Brussels, 23 January 2014 – CEN and CENELEC have launched a new section on their website as part of their ongoing efforts to encourage the widest possible range of stakeholders to get involved in standardization activities and help shape the content of European Standards. The Societal Stakeholders’ Toolbox is aimed in particular at supporting the participation of organizations that are concerned with defending the interests of consumers, protecting the environment, and promoting the health and safety of workers.
Standards, which are documents that set out specifications and other technical information with regard to various kinds of products, materials, services and processes, can have significant impacts on the safety and well-being of consumers and workers, as well as on the wider society and the environment. Enabling organizations representing societal stake-holders to participate in the development of standards helps to ensure that all relevant concerns can be taken into account during the drafting process.
The Societal Stakeholders’ Toolbox can be accessed directly from the homepage of the CEN-CENELEC website. It provides practical advice to organizations representing consumers, workers and environmental interests on where to find information about ongoing standardization activities and how they can contribute to the standards development process at national, European and international levels.
The toolbox has been developed by CEN and CENELEC in the framework of their ongoing collaboration with three umbrella organizations that represent the interests of specific interest groups within the European Standardization System. These organizations are: ANEC (the European consumer voice in standardisation), ECOS (European Environmental Citizens Organisation for Standardisation), and ETUI (European Trade Union Institute – Health and Safety Department).
At national level, many members of CEN and CENELEC are also cooperating with societal stakeholders organizations. Based on existing examples of good practice, CEN and CENELEC are encouraging all of their members (in 33 European countries) to support the active involvement of societal stakeholders in standardization activities and to facilitate this by providing relevant information on their respective websites.
CEN-CENELEC PRESENTS TOOLBOX
The Societal Stakeholders’ Toolbox was officially presented at the CEN-CENELEC New Year Cocktail Reception, which took place in Brussels on 22 January 2014.
Scott Steedman, CEN Vice-President Policy, said: “The online toolbox makes information about standardization more accessible in a way that is relevant to consumers, to workers and to environmental organizations. It describes the benefits of standards and how to find relevant information. It also invites societal stakeholders to get involved in standardization activities, and outlines the ways in which they can influence the development of standards at different levels. For CEN and CENELEC, the online toolbox is one step on a long journey. This is just the beginning of a process of engaging more with users, workers and environmental organizations.”
Arnold Pindar, ANEC President, said: “European Standards are one of the foundations on which the Single Market for products is built. Regrettably, however, the role standards play in influencing consumer protection and welfare is a mystery to most consumers. We welcome the toolbox as an important first step in helping to explain the process of standardization and the value of standards. Looking ahead, we intend to discuss further initiatives with CEN-CENELEC aimed at encouraging more consumers to come forward and participate in the development of standards.”
Claudia Kuss-Tenzer, ECOS Vice-President, added: “It is important to ensure effective participation of societal stakeholders who bring expertise and give legitimacy to the standardisation process. The Toolbox is a step forward to help these organisations understand how to participate and further environmental protection in the process. It now needs to be replicated at national level by the national standardization bodies. Additional efforts are however needed to truly involve societal stakeholders at national level, such as eliminating financial barriers to participation.”
Stefano Boy, Senior Researcher at ETUI, remarked: “The new online toolbox can play a significant role in raising awareness and guiding societal stakeholders through the complex web of connections, channels and interactions that make up the European standardization system. It also provides a ‘living’ portal where societal concerns can be published and shared, thereby facilitating progress on general policy issues as well as specific ‘sectoral’ topics. We hope that the toolbox will be able to genuinely reflect the concerns and demands of societal stakeholders, including trade unions.”
The Societal Stakeholders’ Toolbox can be accessed from the main navigation bar on the homepage of the CEN-CENELEC website: www.cencenelec.eu
ANEC is the European Consumer Voice in Standardization (www.anec.eu)
ECOS is the European Environmental Citizens Organization for Standardization (www.ecostandard.org)
ETUI is the European Trade Union Institute (www.etui.org)
SOURCE: CEN/CENELEC
