European Standards.
A high-level Vietnamese delegation carried out a week-long study visit to Brussels and Luxembourg from 8 to 12 December. The mission, joined by representatives of the EU Delegation to Vietnam, aimed to deepen their understanding on the legal framework for the railway sector in Europe and the role of CEN and CENELEC standards in particular, in view of the modernization of the Vietnamese railways.
On 12 November 2025, over 100 stakeholders from industry, standardization bodies, research organizations and EU institutions gathered for the RISERS Plenary on Industrial Symbiosis (IS). Co-organized by CEN and CENELEC with RISERS partners at the EIT House in Brussels, it marked an important step toward developing a European Standardization Roadmap for Industrial Symbiosis.
The European Commission has launched the second edition of the European Standardisation Panel Survey. A key initiative designed to gather comprehensive input from industry and other stakeholders on their standardization needs, supporting innovation and strengthening Europe’s global competitiveness.
On 13 November, CEN and CENELEC revealed the winners of this year’s Standards+Innovation awards at the European Commission’s flagship event titled “From knowledge to impact: Shaping Europe’s next innovation wave”.
Three selected Experts – Ms. Adaora Ikenze (Nigeria), Mr. Matano Ndaro (Kenya), and Mr. Cristhian Lizcano (Colombia) – have been in Europe for two weeks of training and high-level engagements under the Global Partnership for Human-Centric ICT Standardization (GIST) project.
On 17 November 2025, CEN and CENELEC, joined by the Annex III organizations: ANEC, ECOS, ETUC and SBS, hosted a high-level event in Brussels, bringing together key stakeholders to discuss the future of European Standardization. The dialogue focused on an inclusive standardization system, considering the pivotal legislative developments currently taking place, e.g. the Omnibus Regulation, the revision of the Standardization Regulation and the New Legislative Framework (see Policy - CEN-CENELEC).
The European space sector is undergoing rapid expansion driven by increasing demand for space-based data and services. To support a competitive and innovative internal market, the European Commission proposed an EU Space Act. The initiative aims to harmonize rules for space operators, improve space object tracking, strengthen cybersecurity, and establish a common method for assessing environmental impacts, ensuring legal certainty and safeguarding the long-term use of space.
As part of a longstanding dialogue on transatlantic cooperation in standardization, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and the European Standards Organizations (ESOs) – CEN, CENELEC, and ETSI – met on 10 and 11 November 2025 at ANSI’s headquarters in Washington, DC to exchange on the latest standardization developments in Europe and in the United States. Representatives from the US government and their European counterparts joined the discussions between standardizers.
Following the publication of their Position Paper on the 10th EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (FP10) in January 2025 (here), CEN and CENELEC have now submitted their feedback to the European Commission’s legislative package for FP10 and the new European Competitiveness Fund (ECF).