NEWS
On 23 April, we celebrate World Book Day—a moment to appreciate the power of books to transport us to new and exciting worlds. Books allow us to experience different perspectives, broaden our horizons, and often offer a way to escape the real world and find respite in imagined lands. Did you know that numerous standards exist to help make your reading experience seamless, no matter what format you choose to immerse yourself in a story?
CEN and CENELEC, together with their members in 34 European countries, welcome the 21 April judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union in Case C 155/24 (Nederlandse Voedsel- en Warenautoriteit and Others v. Stichting Rookpreventie Jeugd).
CEN and CENELEC warmly welcome the European Commission’s publication of the Annual Union Work Programme 2026 for European Standardization (AUWP 2026), which sets out five key priorities and 43 actions in support of EU policies for competitiveness. This document identifies the strategic direction for European standardization and aligns with the objectives of the Competitiveness Compass.
On 13 April, CEN and CENELEC welcomed Mr El hadji Abdourahmane Ndione, the Director-General of Association Sénégalaise de Normalisation (ASN) and the Chair of ISO DEVCO, to explore areas of shared interest between both organizations.
A new version of EN ISO 14001:2026 ‘Environmental management systems - Requirements with guidance for use’ is now available. EN ISO 14001 is the internationally recognized standard for environmental management systems (EMS). It was drafted by ISO/TC 207/SC 1 ‘Environmental management systems’, in close cooperation with CEN.
CEN, the European Committee for Standardization, and its Member SIS, the Swedish Institute for Standards, are delighted to announce that Ms Ulrika Francke has been elected as the new President of CEN. Ms Francke, who previously served as the first woman President of ISO, is now making history once again as the first woman to become CEN President.
By printing living cells layer by layer, this emerging technology can create biological tissues and could one day enable patient-specific organs that are fully compatible with the body.
Over the last few months, CEN and CENELEC have been reaching out to the European Parliament regarding the drafting of the European Competitiveness Fund (ECF) and the 10th EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (FP10, 2028-2034), the successor to Horizon Europe. Together with national Members, CEN and CENELEC will continue to reach out to the Members of Parliament in the ITRE committee to convince them to build on the European Standardization Strategy and the Guiding Principles of Knowledge Valorisation and Code of Practice on Standardization in the European Research Area (full article here).
A joint online technical exchange between CEN-CLC/JTC 25 'Data management, Dataspaces, Cloud and Edge' and SAC/TC 609 'Data' took place on 20 March. The meeting brought together the leadership of both technical committees, with the participation of CCMC and SESEC expert Dr. Betty Xu, who also contributed to facilitating the discussions.
On 24 March, the European Parliament’s Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee (IMCO) held a Structured Dialogue with EVP Commissioner Séjourné to discuss the barriers preventing full harmonization of the Single Market. During the exchange, standardization was highlighted as one of the “Terrible 10” obstacles, with concerns raised that developing a standard takes, on average, eight years.