CENELEC members

Any national drafted standard is automatically transformed to a European draft under the responsibility of Comite European de Normalisation Electrotechnique (CENELEC). The CENELEC members are asked to decide whether they want to create based upon the national proposal a European standard or let it pass as a national standard only in the country which made the proposal. 

European Communities are presumed by Member States to comply with those aspects of the essential requirements that are covered by the standard. Harmonised standards are those adopted by the EC standards bodies pursuant to a mandate issued by the Commission, in this case the European Committee for Standardisation (CEN) and the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardisation (CENELEC). A large number of standards are contemplated but may take time to be written and adopted. Standards may be horizontal (covering aspects common to all or a number of product types) or vertical (dealing only with a specific aspect or specific product type). Important harmonised standards exist on the following ... 

As time passes, national standards for area classification have been superseded by international standards (IEC, International Electrotechnical Commission, Geneva/Switzerland, and EN, European Standard or European Norm, established by CENELEC, Comite Europeen de Normalisation Electrotechnique, Brussels/Belgium), which have been adopted as subsequent national standards. In the member countries of the European Community (EC), a joint area classification is defined by a directive (Directive 1999/92/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, dated 1999-12-16). 

In the course of the integration of European states and the removal of trade barriers, national standardization loses importance considerably. The majority of electrical standards comes into existence by international cooperation with IEC, International Electrotechnical Commission, Geneva/Switzerland. On the basis of IEC Standards many European Standards have been developed in the past. This work has been done by CENELEC, Comite Europeen de Normalisation Electrotechnique, Brussels/Belgium. European Standards or Norms (EN) often deviate from their IEC origins in their technical content. To avoid double action and to ensure a more effective standardization procedure, IEC and CENELEC are now working in closer cooperation. CENELEC is a private organization and does not act as an institution of the European Union at all. This fact indicates that European Standards need a legal act to come into force. Members of CENELEC are the national committees for standardization of the member states (not identical with the European Union). 

Another method - common to all members of the European Union - has been to declare the CENELEC Standards as Harmonized European Norms (HN) on the basis of a directive issued by an authority of the European Union (council or commission). This procedure is described in Section 3.2.2. 

One of the primary contents of the Treaties of the European Community (EC) is the elimination of trade barriers for technical equipment. These barriers have been based on different technical standards (and their legislation) in the member states of the EC. Referring to article 100 of the Treaties of the EC, some directives have been issued in order to harmonize the standardization for technical products (explosion protected electrical apparatus and systems, elevators). These directives describe precisely the technical requirements and list the relevant standards, in the field of explosion protection CENELEC Standards exclusively. Directive 82/130/EEC refers to mines endangered by firedamp and/or combustible dusts, and Directive 76/117/EEC covers areas hazardous due to potentially explosive atmospheres. The member states of the EC shall transform these directives into their national legislation within 18 months. 

European standards [EN or HD], which are referred to as harmonized standards in the Directive, drawn up in accordance with Article 5 by the bodies notified by the member states (in fact, these are standards made by CENELEC) ... 

International fire and flammability test standards are developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Committee (lEC). The latter is concerned with electrical products only. Technical committees TC 92 and TC 89 are the primary committees that develop and maintain fire and flammability test standards in ISO and lEC respectively. As in ASTM, there are a number of product- or industiy-specific committees in ISO that also develop fire and flammahihty test standards. For example, SCI on Test Methods of ISO TC 136 on Furniture has puhhshed two ignition tests for upholstered seating. An important difference between ISO and lEC vs ASTM and NFPA is that the international committees establish consensus on a geographical basis. Each coimtiy that actively participates in the work can be a voting member on an ISO or lEC committee. Committees are composed in a similar manner in CEN and CENELEC, which are the European coimterparts of ISO and lEC respectively. However, member coimtries can have multiple votes in CEN and CENELEC committees. The munber of votes is a function of the population of the coimtiy. 

These standards are prepared by working parties whose members are representatives of the participating Member States - including members of EU, EETA plus some from Eastern European and Middle East States. Representation at CEN and CENELEC is through the various national standards making bodies - in the UK, BSI. 

As soon as a subject is selected for a harmonised standard all Member States must cease individual work in the area. The work of drafting a harmonised standard is carried out by working groups of representatives of the Member State national standards making bodies. Final drafts are circulated to all members of CEN/CENELEC to vote for approval or rejection. A majority vote is required before tire standard is adopted. Once adopted, the EN standard then applies in all EEA Member States and takes precedence over any national standard tirat covers the same subject. 

The Central Office documents are subjected to a 2- or 6-month period of time for the members (national committees) to vote on. In case of a sufficient majority of votes, the CO document becomes an lEC standard, e.g. lEC Standard 60 254-1, Lead-Acid Traction Batteries (3). Sometimes the margins between the lEC and the ISO (International Standards Organization) are not clearly perceivable and may pose problems. All drafts of lEC standards run in parallel as CENELEC drafts under vote with aim to take over the lEC standard as EN Standard. 

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