Annual Report 2024

Welcome to CEN and CENELEC Annual Report 2024!

2024 was a year of transition and renewal for Europe, shaped by the European elections and the arrival of new institutions. In this pivotal context, CEN and CENELEC reaffirmed their commitment to a strong and resilient European Standardization System. Through the publication of our Declaration for the New Legislative Cycle, we engaged proactively with policymakers to highlight the strategic role of standards in strengthening the Single Market and supporting Europe’s competitiveness.

Throughout the year, we advanced key priorities across sustainability, digitalization, innovation, and global collaboration. We made significant strides in critical areas such as Artificial Intelligence, Cyber Resilience, Quantum Technologies, and Data Management, supporting the twin green and digital transitions at the core of Europe’s strategic agenda. Our work in sustainable construction, the circular economy, and corporate sustainability reporting continues to empower industries to lead the change towards a more sustainable future.

2024 was also marked by the steady work of the High-Level Forum on Standardization, which remains a key platform to align standardization efforts with European policy goals. At the same time, we strengthened CEN and CENELEC’s contribution to the innovation ecosystem: from participating in Horizon Europe and Digital Europe projects to fostering knowledge valorization through initiatives such as the Standards+Innovation Awards.

Recognizing the need to adapt to a changing world, we successfully concluded a comprehensive review of our governance framework. These reforms make our system more agile and resilient, ensuring that European standardization is ready to meet the challenges and opportunities of the future.

This Annual Report highlights these and many other achievements. It also reflects the collective effort of our members, experts, partners, and stakeholders. Together, we have navigated a challenging year with determination and collaboration, reinforcing the role of standards as drivers of trust, innovation, and sustainability.

We invite you to explore the CEN and CENELEC Annual Report 2024 and celebrate these accomplishments with us.

Enjoy the reading!

European Standards for a Sustainable EU 

From forums on the circular design of fishing gear to crucial discussions on sustainable cement, 2024 was a year of advancing sustainability goals.

Many standardization activities focused on how we can make the most out of our current resources and produce goods and services that can be used and reused in the ongoing transition towards a circular economy. 

Ecodesign

In the area of Ecodesign, CEN and CENELEC's JTC 10 published EN 45560 'Method to achieve circular designs of products'. Applying circular business models marks an important step forward in reducing the environmental impact of products while ensuring their functionality and safety. Other standardization deliverables focused on measuring the performance of household appliances under the purview of CLC/TC 59X, with several publications supporting the work at international level. Important work was also done by the relatively new CEN/TC 473 'Circular Economy', which worked hard to integrate international standards, such as ISO 59010 and ISO 59004, into the European standardization landscape, as well as address specific European prerequisites, legislation, and policy for Circular Economy. 

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Sustainability of Construction Works

A lot of new work was started in CEN/TC 350 'Sustainability of construction works'. This committee is responsible for the development of horizontal standardized methods for assessing the sustainability aspects of new and existing construction works (buildings and civil engineering works) in the context of the UN Sustainable Development Goals and circular economy. Standard projects have been initiated and further developed in the following areas: Environmental product declarations, Assessment of environmental performance of buildings, Circular economy in the construction sector, and Horizontal requirements for circular design of construction works and construction products.

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ESG

The year 2024 marked the entry into force of new rules for companies subject to the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). This Directive mandates reporting obligations on the environmental, social and governance (ESG) aspects of an organization. In light of this, CEN and CENELEC published an important brochure outlining how organizations can use technical standards to align with their corporate sustainability reporting.

Digital Product Passport

The EU’s Digital Product Passport (DPP) is a crucial digital policy tool as it enables sustainability rules to be followed and facilitates participation in the circular economy. In 2024, CEN and CENELEC's JTC 24 started to develop standards in response to a Standardization Request on the European DPP initiative, which falls under the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation.

Alternative Fuel Infrastructure

The key role of standards in creating a sustainable future was championed by the Stakeholder Workshop “Navigating the Transition: Standards Powering the Journey of Alternative Fuel Infrastructure”, held in April 2024. This high-level event encompassed engaging talks about the energy transition in the context of the European path to sustainable transport, and it involved the aviation industry, maritime and fuel adaptation and railways. 

Nature-based Solution

As another step towards the sustainable use and management of natural resources, CEN/TC 465 'Sustainable Cities and Communities' started working on prEN 18140, a standard about the vocabulary and principles of nature-based solutions. 

EU Policy and Standardization

A busy year for European Policy, 2024 revolved around the European Elections, leading to a new European Parliament elected in June and a new European Commission College taking office in December 2024. 

Recognizing the importance of this moment, CEN and CENELEC published a Declaration for the New Legislative Cycle: “A Strong Single Market needs a Strong European Standardization System”.

This outlined CEN and CENELEC’s political vision for the new mandate related to standardization and was promoted through a number of activities. The promotion included a social media campaign, a collaboration to produce news articles with Euractiv and an outreach week in Strasbourg during the September plenary.

Another key policy priority of CEN and CENELEC in 2024 was contributing to the Evaluation of Regulation 1025/2012. The European Policy Hub (EPH) prepared the response to the questionnaire for the evaluation of Regulation 1025/2012 and a position paper expanding on CEN and CENELEC’s answers to the questionnaire. This was done alongside direct engagement with the consultancy carrying out the evaluation through bilateral stakeholder interviews.

Beyond these priorities, CEN and CENELEC participated in many other policy initiatives, such as providing input for Enrico Letta’s Single Market report, speaking at various policy events, and creating closer links with the Council of the European Union through the Belgian and Hungarian Presidencies.

The High-Level Forum on Standardization was also very active throughout the year, publishing reports from many of the workstreams as well as hosting several events, such as the joint CEN, CENELEC and Workstream 9 workshop on “Green Electricity Systems: End-to-End Solutions Leveraging Standards for Efficiency”.

Building an Open, Inclusive System

Ensuring the widest participation of stakeholders in standardization is key to the high quality of our standards and the legitimacy of our system.

For this reason, over the years we have established a series of cooperation formats with a variety of partners from industry and civil society.

Societal Stakeholders

In 2024, CEN, CENELEC and the Annex III organizations continued to advance the Joint Action Plan aimed at strengthening the inclusiveness and effective participation of SMEs and Societal stakeholders - representing consumers, workers and environmental interests - within the European Standardization System. More specifically, the efforts concentrated on two main priorities: enabling quick solutions to facilitate the participation of Annex III organizations in relevant technical committees, and active support by CEN and CENELEC to assist Annex III organizations in establishing liaisons with ISO and IEC technical committees.

These efforts were carried out in parallel with the ongoing work of the CEN and CENELEC Presidential Committee Working Groups on SMEs and Societal Stakeholders and in collaboration with CEN and CENELEC Partners and other stakeholders in the framework of the High-Level Forum.

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Industry Advisory Forum

In 2024, the Industry Advisory Forum (IAF) successfully concluded its second mandate, deepening industry engagement on how standardization can support Europe's strategic priorities. The Forum provided input on circularity standards and related product data standards, explored the role of ICT services in enabling the green transition, and contributed insights on the global impact of standards in the context of the EU’s industrial strategy. It also addressed the need to engage the next generation through its work on Young Professionals in the European Standardization System (ESS).

In addition, the IAF contributed to key policy processes, including the consultation on the Single Market Programme, the CEN and CENELEC Declaration, and the consultation on the evaluation of Regulation 1025/2012. The Forum’s final recommendations were submitted to the CEN and CENELEC Presidential Committee, and preparations for the third mandate were launched in late 2024.

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Stakeholder Engagement Workshops

CEN and CENELEC regularly organize high-level Stakeholder Engagement Workshops to connect with all relevant parties on emerging strategic issues and identify suitable standardization solutions.

In 2024, as part of this series, we hosted the workshop'Navigating the Transition: Standards Powering the Journey of Alternative Fuel Infrastructure'' (see above for more information).

Other Events and Trainings

In 2024, we organized a variety of events on relevant standardization issues, which attracted a significant number of participants. Among them:

• The 8th Cybersecurity Standardization Conference (co-hosted with ETSI and ENISA) attracted over 2.000 attendees (online and on-site) from the EU and from around the world.
• The seminar 'European Harmonized Standards: A Journey from Legal Framework to Citation in the Official Journal of the European Union' focused on four sectors with the highest impact on industry and SMEs: Machinery, Health, Low Voltage, and Electromagnetic Compatibility.
• The 6th edition of the Standards + Innovation Awards was part of DG RTD's flagship event on knowledge valorisation, giving out awards in three categories. 

List of events and trainings 

Engaging with like-minded International Partners

CEN and CENELEC drive Europe’s influence through a dynamic network of international partnerships with national and regional standardization bodies. By collaborating with like-minded partners on shared standards, we create a common language that bridges gaps between nations, industries, and technologies.

CEN and CENELEC promote the adoption of European and international standards to facilitate greater global alignment and harmonization across countries.

Allowing foreign National Standardization Bodies (NSBs) and National Electrotechnical Committees (NCs) to use CEN and CENELEC homegrown standards, under agreed terms, helps smoother international trade, reduces technical barriers, and promotes the adoption of European best practices worldwide. Such adoptions not only enhance the global competitiveness of European businesses but also foster mutual technical understanding in key areas, such as innovation, sustainability, and safety.

Our activities in 2024 targeted different groups of international partners and projects:

Affiliates

Affiliates are NSBs and NCs from countries aspiring to gain EU Membership. By adopting European Standards, they enhance technical harmonization and contribute to the EU's regulatory framework. This proactive engagement not only supports their accession process but also strengthens ties between the EU and its neighbouring regions.

To date, the 6 Affiliates of CEN and CENELEC are DPS (Albania), ISBIH (Bosnia and Herzegovina), GEOSTM (Georgia), ISM (Moldova), ISME (Montenegro) and SE UkrNDNC (Ukraine). They have adopted a total of 203.636 CEN and CENELEC deliverables, which include European Standards (ENs), Technical Specifications (TSs), Technical Reports (TRs), Workshop Agreements (CWAs), and Guides. In 2024 alone, the Affiliates notified 13.994 new adoptions of CEN-CENELEC deliverables.

The 6 CEN and CENELEC Affiliates adopted many ENs because one of the requirements of the ‘Acquis Communautaire’ is that their national standardization bodies become Members of CEN and CENELEC. One of the criteria for a NSB/NC to become a CEN and CENELEC Member is that the NSB/NC has to adopt at least 80% of CEN and CENELEC active standards.

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Companion Standardization Body

The Companion Standardization Body (CSB) status is available to all NSBs/NCs that do not qualify to become Members or Affiliates and which seek a privileged relationship with CEN and/or CENELEC. Amongst the services offered, CSBs have full and direct access to European standards and can participate as observers in the work of CEN and CENELEC technical bodies.

To date, CEN has 16 CSBs and CENELEC has 8 CSBs, mostly including countries from the EU Neighbourhood Policy, as well as standards bodies from Australia, Cameroon, Canada, Kazakhstan, Ivory Coast, Mongolia, and Nigeria. At the end of 2024, CEN and CENELEC CSBs had adopted 164 new deliverables, which brings the total to 16.706 deliverables over the years.

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Others

Foreign NSBs, other than Affiliates and CSBs, adopted a total of 6.291 CEN-CENELEC deliverables, 99 of them in 2024.

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Foreign partners (all categories included) are in the process of assessing 1.329 deliverables in view of possible adoptions in the next years.

International Projects

In addition to the long-standing international initiatives in India and China, SESEC (Seconded European Standardization Expert in China) and SESEI (Seconded European Standardization Expert in India, which entered into its sixth phase in 2024), CEN and CENELEC signed a similar project in December 2024: the Global Partnership for Human-Centric ICT Standardization (GIST). It is a European-led initiative aimed at strengthening international collaboration in ICT standards by offering a European human-centric approach. Coordinated by CEN, CENELEC, and ETSI, GIST will deploy seconded experts in Kenya, Nigeria, Tunisia (duo with Egypt), Colombia, and Indonesia (duo with the Philippines) to promote European standardization practices and values.

As the digital economy reshapes global industries, InDiCo-Global (2024–2026) builds on the success of its predecessor to foster strategic cooperation on digital policy and ICT standards. This Horizon Europe project connects international tech communities and policymakers, supporting global convergence on key digital technologies.

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Standardization Activities

In 2024, CEN and CENELEC developed a total of 1506 new standardization deliverables, across 22 business sectors. The slideshow on the right gives a graphic overview of the variety of this standardization activity.

Every box represents one business sector, the numbers indicate the amount of new standards developed in 2024 in each one of them, and additional information on is available by clicking on the hyperlinks.  

Standardization Activities in 2024