General framework

Directive 98/34EC

The Directive 98/34EC of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down a procedure for the provision in the field of technical standards and regulations is the most important legal act concerning European standardisation. In order to avoid barriers to trade caused by deferring national standards in the different member states of the EU, it stipulates a mutual obligation and a procedure to inform both the other member states and the Commission in advance when a new national standards is planned to be adopted. In addition, the Directive determines in its annexes I and II which standard organisations both at European level and national level are the "recognised" standards bodies within the EU.

For more information see the page on 'General framework' under the Reference Documents section.

Decision on the financing of European standardisation

The Decision No 1673/2006/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 October 2006 on the financing of European standardisation establishes the legal basis for the financial support provided by the Commission to the European standardisation system. This financial support consists mainly in grants both for the functioning of the central secretariats of the three European standards organisations and for the support of specific actions to be carried out by the European standards organisations. The overall sum paid for the support of European standardisation has been stable over the last years and amounts to annually € 20 million.

For more information see the page on "General framework" under the Reference Documents section.

General guidelines for the co-operation with the European Standards Organisations

The general guidelines for the co-operation between CEN, CENELEC and ETSI and the European Commission and the European Free Trade Association, adopted and signed on 28 March 2003, are a purely political document. Therein, all the partners confirm their common understanding about the role of European standardisation, about its principles such as openness, transparency and impartiality and about their willingness to cooperate, on the basis of these principles, in support of European policies.

For more information see the page on "General framework" under the Reference Documents section.