Sharing ambitions for a green, secure and competitive Single Market, CEN, CENELEC and their Danish Member, Danish Standards, welcome the beginning of Denmark’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union. We look forward to working closely together in the second half of 2025. By leveraging the strength of European standardization, we are ready to contribute to the Danish Presidency’s priorities.
There are many important challenges facing Europe right now that the Danish Presidency must address. Under the motto “A strong Europe in a changing world”, the Danish Presidency aims to reinforce the EU’s security, while strengthening its competitiveness.
A significant amount of EU regulation needs to be rethought in order to reduce burdens, strengthen competitiveness, and ensure technological sovereignty. A well-functioning internal market with standards is key to achieving this. Standards contribute to safety, security, and overall confidence.
The Presidency’s programme highlights key strategic areas: environmental sustainability, economic competitiveness, digital transformation, security and defence, and health innovation, driving coherence across EU policy strands, while reducing fragmentation in the Single Market and boosting strategic capacities.
These priorities align closely with the commitment to a robust and competitive Single Market presently set out by CEN and CENELEC in our Declaration. As two of Europe’s official standardization organizations, we believe that standards can both transform and accelerate the EU’s ambitions.
Standards supporting EU policy goals
A clear example of this is energy security – one of the EU’s most pressing challenges. Standards support Europe’s energy transition by helping integrate renewable energy sources and optimize their use, ensure grid interoperability, and maintain a secure supply.
At the same time, standards offer a common language for emerging technologies, driving innovation and European leadership in global markets. As the EU is striving to set the global example on regulating emerging technologies (e.g. Artificial Intelligence, Quantum Computing and Cyber Resilience), it is essential for the competitiveness of Europe to have technology-neutral standards that underpin competition rather than vendor lock in specific technologies. Such standards are produced in European standardization organizations CEN and CENELEC.
At the heart of this system lies the National Delegation Principle, in which European Standards are developed based on the consensus of national experts, nominated by the National Standardization Bodies of the EU and EFTA Member States. This unique system offers democratic and inclusive participation to reflect national priorities and link EU policy at a local level through structured multi-level dialogues.
Denmark is a clear example of this in practice. Its National Standardization Body, Danish Standards, is currently leading important standardization work on two topics of relevance for the whole EU: Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) and Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Danish Standards has led the secretariat developing a technical document (CEN Workshop Agreement) on SAF. With the participation of 42 European stakeholders in aviation fuels and airport logistics, the document will be launched in August 2025. The Workshop Agreement is a deliverable under the EU Horizon2020 project "Alight", which will pave the way for CO2 neutral aviation in 2050 with Copenhagen Airports (CPH) as a beacon.
Danish Standards is providing the secretariat for the production of European standards on Artificial Intelligence. Representatives from more than 20 European countries and from large and small businesses, researchers, consumers, and NGOs collaborate to develop standards that will support the implementation of the AI Act in 2026.
Looking ahead: the next six months
CEN, CENELEC and their National Members in 34 European countries are looking forward to collaborating with the Danish Presidency to achieve Europe’s strategic priorities. A particularly important file during this semester will be the proposal for an Omnibus Regulation on the use of Common Specifications, published by the European Commission, alongside the recent Single Market Strategy.
While we acknowledge the value of fallback solutions in exceptional cases, CEN and CENELEC firmly believe that an overreliance on Common Specifications risks undermining the New Legislative Framework. Harmonized Standards (hENs) have long proven to be the most effective tool to support EU legislation. These standards are developed through a transparent, consensus-based process that actively involves the very stakeholders who will use them, to demonstrate compliance and access to the Single Market.
The use of common specifications should only be considered in narrowly defined and duly justified cases. As the negotiations on the Omnibus Regulation proceed, we look forward to working with the Danish Presidency and policy makers to ensure that the final proposal maintains a balanced approach that preserves the integrity of the European Standardization System and reaffirms hENs as the preferred choice to ensure compliance.
CEN and CENELEC are committed to deepening our dialogue with EU institutions and all relevant stakeholders on how the European Standardization System can continue to adapt to fast-evolving technological and policy needs.
The next six months promise progress towards a greener, more competitive, and secure Europe. By embracing the full potential of European standards, the Danish presidency can lead the way on regulatory simplification and support the presidency’s priorities on industrial innovation. By working together, we can all recommit, transform and strengthen the leadership of the Single Market.
