Annual Report 2025

Welcome to the CEN and CENELEC Annual Report 2025!

In 2025, European standardization played a key role as Europe navigated rapid technological developments, ongoing challenges, and a shifting global landscape. In this evolving context, CEN and CENELEC supported the use of standards to promote trust, innovation, and competitiveness across the Single Market.

Throughout the year, we contributed to Europe’s competitiveness and sovereignty by supporting the implementation of strategic priorities. This included advancing major policy initiatives, such as the European Commission’s Competitiveness Compass, through standards in critical areas like Artificial Intelligence, cyber resilience and Quantum Technologies. These activities helped build trust in emerging technologies and reinforce Europe’s industrial leadership.

In parallel, we supported Europe’s sustainability objectives across strategic sectors, including climate adaptation, industrial decarbonization, hydrogen value chains, sustainable energy systems and the development of the Digital Product Passport. Through this work, standards continued to serve as practical tools enabling the transition to a more sustainable economy.

At the same time, we strengthened our engagement with Europe’s research and innovation ecosystem to support the uptake of new ideas. Through collaboration with academia and research projects, including initiatives such as Stan4SWAP and RISERS, we enabled the translation of research into market-relevant applications across Europe.

Maintaining an open and inclusive system remained a core priority. In 2025, we further advanced the engagement of SMEs and societal stakeholders, notably through the continued contribution of Annex III organizations. Progress on gender-responsive standards also marked an important step, moving from awareness to implementation across our activities.

Internally, 2025 marked a key moment for reflection and transformation. At the midpoint of Strategy 2030, we reviewed our priorities to ensure the system continues to deliver value in a changing environment, with particular attention to digitalization and agility.

Alongside these developments, 2025 was also an important year for the European policy framework shaping our system. In particular, the upcoming revision of Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012 represents an important opportunity to further strengthen the European Standardization System. CEN and CENELEC contributed through consultations, stakeholder engagement and advocacy activities, helping to ensure that the perspective of the standardization community is reflected in the future framework.

This Annual Report reflects these developments and the commitment of our Members, experts and partners. Together, we continue to contribute to a stronger, more resilient and competitive Europe.

We hope this report provides a useful overview of our activities and achievements in 2025. 

Enjoy the reading!

Adaptation to climate change

The increasing impacts of climate change require not only mitigation efforts but also robust adaptation strategies. Extreme weather events, rising temperatures, and ecosystem disruptions highlight the need for proactive standardization measures to strengthen resilience. In line with the EU Strategy on Adaptation to Climate Change, the CEN-CENELEC Coordination Group 'Adaptation to Climate Change' works to ensure that European standards integrate climate resilience considerations. Its key objectives include raising awareness among stakeholders about the importance of climate resilience in standardization, promoting adaptation measures within standardization processes, building the capacity of Technical Committees to incorporate adaptation strategies, integrating future climate data into standards to reflect projected climate conditions, and fostering collaboration and knowledge sharing among standardization bodies, policymakers, and climate scientists. Additionally, the CEN-CENELEC Strategic Advisory Group 'Action Plan on Climate Change', created in 2025, works on ambitious but practical solutions to further embed climate adaptation and mitigation measures into the overall standardization process.

In 2025, CEN and CENELEC accepted the Standardization Request M/617 ‘Climate adaptation’, addressing seven CEN and CENELEC Technical Committees (TCs) working on standards for critical infrastructure with a lifetime of more than 30 years. The TCs are asked to review their standards portfolio and determine whether climate adaptation is sufficiently addressed and future-proof to withstand extreme climate events. In addition, M/617 requests CEN/TC 467 'Climate change' to draft standardization deliverables covering Climate Services, a complex concept to streamline the selection and integration of several types of data and knowledge. At the end of 2025, CEN/TC 467 published EN 18074 ‘Industrial decarbonization – Requirements and guidelines for sectoral transition plans’. This standard provides an important contribution towards efficient and effective industrial decarbonization measures by guiding standards users while drafting their transition plan. CEN and ISO started working jointly on the revision of EN ISO 14050 ‘Environmental management – Vocabulary’ in 2025 and updated the terms and definitions used in the widely popular ‘Environmental management’ standard series.

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Powering the All-Electric Transition

Supporting the Digital Transition to an All-Electric Society (CEN-CENELEC-ETSI Coordination Group on the All-Electric Society – COG AES)

COG AES coordinates cross-sectoral European standardization supporting the transition to a climate-neutral, digital, and All-Electric Society. It promotes interoperable standards enabling electrification, renewable energy integration, smart energy systems, and sector coupling across transport, buildings, industry, and infrastructure.

The group supports the development of smart grids and digital energy infrastructures integrating renewable generation, electric vehicles, heat pumps, energy storage, and active consumers. Its work contributes to flexibility, system stability, efficient energy management, and interoperability across electricity, gas, thermal energy, and water systems.

COG AES facilitates cooperation between CEN, CENELEC, and ETSI technical bodies, ensuring coordinated standardization activities linked to decarbonization and the digital transformation of the energy system. Key areas include smart metering, aggregation, balancing mechanisms, demand-response solutions, and energy storage.

The group also contributes to European policy initiatives, including the European Commission’s High-Level Forum Workstream 9 on Green Electricity, and cooperates with the Smart Energy Expert Group (SEEG) on smart and sustainable energy solutions.

COG AES supports the development of a resilient, flexible, and interoperable European energy system accelerating the transition toward an All-Electric Society.

Standards in line with sustainable, renewable, and green energy production are drafted in several technical committees, including CLC/TC 82 'Solar photovoltaic energy systems' and CLC/TC 88 'Wind turbines'.

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Scaling Hydrogen Across the Value Chain

In the framework of the ongoing European energy transition, hydrogen is considered as an important solution to decarbonize several sectors, such as transportation, industry, building or energy. Hydrogen being a cross-sectoral topic, it involves over 50 CEN and CENELEC Technical Committees that cover the complete gas value chain, from production, storage, transmission & distribution to the different end uses.

In 2025, CEN and CENELEC engaged in overseeing nearly every aspect of the hydrogen value chain and identify which standardization content is already available for the market, what is currently under development, what still needs to be initiated, and what pre-normative knowledge is necessary to develop for this purpose. To perform such analysis, CEN and CENELEC took the European Clean Hydrogen Alliance (ECH2A) Roadmap on Hydrogen Standardization as a reference and generated the first Hydrogen Standardization Landscape in June 2025. 

Standardization work is ongoing at different levels to speed up the development of this broad sector and will continue beyond 2025. Indeed, CEN and CENELEC have been providing European Union authorities with technical support in view to receive Standardization Requests, starting with the quality of hydrogen, which is a transverse and crucial element for all stakeholders along the value chain. In 2025, CEN and CENELEC were active in developing technical pre-normative content on safety and operational aspects, with the financial support of the European Union.

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Enabling the Digital Product Passport

The EU’s Digital Product Passport (DPP) is the cornerstone for the implementation of sustainability and circularity on the European Single Market. In 2025, CEN and CENELEC’s JTC 24 continued the development of standards in response to a Standardization Request from the European Union supporting the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR). The priority was put on the development of a set of eight standards describing the technical framework to build and operate the DPPs.

The CEN and CENELEC DPP standards have been drafted to answer to the ESPR requirements, but not only. CEN and CENELEC’s JTC 24 developed a transverse approach to ensure that other recent European legislations (Battery Regulation, Toys Regulation, Construction Products Regulation, and so on) also requiring the use of a DPP can also benefit from the work done to speed-up the deployment of such a powerful tool across the whole industry.

Given the European Union's role of first mover in the domain, and its ambitious objectives, speed is a core aspect of the implementation of sustainability and circularity in the EU. Collecting product data is known to be an expensive and time-consuming activity, and a lot of datasets already exist around the world. That is why interoperability among existing and future DPPs was considered essential and is implemented in the CEN and CENELEC JTC 24 standards to be published in 2026.

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Shaping Europe’s Standardization Framework

In 2025, CEN and CENELEC’s European policy work was strongly focused on the upcoming revision of Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012, announced in the communication on the ‘The Single Market: our European home market in an uncertain world’.

CEN and CENELEC ensured active support to the European Commission impact assessment by providing requested input to consultations, as well as engaging in bilateral interviews and responses to targeted questionnaires.

Shaping the Future of European Standardization

The revision of the Standardization Regulation is part of a broader legislative effort, alongside the revision of the Market Surveillance Regulation and the New Legislative Framework. These initiatives form the European Product Act (EPA) package, aimed at modernizing product safety rules and strengthening the three fundamental pillars of the Single Market, with the first legislative proposals expected in the third quarter of 2026 and a final agreement anticipated by the end of 2027.

Against this backdrop, the revision of Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012 represents a critical opportunity to shape the future of the European Standardization System (ESS). CEN and CENELEC have therefore actively promoted our vision for the ESS through a series of advocacy actions. These included the campaign 'Shaping the Future: A New Era for European Standardization', which featured targeted messaging to the EPA, an advertising campaign in Brussels, a policy event hosted by Euractiv on the role of standards in the Single Market, and a joint event with Annex III organizations with a keynote speech from MEP Anna Cavazzini “Setting the Standard: Strategic Dialogue for an Inclusive European Standardization System”.

Beyond these priorities, CEN and CENELEC contributed to a wide range of additional policy initiatives and consultations (see position papers here). This included participation in policy events, such as the European Internet Forum breakfast debate hosted by MEP Angelika Niebler, and further reinforcing relations with the Council of the European Union, notably during the Polish and Danish Presidencies.

The High-Level Forum on Standardization remained highly active throughout the year, with the publication of reports from several of the workstreams and continued engagement by CEN and CENELEC across its activities in different capacities and roles.

Strengthening Europe’s Quality Infrastructure

The European Quality Infrastructure Network (EQUIN) was created in 2024 to position Europe's Quality Infrastructure (QI) system as a single, coherent, and essential strategic tool for a well-functioning European Single Market.

All pillars of quality infrastructure are represented: metrology (EURAMET), standardization (CEN and CENELEC), legal metrology (WELMEC), accreditation (EA), market surveillance (PROSAFE), and conformity assessment (EUROLAB).  

In May 2025, CEN and CENELEC joined forces with fellow EQUIN members to publish a joint QI Concept Note on the European Quality Infrastructure Network. 

In December 2025, Dr. Scott Steedman (BSI) was appointed Chair of EQUIN until December 2027, and Iuliana Chilea (CEN VP Technical) was chosen to be the CEN-CENELEC representative to the network.

Bringing Innovation Closer to the Market

Improving the exchange between standardization and research and helping innovations access the market are among the most relevant long-term priorities for CEN and CENELEC.

Shaping the EU Research agenda

In 2025, CEN and CENELEC continued to shape the EU research and innovation agenda through close engagement with the European Commission & Parliament, notably by submitting targeted amendments to the legislative proposals for the future Framework Programme (FP10) and the European Competitiveness Fund. These amendments build on earlier strategic positions by reinforcing the integration of standardization across the full research and innovation lifecycle, including dissemination, valorisation and impact pathways, and by recognizing European Standardization Organizations as key actors in innovation ecosystems. Complementary contributions also supported the future EU Innovation Act and the European Research Area (ERA) Act, with the aim of strengthening Europe’s innovation landscape, reducing fragmentation, and improving knowledge sharing and competitiveness. Regarding the European Commission’s initiative to develop a strategy for Artificial Intelligence (AI) in science, CEN and CENELEC promoted the responsible and effective use of AI technologies in scientific research. Additionally, CEN and CENELEC provided feedback to the consultation on Science Diplomacy for the consideration of standardization activities as valuable contributions.

Integrating standardization in research projects

4 Horizon Europe projects, in which CEN and/or CENELEC participate as project beneficiary, continued in 2025. Project activities include the development of standardization roadmaps in innovative areas, the promotion of the European Standardization System in target regions outside Europe, as well as education about standardization to attract a future generation of standards makers. The Stan4SWAP project was successfully concluded in November 2025, with the delivery of a Standardization Roadmap for Swappable Battery Systems for light-category EVs. The project's focus on stakeholder engagement led to the creation of CEN/TC 301/WG 19.

Strengthening engagement with the R&I community

The Putting Science into Standards (PSIS) workshop, the annual foresight initiative in collaboration with JRC, took place on 21-22 October 2025 on ‘3D bioprinting: towards standards in biomedicine’. The PSIS initiative aims to bring together stakeholders from research, industry, and the standardization community to facilitate the identification of emerging science and technology areas that could benefit from standardization activities to enable innovation and promote industrial competitiveness.

Recognizing researchers' contribution to standards

The 7^th edition of the annual Standards+Innovation Awards, which recognizes R&I contributions to standardization, was presented as part of the event ‘From Knowledge to Impact: Shaping Europe’s next innovation wave’ organized by the European Commission's DG RTD on 13 November 2025. In 2025, the awards were given in the following categories: young researchers, innovators, research projects, as well as something new: an award for education was introduced to honour the efforts of putting standardization on the curriculum across European teaching institutes.

Expanding Global Partnerships

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 2025 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 but that 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.

In 2025, CEN and CENELEC actively engaged with the CSBs by pushing the notification of adopted standards and offering quarterly workshops on subjects of their interest. CENELEC welcomed a new CSB: the National Committee from Japan – JISC –, which have already launched applications to become observers in several technical committees for closer technical cooperation

To date, CEN has 12 CSBs and CENELEC has 6 CSBs, including countries from the EU Neighbourhood Policy, as well as standards bodies from Australia, Canada, Japan, Kazakhstan, Ivory Coast, and Nigeria. At the end of 2025, CEN and CENELEC CSBs had adopted 1.605 new deliverables, which brings the total of active deliverables to 10.764, with Construction and Machinery as the main sectors of interest.

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International Projects

Concerning international projects, CEN and CENELEC, together with the European Commission and ETSI, successfully launched the GIST Project in 2025, with the first year dedicated to establishing the operational foundations for implementation in the project countries: Colombia, Kenya, and Nigeria under the lead of CEN, and Egypt-Tunisia and Indonesia-Philippines under the lead of ETSI.

The ESOs successfully completed the recruitment of the five Senior Experts in ICT Standardization, as well as the contracting of support services for the CEN-led countries. The five new experts were given rounds of training in Brussels at the end of 2025 and beginning of 2026.

In addition to SESEI (Seconded European Standardization Expert in India), it is worth mentioning that CEN and CENELEC managed the transition to the sixth phase of SESEC (Seconded European Standardization Expert in China) with the support and funds of the European Commission. SESEC VI will continue until October 2026, and discussions are ongoing for a new approach to be designed in the course of 2026 for a longer and stable run of the project.

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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Others

Foreign NSBs, other than Affiliates and CSBs, adopted a total of 6.069 CEN and/or CENELEC deliverables, 315 of them in 2025.

European standardization remains a subject of interest for many standard bodies in the world, because of our unique model of regional standards organizations, our relationship with the European legislators, and the quality of European standards. In 2025, CEN and CENELEC held several bilateral meetings with regional and national standard bodies, such as AFSEC (Africa), ANSI (US), ACCSQ (Asia), GSO (Gulf), JISC (Japan), SAC (China), SCC (Canada), and STAMEQ (Vietnam).

The foreign partners (all categories included) are in the process of assessing 1.930 deliverables in view of possible adoptions in the next years.

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Standardization Activities

In 2025, CEN and CENELEC developed a total of 1581 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 2025 in each one of them, and additional information on is available by clicking on the hyperlinks.  

Standardization Activities in 2025