About CEN

The standardization activities of CEN are steered by the CEN Technical Board (BT), who has full responsibility for the execution of CEN's work programme. Standards are prepared by Technical Committees (TCs). Each TC has its own field of operation (scope) within which a work programme of identified standards is developed and executed. TCs work on the basis of national participation by the CEN Members, where delegates represent their respective national point of view. This principle allows the TCs to take balanced decisions that reflect a wide consensus.

A Subcommittee can be established within a TC, in the case of large programs of work.

The real standards development is undertaken by Working Groups (WGs) where experts, appointed by the CEN Members but speaking in a personal capacity, come together and develop a draft that will become the future standard. This reflects an embedded principle of 'direct participation' in the standardization activities.

Workshops are particularly relevant in emerging or rapidly-changing technologies that require quickly-developed specifications or results of research projects. They produce CEN and/or CENELEC Workshop Agreements (CWAs).