Primer on Standards - OEK - OVE

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ChapterThe EuropeanStandardization System& its relationship with EULegislationThe New Approach to EU LegislationThe creation of the Single Market in Europe was laid down in four basic principlescommonly identified as the “4 freedoms”. These freedoms refer to the free movementof goods, services, capital and workers. Previously, differences between nationallaws, standards, and conformity assessment procedures made trade between themember states difficult, expensive and time-consuming. A quick action wasrequired.The principal goal of the Single Market was to eliminate all barriers to tradeexisting between the Member States. In order to faster remove these barriers, anew legislative technique and strategy was established: The New Approach.This new legal framework, the New Approach to Technical Harmonization andStandardization, was passed as a Council Resolution on May 7th 1985,30 CENELEC. <strong>Primer</strong> on Standards
(OJ 85/C136/1). It was created in order to "harmonize" the health, safety, andenvironmental requirements of Member States into one single European legislativepackage. The outcome was called New Approach Directives, which are broadregulatory requirements to which confronted products must conform. In everycase, one piece of legislation replaced 12 (15 after the last enlargement to Austria,Finland and Sweden). Member States are obliged to adopt the New ApproachDirectives because European legislation always prevails over national one, whichmust be replaced.The New Approach represents a major change in policy for it makes referenceto voluntary European Standards as the most appropriate method for technicalimplementation of legally-imposed requirements for products under Europeanlaw.In fact, it is probably the “Old Approach” that caused slow development of theInternal Market until 1985. Before this date, civil servants at the Commissionused to draft detailed technical specifications that were annexed to the Directives.This process was long and required the continuous updating of documents. Withthe New Approach, the European Commission proposed the necessary mandatoryperformance requirements to ensure health, safety, etc. and asked the 3 recognizedEuropean Standards Organizations, who created standards with the help oftechnical experts, the application of the principles that guarantee compliancewith the corresponding requirements.The New Approach provides for three European Standards Bodies to plan, draft,create and adopt standards Europe-wide. These are:CEN, the European Committee for Standardization, in Brussels, responsible forstandards in all fields except electrotechnology and telecommunicationsCENELEC, the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization, alsoin Brussels, prepares standards for electrotechnologyETSI, the European Telecommunications Standards Institute, in Sophia-Antipolis,prepares standards for TelecommunicationsThe Global Approach to Testing, Certification and Conformity Assessment, adoptedin 1989, supplements the New Approach. It provided for the establishment ofharmonized procedures to assess the conformity of products with the requirementsof the New Approach Directives and the placing of the CE Marking to suchproducts. Notified Bodies, that are officially recognized organizations withinMember States, can certify conformity on the basis of the New Approach, ifrequired by the Directive in question.Uncovering the mysteries of standardization in Europe 31
Page 1: Primer on Standard
Page 4 and 5: ContentsIntroductionChapter 1Introd
Page 6 and 7: IntroductionThis primer is intended
Page 8 and 9: ChapterIntroducingCENELECCENELEC, t
Page 10 and 11: CENEL, the European Committee for t
Page 12 and 13: The Central Secretariat handles all
Page 14 and 15: Documents used as a basis for CENEL
Page 16 and 17: ChapterThe EuropeanStandardWhat is
Page 18 and 19: European trade and consumers. Havin
Page 20 and 21: CENELEC Standards are of the highes
Page 22 and 23: ChapterUnderstandingthe CenelecStan
Page 24 and 25: In the case of a European standard
Page 26 and 27: New work arises at European level v
Page 28 and 29: ChapterThe CenelecConformityAssessm
Page 30 and 31: Mutual Recognition Agreements signe
Page 34 and 35: Legal framework of the New Approach
Page 36 and 37: The Role of European Standards in N
Page 38 and 39: New Approach Directives for which C
Page 40 and 41: ChapterCE Marking, ConformityAssess
Page 42 and 43: egardless of the product’s origin
Page 44 and 45: Some other products, mostly those i
Page 46 and 47: Market are governed by one (or some
Page 48 and 49: manufacturers are often approached
Page 50 and 51: COOPERATING PARTNERSAIECAPIELCEACEC
Page 52: For more information:35 rue de Stas

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