CEN and CENELEC strengthen standardization cooperation with Ukraine, Georgia, and Moldova

CEN and CENELEC, two of the official bodies responsible for developing technical standards in Europe, officially approved the three organizations’ application at their General Assembly on 24 November for entry into force on 1^st January 2023.

By becoming Affiliates, DSTU, GEOSTM and ISM are establishing even closer links with the European Standardization System (ESS) and, therefore, with the European Single Market. The status of Affiliate is available to any national standardization organization of a country formally recognised as candidate or potential candidate for EU membership. It aims at a high alignment with European standards and an even closer relation between their standardization system and the European, facilitating harmonisation with the European Single Market. Consequently, in the CEN and CENELEC system, becoming Affiliates is an intermediary step before becoming full members.

The Decision comes on the backdrop of a series of actions undertaken by CEN and CENELEC and their members to show their support to Ukraine. To monitor and coordinate such initiatives – including financial or material support – CEN and CENELEC set up a ‘Conflict Management Network’ (CMN). The objective of the group is to share information on the impact of the EU and other sanctions on standardization-related activities, as well as to coordinate and enable a dynamic exchange on the different initiatives put in place at national level. The CMN meets regularly and includes the participation of DSTU’s leadership.

Up to now, DSTU, GEOSTM and ISM were already linked to CEN and CENELEC as Companion Standardization Bodies (CSBs). This is a status open to all national standardization organizations from third countries interested in achieving technical harmonisation with Europe. CSBs, among other services offered, have full and direct access to European standards and can participate as observers to the work of CEN and CENELEC’s technical bodies.

In 2021, ISM was the national standardization organization which adopted the largest number of deliverables outside of CEN and CENELEC’s membership: 24.910. Furthermore, GEOSTM and DSTU adopted 10.462 and 5.046 deliverables, respectively.

Stefano Calzolari, CEN President and 2022 CEN and CENELEC Presidential Committee Chair, commented: “With these new additions to our extended family, CEN and CENELEC confirm their commitment to strengthening Europe and the European Single Market through standards. More importantly, in the current global context, we are proud to reaffirm the role of the EU in spearheading values of openness, freedom and peace in its neighbourhood and beyond”.