Every year, the European Union celebrates 9 May as Europe Day. This day marks the Schuman Declaration, which was presented on 9 May 1950 and proposed the creation of a European Coal and Steel Community, precursor to the European Union. Europe Day is also an opportunity to commemorate the historical events that led to the creation of the EU.
With the release of his much-anticipated report on the future of the Single Market, Enrico Letta has provided the opportunity for Europe to reconsider its approach to this cornerstone of the European Union. CEN and CENELEC share the ambition of a revitalised Single Market and are pleased to see the recognition of standardization as a means to realize this goal.
Today, 5 March 2024, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) delivered its judgment in Case C-588/21 P concerning public access to four Harmonized Standards under Regulation 1049/2001.
CEN and CENELEC support the objectives of the revision of the safety of toys Directive (2009/48/EC) and the proposal for a safety of toys Regulation (COM (2023)462) to increase children’s safety and improve protection from harmful chemicals.
On 22 February, Andreea GULACSI, CEN and CENELEC’s Director Policy and External Affairs, discussed how to utilise standards for the future of the Single Market at an exchange of views at the European Parliament with Enrico LETTA, President of the Jacques DELORS Institute and former Prime Minister of Italy.
Brussels welcomed the second meeting of the European Commission’s High-Level Forum on European Standardization (HLF) on 30 November 2023. The gathering brought together high level representatives of government with c-level leaders throughout industry to discuss the future of European standardization.
On 5 July 2023, the European Commission published their proposal for the revision of the Waste Framework Directive, whose primary aim is to update its approach to food and textile waste. In a policy paper written in response to the proposal, CEN and CENELEC welcome the increased focus on these two types of waste and put forward suggestions on how to implement the revision.
On 31 July 2023, the European Commission adopted the Delegated Act on the first set of European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS). CEN and CENELEC welcome its adoption and the recent changes made to include reference to standards developed by CEN, CENELEC, ISO and IEC.
CEN and CENELEC welcome the European Commission‘s proposal for the Critical Raw Materials Act, published 16 March 2023 and the aim to reinforce EU monitoring capacities and strengthen both the EU value chain (through the identification of mineral resources and raw materials projects in the EU's strategic interest, with strong environmental protection) and the EU external policies on CRMs. The CRMA has provided several references to the of use European Standards, how to make the relationship with international standards and what resources can be allocated to support these activities.
CEN and CENELEC have developed a position paper on the proposed Net-Zero Industry Act. This document has been written in response to the consultation launched by the European Commission on 20 March 2023. CEN and CENELEC believe that European standards will be a vital tool to meet the high ambitions of increasing strategic net-zero technology production in Europe set by the Net-Zero Industry Act.