A European standard is shaped by those who contribute to its development, and benefits from the systematic participation of a wide cross-section of society who represent different interests and areas of expertise such as SMEs, trade unions, consumer or environmental organizations.
CEN, CENELEC and their Members encourage organizations representing social and environmental sustainability interests to participate actively in the standards development process both at European and national level.
Provide your expert knowledge through your national CEN Member and/or national CENELEC member.
National members allow you to give your views on standards being developed and offer support and training to those who wish to contribute to the development of standards. Draft standards are published for public comment and standards bodies encourage all civil society stakeholders to use this opportunity to help shape the final standard. Contact your national member to find out more on online commenting tools.
In addition to CEN National Standards Bodies and CENELEC National Committees, you can also get in contact with specific national environmental organizations to find out how you can get support in your standardization activity.
For example, the Koordinierungsbüro Normungsarbeit der Umweltverbände (KNU) is an ongoing joint initiative by three leading environmental organizations to facilitate environmental interest representation in standards development in Germany. The UK Sustainability Network for Standardisation (UK SNS) works to facilitate environmental interest representation in the development of British Standards.
Through CEN and CENELEC European partners, which are broad-based European organizations, representing particular sectors of industry, as well as consumers, environmentalists and workers.
In particular, you can obtain valuable information, advice and support from ECOS, the Environmental Coalition on Standards. ECOS engages with the European Standardization Organizations (CEN, CENELEC and ETSI), providing input into European standards. ECOS is recognized by the European Commission and invite collaboration with European and national stakeholders to advance societal and environmental interest representation in standardization. For additional information, please contact ECOS.
Through the International Standards Organization (ISO)
Through the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC)