Update on CEN and CENELEC’s Decision to Accelerate the Development of Standards for Artificial Intelligence

During the joint meeting of the BT (Technical Boards) between 14–16 October 2025, both CEN and CENELEC adopted an exceptional package of measures to accelerate the delivery of key standards developed under CEN-CLC/JTC 21 “Artificial Intelligence”, and the deliverables requested under Standardization Request M/593 (and its Amendment M/613). 

These measures concern a set of work items that form the technical foundation of the future European standards supporting the AI Act. To ensure these standards are available by Q4 2026, the Boards agreed to: 

• allow, in the case of a positive Enquiry vote, direct publication of the drafts without a separate Formal Vote — a known and fully legitimate procedure, foreseen in the CEN and CENELEC Internal Regulations, Part 2 (Article 11.2); and 

• request CEN-CLC/JTC 21 establish a small drafting group, composed of already-active experts, to finalize six of the most delayed drafts before their submission to the respective Working Groups for information and final comments. 

This exceptional decision, taken in consultation with institutional partners and Annex III organizations, reflects the duty to balance timely delivery with inclusiveness, transparency, and consensus - principles that remain at the heart of European standardization. 

Since its establishment in 2021, CEN-CLC/JTC 21 has gathered the widest participation of stakeholders ever engaged in European AI standardization, including representatives from industry, SMEs, academia, NGOs, and Annex III organizations. Inclusiveness has been a defining feature of this work, further reinforced by the creation of a Task Group on Inclusiveness, which has produced dedicated materials, organized workshops, conducted surveys, and issued regular newsletters to ensure broad and meaningful engagement. 

The newly created drafting group will serve to facilitate the development of the drafts, ensuring their timely technical consolidation, while preserving the open and participatory nature of the process. Each draft will be circulated to the respective Working Groups for information and final comments before being submitted to public Enquiry, following the normal route defined in the CEN and CENELEC Internal Regulations. The Enquiry stage remains open to all national members and stakeholders, ensuring full transparency and inclusiveness. 

In line with the BT decision, if the Enquiry outcome is positive and the Formal Vote is therefore skipped, any comments received during the Enquiry will be addressed in the next version of the standards, in which JTC 21 will begin preparing immediately after publication. 

CEN and CENELEC acknowledge that this is an exceptional and temporary measure, designed to help the European Standardization System respond to the urgent demand for AI standards that will support the effective implementation of the AI Act and ensure that these technical contents fully meet European needs. 

In the coming weeks, further progress will be made, including the launch of the Enquiry for prEN 18286 Quality Management Systems, one of the key deliverables supporting the future conformity-assessment framework under the AI Act. 

For additional information, please contact media@cencenelec.eu.