28/10/2019
On October 23, 2019, the CEN-CENELEC Workshop on the European Standardization System was held in in Shanghai with prominent speakers from the European standardization community, including top level officers of CEN-CENELEC, CEOs of national standardization bodies and national electrotechnical standardization committees, IEC high-level representatives, the European Commission, national governments and European industries. The workshop attracted more than 200 participants to share and exchange views with Chinese stakeholders on topics that can strengthen collaboration to identify mutually beneficial common approaches.
Mr. CUI Gang, the Director of the Division of Innovation Management of SAMR, attended the conference and delivered the opening remarks. He stated that SAC has long maintained a cooperative relationship with CEN-CENELEC and a communication and cooperation mechanism with standardization bodies of European member states. He regarded this conference as an opportunity for Chinese stakeholders to obtain a more comprehensive and in-depth understanding of the single standardization model in Europe, understand the role of standardization institutions in European countries, and exchange views on topics of common interest.
The two-and-half-hour workshop included three panel discussions. The first panel discussion was on standardization as a public-private partnership, of which the moderator was Mr. Christoph Winterhalter, the CEN Vice-President Policy and DIN Executive Board Chairman. The Head of Unit, Standards for Growth, DG GROW of European Commission Mr. Radek Maly, the Director of Regulatory Affairs of IKEA Ms. Stina Wallstroem, the Director General of CEN-CENELEC Mrs. Elena Santiago Cid and the CEO of Austrian Standards International Dr. Elisabeth Stampfl-Blaha explained the important role of public-private partnership as the cornerstone of standardization from the perspectives of regulatory agencies, enterprises and standardization agencies respectively. According to the experts, standardization builds trust between public and private institutions, improves resource efficiency, and enhances industry influence and effectiveness in the public interest.
The second panel discussion was on the myth of competing for the highest level of standards, with speakers including Mikael Lesko, the Minister Counsellor of Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the Standardization Director of Schneider Electric Mr. Philippe Vollet, the Global Conformity Assessment Activities Manager of IEC Mr. David Hanlon, the Vice-President of the Polish Committee for Standardization Ms. Ewa Zielinska, and the moderator Mr. Tim Rühlig, the Research Fellow of the Swedish Institute of International Affairs. They believe consensus is more important than better standards, and a fair competitive environment should be achieved through communication among stakeholders.
The third speech on the single standard model and the role of national standardization bodies and national electrotechnical committees was moderated by Mrs. Elena Santiago Cid. The Director of Standards of BSI Group Mr. Scott Steedman and Dr. Elisabeth Stampfl-Blaha discussed the practical application of the single standard model in the UK and Austria, and how to achieve harmonization between national standards, European standards and international standards.
This conference, which was supported by SESEC, is based on a framework of friendly cooperation between CEN-CENELEC and SAC. It held the most in-depth and detailed interpretation of the European Standardization System, and was also the largest exchange seminar in recent years.