NEWS
"Women, come forward - together we can achieve great things!". This is what Elisabeth Mertl, expert at Austrian Standards in the Medical Technology Committee, says in her video statement on why she is involved in standardization.
On 22 March 2023, SIST, the Slovenian Institute for Standardization, hosted an event on Regulations and Standards attended by 30 students from a local High School. During a three-hour programme, SIST presented standardization through interesting videos and learning materials on standards related to the school environment and free time activities, and involved the students to actively contribute to the topic preparing interactive lectures and a workshop.
The so-called European CSRD Directive (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive 2022/2464) has a significant impact on every business. It foresees the obligation to draw up a Sustainability Statement on their social and environmental impact for all companies whose securities are traded in regulated markets. Consequently, this requirement is not limited to large companies, but it also includes many SMEs (with the sole exception of micro-enterprises).
Last year, the European Parliament voted overwhelmingly in favour of a resolution calling on the Commission to “propose a common legal framework to ensure fair remuneration for traineeships and apprenticeships in order to avoid exploitative practices”, following a campaign by the ETUC Youth Committee (see ETUC press release of 10 November 2022). The issue of internships is now on the European Commission’s Work Programme for 2023.
In February, ANEC sent a Favourable Opinion to CEN on the proposed adoption of FprEN 1466 ‘Child care articles - Carry cots and stands for domestic use - Safety requirements and test methods’, currently under approval. The ballot closed on 9 March, with all votes cast in favour.
The new issue of the CEN-CENELEC newsletter 'On The Spot' is out now!
Small Business Standards (SBS) published a guide on blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) to raise SMEs’ awareness and assist them in mastering the use of blockchain technology.
ANEC was delighted to provide several suggestions for improving the Draft Report on a Standardization Strategy for the Single Market (2022/2058(INI)) from the European Parliament Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection, presented by the Rapporteur MEP Adam Bielan.
On 1 February, Austrian Standards (ASI) organised a roundtable on the topic of photovoltaics. The event saw the participation of more than 50 people, from organizations such as OVE (Austrian Association for Electrical Engineering), the City of Vienna, Flughafen Wien AG and Wiener Stadthalle. During the discussion, participants shared their visions for the future, together with best practices from the still young operation of large-scale photovoltaic plants.
In an important recent development for the organization, UNI (the Italian Standardization Association) has distributed its new job system to the staff. The job system is a document that, for each role, details its content, analyzes the areas of responsibility, and formalises the missions, the main activities, knowledge and skills necessary through accurate job descriptions.