Published 15/07/26
Before publishing a standard in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) as a harmonised standard in support of a particular EU directive or regulation, the European Commission has for several years employed Harmonised Standards (HAS) consultants to carefully review the candidate standard in order to check that it is fit for purpose and ensure that it provides legal certainty.
In many cases, the HAS consultant finds the standard to be inadequate, often in multiple respects. It has then been the job of the European Standards Organisation responsible (typically CEN or CENELEC) to revise the standard in order to address its reported shortcomings. The new version, if it has been possible to create one, must then undergo a further review process. This has meant that there are often significant delays following the publication of a new international standard and the publication of the corresponding harmonised version in the OJEU.
Rather than delay the publication of up-to-date European standards, CEN / CENELEC have started to publish European (EN) versions of the international standard straight away, with a view to making any changes required for harmonisation in support of EU legislation via a subsequent amendment.
Industry is then faced with choosing between using the most up to date ‘state of the art’ standard, or the version published in the OJEU, which may not have undergone the rigour of the HAS consultant review process and may not pass if it was. This unsatisfactory situation is not likely to be resolved in the short term. In the meantime, if you need guidance on appropriate standards for your equipment, Conformance has many years of experience advising in this area.