New rules for standardisation work at ISO and CEN/CENELEC

At ISO, the 2026 edition of the ISO/IEC Directives – Part 1, published on 1 July 2026, came into force on 5 October. Agreed between ISO and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), this edition introduces around twenty significant changes concerning, in particular, the organisation of work, project development timelines and the monitoring of standards.

At CEN/CENELEC, the first batch of changes has been in force since 6 October. It aims to publish European standards more quickly, without reducing the time experts spend drafting them and whilst maintaining quality and the pursuit of consensus. The changes mainly concern voting and translations:

• The vote on a new work item is reduced from eight to four weeks, as is the formal vote;

• Translation into French and German now takes place in parallel with the consultation stages: both the public enquiry and the formal vote can be launched without these versions.

A second batch of changes is planned for the first quarter of 2027; the exact date is yet to be confirmed. This two-stage roll-out allows the technical committees to adapt to the new rules and gives the CEN/CENELEC Management Centre (CCMC) time to develop the necessary IT tools.

It should be noted that at CEN/CENELEC, these changes could lead to more frequent launches of public enquiries in English only and reinforce the importance of the positions and comments submitted at this stage. Indeed, from the first quarter of 2027, a positive enquiry could lead directly to the publication of the standard, without a formal vote.

For further information:

• CEN-CENELEC: overview of the changes and timetable

• Recording of the CEN/CENELEC webinar of 1 October 2026 and supporting materials

^{Source: Newsletter Eurogip infos, https://eurogip.fr/en/}