World Standards Day's European Conference

“Standardization and SMEs: a challenge for Europe – what are the keys to success?”

Paris, 21 October 2008

In the framework of this year's World Standards Day, a one-day European conference on standardization was organized on October 21 in Paris by the French presidency of the Council of the European Union, in cooperation with the European Commission. The theme for the conference was “Standardization and SMEs: a challenge for Europe – what are the keys to success?” In 2006, the World Standards Day was already marked by a European Conference on “SMEs and Standardization”. It was now time to assess the progress made and to identify the difficulties still encountered by SMEs in order to improve their participation to standardization.

The European Standards Organizations (CEN, CENELEC and ETSI) took part in the event by exhibiting at an info stand and contributed to the debate by the presence of Mr. Gaston Michaud, Secretary General of CEN and representing the Joint Presidents’ Group of CEN-CENELEC-ETSI. The aim was of, not only, promoting standardization benefits for SMEs through the creation of a Single Market, but also to increase SME representation in standardization committees. Through its participation, CENELEC confirms its commitment to making Europe a positive contributor to international cooperation that provides support to small and medium-sized enterprises throughout the world.

Small and medium sized enterprises play a vital role in the European economy. Nearly 99 per cent of European companies are SMEs, employing nearly 81 million people, providing 66 per cent of Europe’s total employment. Small businesses are therefore crucial for growth and employment all over Europe. As a key player of the European market, it is important that SMEs are aware of the added value of standards for their business and of the various ways to participate in the standardization process.

CENELEC is well aware of the need to make SMEs feel more engaged in the standardization process. Therefore, several projects are being planned to facilitate SMEs’ understanding of the benefits of European standardization, the role these can play and to support a system that provides lowest cost access to standardization to stakeholders. To read more on the initiatives discussed and developed by CENELEC for SMEs, please click here. (Link to CENELEC's SMEs Brochure, all rights reserved).

CENELEC’s commitment to SMEs fosters the European Union’s Lisbon Agenda objectives for growth and jobs. By proactively participating in the standard-making process, which is vital in the access to market, SMEs can influence market developments. Moreover, the application of standards contributes to business in specific ways: safety, quality, innovation and access to state-of-the-art technology. Hence, the participation of SMEs in the standardization process can only help improve sustainability building, creating a bridge between growth, innovation and environment protection.

Further information, please contact:

Elisabeth Brodthagen

Communication Manager

info@cenelec.eu

About CENELEC

The European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization - is officially responsible for standardization in the electrotechnical field.

In an ever more global economy, CENELEC fosters innovation and competitiveness, making technology available not only to major businesses but also to SMEs through the production of voluntary standards. CENELEC creates market access at the European level but also at the international level through its cooperation agreement with the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC).