EUROPEAN STANDARDS

European standards are technical specifications adopted by the European Committee for Standardisation (CEN).

Every Member State of the European Union is represented on CEN, through its national standards organisation, as are the EFTA countries.

In the United Kingdom, the national standards body is the British Standards Institution (BSI) and it is through BSI Technical Committees that the United Kingdom contributes to the development of standards within CEN.

Industry and many other interested parties are involved in the development of European standards. Any competent body, organisation or manufacturer, through its national standards body, may initiate and submit a standard (or amendment) to CEN for any item which is not already covered by a standard. CEN will then consider the proposal with a view to its possible adoption as a harmonised European standard. Following committee discussions, public enquiry and finally Formal Vote and publication in the Official Journal, the new harmonised European standard would be transposed into a national standard.

Member States are obliged to publish the harmonised European standards for the information of their manufacturers, Notified Bodies, users, test houses, safety organisations etc. In the United Kingdom, publication is announced in the London, Edinburgh and Belfast Gazettes and is also likely to appear in BSI News and Business Briefing which are published monthly by the British Standards Institution and the Association of British Chambers of Commerce, respectively.

Over 100 European Standards (ENs) for PPE have so far been published by CEN, under mandates from the European Commission. Many more European Standards will be published in the next few years. All published ENs are implemented in the UK as BS ENs.

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