SBS has been a long-time Partner of CEN and CENELEC under CEN and CENELEC Guide 25. The close cooperation between the 3 organisations has shown successful outcomes over the years, with greater consideration being given to the needs of SMEs in the development of standards. SBS is directly involved in over 60 Technical Committees and Sub-Committees across CEN and CENELEC, in a wide variety of sectors.
During the CEN and CENELEC Annual Meeting that was held in Amsterdam on 24-27 June, the CEN and CENELEC Administrative Boards agreed to grant Small Business Standards (SBS) – the recognised Annex III organisation representing SMEs’ interests in the European Standardisation System under EU Regulation 1025/2012 – the Right of Opinion in the CEN and CENELEC Technical work.
In addition, the Boards further encouraged SBS to reinforce their activities with national SMEs and SME associations in engaging with CEN and CENELEC Members to exploit the full benefits of the national delegation principle.
This new step is fully aligned with CEN and CENELEC’s strategic objective to foster an inclusive CEN and CENELEC system as the gateway to standardisation in Europe, as laid out in the CEN-CENELEC Strategy 2030 and is in line with the European Standardisation Strategy, in particular pillar III on upholding the integrity, inclusiveness and accessibility of the European standardisation system.