NEWS
European Commission’s Omnibus Directive ‘Aligning product legislation with the digital age’ proposes uniform alternative options to give businesses legal certainty regarding compliance with EU rules, where harmonized standards do not exist or are not available.
CEN and CENELEC support the European Commission’s efforts to harmonize criteria for issuing common specifications. However, it is critical that the process is done in a way that ensures the involvement of a broad range of stakeholders, from societal stakeholders to Member States and industry as they are the actors who will later enforce and follow specifications to gain access to the internal market.
Following the 2022 evaluation of the New Legislative Framework (NLF), the NLF, though a cornerstone of EU product legislation harmonization, was found to require modernization for the digital age and support European circular economy objectives. The 2025 Single Market Strategy further confirmed the need for this revision, alongside other legislative initiatives relating to Single Market Policy, including the standardization regulation and the Fourth Package of the Omnibus, on aligning product legislation with the digital age. During this revision, it is essential that these reviews are coordinated to ensure consistency, synergy, and simplification across the EU’s regulatory product framework.
The call for nominations to the 7th edition of the Standards+Innovation Awards is now open and includes the biannual award for technical body officers as well as a new category for education professionals.
With the launch of the first Standards+Innovation Awards, CEN, CENELEC and their members took important steps towards giving researchers well-deserved recognition for their contribution to standardization. However, there can be no research in standardization without education in standardization. Education in standardization based on European values also reinforces Europe’s capacity to contribute to international standardization activities. With the new award category dedicated to education, CEN and CENELEC address the need for education and skills identified in the EU Standardization Strategy released in 2022 and the Code of Practice on standardization published in 2023.
Are you a standard user looking for clearer, more user-friendly standards? Do you draft standards but want the process to be more efficient and modern? SMART standards are here to help.
The implementation of the AI Act depends on a strong foundation of European standards and best practices – developed collaboratively by industry, public authorities, consumer representatives, researchers, and other stakeholders.
Inclusiveness and Diversity are core values of the CEN and CENELEC system and are essential to developing standards that equally benefit everyone. On International Women’s Day, CEN and CENELEC are happy to join the celebrations and highlight our efforts to achieve full gender equality and support women everywhere.
The 6th edition of the CEN and CENELEC Standards+Innovation Awards was presented on 10 December 2024 as part of the annual EU flagship event on knowledge valorisation.
Who will win this year’s Standards+Innovation Awards? Join us at the annual EU flagship knowledge valorisation event to find out.
Guide 17 is an important CEN and CENELEC document that aims to raise awareness on the issues that are important to SMEs in the development of standards. For World Standards Day on 14 October 2024, CEN and CENELEC, together with SBS, the European association representing SMEs in standardization, produced a video to facilitate the participation of SMEs in standardization by promoting Guide 17.