NEWS
Building on the proven success of the previous SESEC phases, the European Commission together with EFTA, CEN, CENELEC, and ETSI are launching a new phase of SESEC, SESEC VI.
Over the last months, ANEC has published several position papers on EU initiatives that will influence consumer policy and product legislation in the coming years.
On 22 October, the ETUC, in partnership with the Irish Confederation of Trade Unions (ICTU) and the National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI), will host a national event on standardization in Dublin.
It has now been confirmed that RISE and SIS will lead a European Working Group, mandated by the European Commission, to develop standards that can reduce the risk of facade-related fire disasters.
On 22–23 September 2025, Timișoara became the hub of European standardization, as ASRO – the Romanian Standards Association –, together with the University of Life Sciences "King Mihai I of Romania", hosted the 10th Balkan Conference on Standardization under the theme “Research & Education – Trigger NextGen Standardization.” The two-day hybrid event gathered representatives from CEN and CENELEC, ETSI, ISO, and the national standardization bodies of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, and Slovenia, along with academic leaders, policymakers, and industry specialists.
At the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) 2025, held in Shanghai on July 26, Dr Sebastian Hallensleben, Chair of CEN-CENELEC JTC 21, delivered a keynote on Europe’s evolving AI standardization landscape. He emphasized the critical role of harmonized standards in supporting the implementation of the EU AI Act, particularly in high-risk applications, and stressed that these standards offer legal certainty for AI developers.
Launched in January 2025, the Shared Digital Infrastructure is a Consortium of interested CEN and CENELEC Members who are offering a platform for all CEN and CENELEC Members to list services offered, wanted ads, and team up on co-development projects. There are already 11 services advertised on the platform.
Launched by Shikha Shahi, DIN Expert and Senior Standards Professional at Microsoft, the Women in ICT Standardization Coffee Chat is a quarterly virtual gathering designed to foster community and inclusion among women working in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) standardization.
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.
September has arrived, and this means that for most of us, the holidays are over: adults are heading back to work, and children are getting ready for a new school year. But behind the excitement of fresh notebooks and new classrooms lies a hidden world that keeps learning safe, comfortable, and fun: European Standards.