Business sectors

In 2025, CEN and CENELEC will continue to raise awareness among the European standardization community about the value of European Standards in supporting the EU strategy to build resilience.

Standards play a crucial role in fighting climate change by establishing benchmarks for sustainable practices, ensuring consistency in measurement, and promoting the adoption of clean technologies. They are key tools that complement national and European policies aiming to lead the transition towards a green economy and reach the climate target of net zero by 2050. In 2025, special focus will be put on the implementation of climate adaptation measures in infrastructure standards to ensure Europe is best equipped to withstand future extreme events.

Adaptation to climate change

CEN/TC 467 ‘Climate Change’ has recently established a new Working Group on adaptation and will devote time and numerous resources to work on a European standard on climate services. The development of the document has been requested by the European Commission to support various business sectors in the use of climate data and the uptake of climate adaptation measures in their standards. Once published, European industry will highly benefit from the application of the document. Additionally, CEN/TC 467 will continue to work on prEN 18074 ‘Industrial decarbonization – Requirements and guidelines for sectoral transition plans’. The document specifies a roadmap framework definition (timeline, decarbonization objective, and so on), sectoral inventory, modelling and definition of trajectories, and an action plan for actors in the industrial sector. It is intended to support companies’ commitment to transition to be executed in line with governance or methodological baselines. The standard is particularly important to standardize practices and strengthen trust between stakeholders and the quality of the transition plan.

CEN-CLC/COG ‘Mitigation and Adaptation to Climate Change’ will closely collaborate with CEN/TC 467 in 2025 on the development of the document on climate services. Additionally, through their task of managing a pool of experts, the COG will provide support for all CEN and CENELEC Technical Committees in implementing adaptation measures in their respective documents. The coordination group is also planning to review and revise CEN and CENELEC Guidance material and train standardizers through workshops on climate adaptation.

Hydrogen holds immense potential to support the greening of industry, transport, power generation, energy system, and buildings across Europe, while at the same time facilitating the large-scale integration of renewables and the decarbonization of natural gas through innovative technologies. In addition to the decarbonization of the energy system, the REPowerEU Plan describes the role of hydrogen in ensuring affordable and competitive energy for European consumers and increasing the EU’s security of supply to better prepare for emergencies. Hydrogen is clearly a topic of European strategic interest for 2025 and beyond.

In close collaboration with the European institutions, CEN and CENELEC created a new coordination group (CEN-CLC/COG H2) to cover hydrogen as a horizontal topic. This initiative will bring around the table over 50 TCs developing standards that contribute to the wider deployment of hydrogen technologies in Europe along the whole hydrogen value chain: production; transmission, distribution, storage and injection infrastructure; safety; quality; and end-use applications (including transport).

As the industry has identified the lack of standards in the sector as one of the potential barriers to the large-scale deployment of hydrogen, the European Clean Hydrogen Alliance (ECH2A), under the umbrella of the European Commission, has developed a Hydrogen Roadmap. This document identifies the needs, gaps, and challenges for hydrogen standardization. The mission for CEN-CLC/COG H2 is to support the implementation of this roadmap and to ensure that each part of the work programme is covered and properly allocated to a TC.

In 2025, CEN and CENELEC Technical Committees will work on the implementation of the Hydrogen Roadmap. In this context, good cooperation with EU institutions on standardization priorities in terms of standards development will be key in 2025. This will ensure a rationalization of resources and guarantee a common approach to the dissemination of hydrogen-based technologies in Europe.

Moreover, the CEN-CLC/COG H2 will gather input from the whole gas value chain’s stakeholders to construct robust technical positions in the hydrogen sector with the objective to provide the EC with the most relevant input necessary to prepare Standardization Requests.

CEN and CENELEC expect to receive a Standardization Request from the European Commission on the quality of hydrogen and other technical issues.

Numerous quality parameters need to be defined to allow the smooth operation of hydrogen assets and proper and safe use of appliances. This is what the industry usually calls ‘hydrogen quality’. This technical matter is essential and needs to be given priority considering its direct impact on each part of the chain.

The EC decided to foster the development by funding a project called ‘HyQual Net’. This EISMEA project will be about quality in dedicated gaseous hydrogen networks. It will deliver technical knowledge from available research, including laboratory tests and measurement, as well as real-life experiences. Several reports will be produced in support of the standardization of hydrogen quality gas on topics such as safety aspects and leak detection, purification methods for hydrogen, emissions of sulfur from gas odorant, and so on.

Carbon dioxide Capture, transportation, Utilisation, and Storage (CCUS)

One of the key technologies on the rise to reach the goal of net zero will now be dealt with in the newly established CEN/TC 474 ‘Carbon dioxide Capture, transportation, Utilisation, and Storage (CCUS)’. The new TC will develop standards covering the full lifecycle of CCUS projects, regulate stream composition and quality, as well as work on risk management, health, and environmental aspects. In 2025, the committee will continue a dialogue with the European Commission on future mandated standardization to support European legislation on CCUS.

In 2025, CEN and CENELEC will continue with their ambition to support the implementation of the European Green Deal through standardization.

Air quality

CEN/TC 264 ‘Air quality’ performs many ongoing activities to strengthen CEN and CENELEC ambitions for environmental protection and will continue their path to follow the latest technical research and policy developments in 2025. The committee will continue to pursue the development of standards under M/561 ‘Ozone precursors’ to develop and validate standard measurement methods for the measurement and monitoring of volatile organic compounds listed in Directive 2008/50/EU on ambient air quality and cleaner air for Europe. Additionally, the execution of the active Standardization Request M/588 in support of Directive 2010/75/EU will continue in 2025. The Standardization Request lays down rules on integrated prevention and control of pollution arising from industrial activities. CEN/TC 264 awaits a forthcoming new standardization request from the European Commission to develop standards for several activities, including modelling quality objectives and sensor systems.

Waste management including electronic waste

The deliverables of CEN/TC 183 ‘Waste management’ specify technical requirements to minimize significant hazards and hazardous situations which may occur during the collection and transportation of waste on the one hand, and increase the efficiency of waste disposal processes on the other. In 2025, CEN/TC 183 will continue the revision of the EN 1501 series ‘Refuse collection vehicles – General requirements and safety requirements’ to incorporate and cover the new and updated Essential Health and Safety Requirements of Machinery Regulation (EU) 2023/1230. The TC will also continue the work on ‘Waste management – Mobile IT systems – Requirements for the XML interface Office-Mobile’. This new standard will define the digital data exchange between the dispatching stationary unit (office) and the mobile units of the refuse collection vehicles. With the standardization of this interface, it will be possible to combine the management software with different subsystems of the mobile vehicle equipment without having to make one-time and recurring interface agreements. Furthermore, several revisions of container standards are in discussion and expected to be initiated in 2025, like the EN 840 series on ‘Mobile waste containers’ or EN 15132 ‘Container shells for mobile waste containers with a capacity up to 1 700 l’.

CLC/TC 111X ‘Environment’ deals with environmental aspects for electrical and electronic products and systems and aims to promote CENELEC activities relevant to reducing the detrimental impact of electrotechnical activities, products or systems on the natural environment. In 2025, the TC further strives to enhance CENELEC's environmental links with the European legal framework. CLC/TC 111X/WG 6 started in 2024 with the revision of standards in support of the Waste from Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive (2012/19/EU) covering requirements for waste from electrical and electronical equipment and will continue its efforts throughout 2025.

Soil and sludge

CEN/TC 444 ‘Environmental characterization of solid matrices’ will continue supporting the improvement of European soil quality through the adoption of a variety of ISO standards laying out measures for the sampling and determination of certain soil components. Moreover, CEN/TC 444 will further focus on their exchange with the EC’s Joint Research Centre regarding the technical committee’s support and involvement in implementing the recently proposed Soil Monitoring Law.

Smart and sustainable cities and communities

CEN/TC 465 ‘Sustainable Cities and Communities’ will transform CWA 17354:2018 ‘Industrial Symbiosis: Core Elements and Implementation Approaches’ laying out a collaboration strategy for producers. The approach gains more and more importance for reducing the use of raw materials and establishing a recycling system between various industries. Additionally, the TC will collaborate with the CEN-CLC Horizon Project ‘Risers’ to further explore the topic.

Digital Product Passport

The new CEN-CENELEC Joint Technical Committee 24 (CEN-CLC/JTC 24) ‘Digital Product Passport – Framework and System’ will focus on the execution of Standardization Request M/604 ‘Digital Product Passport’. The eight harmonized standards to be developed will be key in building the IT infrastructure for Digital Product Passports (DPP) among various sectors and product groups and will thus support the implementation of the Regulation (2023/1542) concerning batteries and waste batteries and the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR; 2024/1781). Both foresee mandatory DPPs, starting with the DPP for Batteries, which will be mandatory as of February 2027. CEN-CLC/JTC 24 will align already existing DPP IT components with newly developed deliverables while ensuring the interoperability between solutions. The first ones to be published will be covering data carriers, unique identifies, and data exchange protocols.

Circular Economy

Another topic drawing more and more attention throughout the European stakeholder landscape over various business sectors is Circular Economy. CEN/TC 473 ‘Circular Economy’ will continue with its ambitious task to unify the European point of view on Circular Economy standardization and align, as much as possible, with international counterpart ISO/TC 323 ‘Circular Economy’. In 2025, the technical committee will focus on developing horizontal standards related to European-specific prerequisites, legislation and policy, and producers’ responsibility. The standards aim to provide recommendations, requirements, methodologies, and tools to support and measure the transition of the market.

Green electrical infrastructure 

Balancing environmental, economic, and social needs for current and future generations has been at the core of European policies and initiatives for several years. Standards can help achieve these policy goals as they are meant to clarify commonly accepted definitions, provide methods for measuring and testing, and open markets to the safe use of new technologies.

In this context, a modernized, intelligent electric power grid capable of integrating, managing, and distributing renewable energy efficiently is vital. 

In 2025, CEN and CENELEC will continue the development of standards ensuring the safety and security of electrical installations, facilitating supply chain security and interoperability, enabling investments in the electricity network, saving costs and thus speeding up the deployment and modernization of a green electricity grid.

Nevertheless, as some standards might be missing to ensure the full integration of the grid, CEN and CENELEC will further investigate the development of standardization mapping/gap analysis in identified sectors (such as cables and others).