European Committee for Standardization (CEN)

What is the European Committee for Standardization (CEN)?

CEN offers a platform for the European Standards and other technical documents for various materials, services, products, and processes.

CEN is one of three European Standardization Organizations officially recognized by the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and the European Union as responsible for developing and defining European vocabulary standards. The other two organizations are CENELEC and ETSI.

The sectors of CEN include:

  • Chemicals
  • Construction
  • Consumer
  • Defense and security
  • Digital society
  • Energy and utilities
  • Food and agriculture
  • Healthcare
  • Household appliances and HVAC
  • Mechanical and machines
  • Mining and metals
  • Occupational health and safety
  • Services
  • Transport and packaging
  • European labels

How does CEN improve healthcare?

CEN helps to develop European Standards for medical devices put on the European market that ensure they meet safety, quality, and performance requirements. This is a crucial element for safe access to healthcare. Many of these standards also make medical products compliant with European legislation in the medical sector, further guaranteeing safe and effective medical devices available to the public.

Additionally, CEN helps to increase interoperability, better protecting patient health data.