Standardisation

The relevance of standards for trade unions is multifaceted. The extending scope of European and international standards, their role in framing market competition and industrial strategies and the formal devolution of power to standard-setting bodies certainly provide a strong rationale to strengthen trade unions’ engagement and participation in European – and international - standardisation.

The ETUC recognises that many areas subject to standardisation are political by nature, and are therefore better addressed through democratic decision-making procedures rather than in private standardisation committees. The ETUC further insists on the autonomy of social partners and on the respect of collective agreements and social dialogue that could potentially be challenged by standards.

However, working conditions are major societal challenges that standards can help address, on condition that trade unions can effectively participate in their development. In this context, the ETUC standardisation project  aims at strengthening the voice of trade unions in standardisation to ensure standards promote high-quality working conditions and do not encroach upon the autonomy of social partners, collective agreements and social dialogue.

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  • 08.07.2024 Page

    Call for tenders to produce a publication on “standards at the workplace”

    The ETUC has opened a call for tender for an expert to produce a handbook that introduces to the world of standards and explains their impact on workers.  The publication will reflect on the role of trade unions in promoting meaningful implementation of technical standards which can affect workers. In particular, the aim is to cover the following: 
  • 08.04.2024 Document

    Trade unions and the world of standardisation

    Trade unions and the world of standardisation  Resolution adopted at the Executive Committee meeting of 26-27 March 2024 Technical standards also affect workers
  • 19.03.2024 Page

    Artificial Intelligence Standardisation Inclusiveness Newsletter

    The AI Standardisation Inclusiveness Newsletter is regularly published by the Task Group (TG) Inclusiveness created within the CEN-CENELEC Joint Technical Committee 21,  responsible for standardisation in the field of AI.  TG inclusiveness aims at facilitating the participation of relevant stakeholders in AI standardisation namely by distributing updated information on AI standardisation and related activities.
  • 07.11.2022 Press release

    Airline industry must implement new cabin air standards

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    Aviation workers and safety experts are calling on airlines, manufacturers and the EU Aviation Safety Agency to immediately implement new cabin air quality standards designed to protect staff and passengers from chemical fumes. After more than seven years of work on the issue, the European Committee on Standardisation (CEN) has published a technical report including recommendations on how to prevent exposure to fumes through improvements in the design, maintenance, and operation of aircraft.
  • 16.08.2022 Page

    Formation Nationale des syndicats français sur la normalisation - Lundi 24 Octobre 2022

    Formation Nationale des syndicats français sur la normalisation - Lundi 24 Octobre 2022 Les syndicats français, la CES et l’ETUI coorganisent un évènement autour de la normalisation. L’évènement aura lieu le lundi 24 octobre 2022 à AFNOR (Paris). Cet évènement est organisé de façon hybride, permettant aux syndicalistes de participer en personne ou à distance. Les contributions et discussions se feront uniquement en Français (pas de traduction simultanée).
  • 09.02.2021 Page

    ETUC STAND Project for clean cabin air

                  Cabin air is a health problem The quality of cabin air is an important occupational health issue. It affects all cabin crew, forced to breathe contaminated air while working, sometimes for long hours.
  • 29.06.2020 Page

    ETUC STAND studies

    ETUC Study: Trade union access to National Standardisation Committees (2023) European standards are used to support a wide range of policy objectives, including health and safety at the workplace, energy efficiency or the cybersecurity of connected devices. When underpinning occupational health and safety, work processes or working conditions, the participation of trade unions is crucial to ensure that workers’ voices and concerns are heard and taken into account. But do trade unions have access to participate in standardisation at national level?
  • 22.01.2019 Page

    Standards affect workers

    Standards are present everywhere in our daily life. Initially associated with product safety and interoperability, their reach has extended to affect a wide range of issues such as occupational health and safety, competences and training, service provision and privacy at work. Many of these areas are right at the centre of trade union work.
  • 30.08.2018 Page

    ETUC STAND Project

    ETUC STAND Project: Strengthening trade union intervention to represent social interests in the standardisation process at European level The ETUC STAND project, aimed at sustaining and reinforcing trade union representation and effective participation in European standardisation, was launched in 2015 with the financial support of the European Commission and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA). The ETUC STAND activities mainly consist in: 
  • 03.08.2018 Page

    ETUC Standardisation newsletters

    Six times per year, the ETUC publishes its “Standardisation Newsletter”, providing an overview of selected activities, events and achievements in this field. To subscribe, click here or contact us at [email protected]. The full list of published Standardisation Newsletters is available below:
  • 22.01.2018 Document

    Hands-on Training for experts in Standardisation

    Brussels, 22 January 2018 To the members of the permanent committee on Standardisation   Dear Friends and Colleagues, On Thursday 25th January, from 9h00 to 12h50, we give a hands-on training on standardisation for our new experts. You can remotely join in, learn and actively participate by clicking on the following link: https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/295928229 - But you do need a camera, micro and headphones to join our training.
  • 17.08.2016 Page

    National contact points on standardisation

    The decision making process on standardisation is based on the “national delegation” principle. This means that the national stakeholders, including national trade unions, come up with their national position. Subsequently, all national positions are pooled together – a consensus building process - and the end result is, in most cases, a European standard. So participating in national standardisation work is of key importance to get the trade union position coming through at European level.
  • 13.06.2016 Press release

    ETUC signs the Joint Initiative on Standardisation

    ETUC
    At a high-level conference on standardisation in Amsterdam today, the European Trade Union Confederation, the European Commission and other stakeholders signed a joint initiative on standardisation. The event took place within the Commission’s Single Market Forum.
  • 05.01.2016 Document

    ETUC position on single market strategy for Europe

    ETUC position on single market strategy for Europe    Adopted at the ETUC Executive Committee on 16-17 December 2015 Key points The conflict between the exercise of fundamental rights and economic freedoms and the development of unfair competition in the single market can no longer be ignored. The ETUC recalls the importance of quality jobs, the principle of equal treatment between all workers at the same workplace and urges the EU institutions to adopt a social progress protocol.
  • 28.05.2015 Press release

    Partnership between CEN and ETUC will serve to strengthen representation of workers within the European Standardization System

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    A Partnership Agreement between CEN (European Committee for Standardization) and ETUC (European Trade Union Confederation) will serve to strengthen the representation of workers within the European Standardization System. The agreement means that ETUC has the possibility to nominate representatives who will participate in the work of CEN Technical Bodies at European level. In this way, trade unions can directly contribute to the development of European Standards relating to the health and safety of workers, the delivery of services, and other issues of relevance to employees.
  • 21.01.2015 Page

    Why do standards matter?

    The following points highlight the growing political significance of European and international standardisation. They provide background information on the world of standards as well as the main rationale for trade union action in standardisation. The extending scope of European and international standards, their role in framing market competition and industrial strategies as well as the devolution of power to standard-setting bodies provide a strong rationale to strengthen trade union action in standardisation.
  • 21.01.2015 Page

    Areas and technical committees of involvement

    All of the products and services we buy and use in our everyday lives have to meet certain standards of safety and quality. In Europe, these standards are developed and agreed by the three officially recognised European Standardisation Organizations: the European Committee for Standardization (CEN), the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (CENELEC) and the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI).

Contacts

Mr Claes-Mikael STAHL

Deputy General Secretary

Mr Guido DE JONGH

Advisor

Ms Katrin BEHNKE

Project Officer

Ms Natalia GIORGI

Project Officer

Ms Joanne HOUSTON

Project Officer

Ms Roxane BERTOLINI

Administrative Assistant To Claes-Mikael STAHL