2 December 2022
The EU Commission welcomes the affiliation of the Ukrainian, Georgian and Moldovan national standardisation bodies to two of the official bodies responsible for developing technical standards in Europe, CEN and CENELEC.
The status of CEN or CENELEC affiliate is available to any national standardisation body of a country formally recognised as candidate or potential candidate for EU membership. It allows the participation of national experts to all European standardisation activities. This will mean progressively higher alignment with European standards and an even better approximation of their national standardisation system with the European one, facilitating harmonisation with the European Single Market.
Executive Vice-President, Valdis Dombrovskis, said:
“Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova are like-minded partners, taking important steps to get closer to the EU and its Single Market. The EU strongly fully supports this ambition. The decision to grant the National Standardisation Bodies of Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova affiliate status is an important step. I am very pleased to see the progress by each of the three countries in implementing their respective Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreements, thereby bringing welcome increases in trade and investment opportunities.”
Commissioner for Internal Market, Thierry Breton, said:
“We welcome CEN and CENELEC’s decision to accept Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova as affiliated members today. Standardisation is at the core of the EU’s Single Market, and highly strategic to the EU’s ambitions in the digital and green transition as well as resilience objectives. Having the three national standardisation bodies of these countries now around the table will allow us to commonly shape the transformation of the European economy through standards.”
This affiliation represents a strong sign in support of Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova, as well as a milestone in the countries’ progressive integration to the Single Market. Harmonised European standards are the silent foundation of the Single Market. Standards demonstrate compliance of products with EU safety rules as well as consumer or environmental requirements. They help reduce costs for manufacturers, anticipate technical requirements and increase productivity.
Here more information on the European Standardisation Strategy.