European Standards ( EN )

European Standards (EN) are documents that have been ratified by one of the 3 European Standards Organizations, CEN, CENELEC or ETSI. They are designed and created by all interested parties through a transparent, open and consensual process.

European Standards are a key component of the Single European Market. Though rather technical and unknown to the general public and media, they represent one of the most important issues for business. Although often perceived as boring and not particularly relevant to some organizations, managers or users, they are actually crucial in facilitating trade and hence have high visibility among manufacturers inside and outside the European territory. A standard represents a model specification, a technical solution against which a market can trade. It codifies best practice and is usually state of the art.

In essence, standards relate to products, services or systems. Now, however, standards are no longer created solely for technical reasons but have also become platforms to enable greater social inclusiveness and engagement with technology, as well as convergence and interoperability within a growing market across industries.