Accord de Vienne / Vienna Agreement / Parallel Development
A cooperation agreement between CEN and ISO allowing standards to be developed in parallel at international and European level to avoid duplication and ensure coherence.
Annex ZA
The Annex ZA is an informative Annex to a harmonised standard demonstrating the relationship between the clauses of the harmonized standards and the requirements of the EU legislation aimed to be covered.
Ballot
A formal voting procedure with a defined opening and closing date, during which eligible National Bodies approve, reject, or abstain on a draft standard or decision.
BT, Bureau Technique, Technical Board
The governance body of CEN-CENELEC responsible for supervising and coordinating the technical work of its Technical Committees. The BT can take decisions for JTCs.
CCMC – CEN-CENELEC Management Centre
The executive body responsible for daily operations, coordination, and administrative management of CEN and CENELEC. Every TC or JTC has a referent Technical Program Manager (TPM) in CCMC.
CD – Committee Draft (ISO/IEC terminology)
An advanced draft standard circulated to National Bodies for comments and consensus-building before public enquiry. Corresponds to a Working Draft in CEN/CLC.
CEN – Comité Européen de Normalisation, European Committee for Standardization
A European Standardization Organization (ESO) responsible for developing voluntary European Standards (European Norms, ENs) across multiple sectors. Sometimes, CEN and CENELEC, 2 ESOs, create JTCs, Joint Technical Committees.
CEN BOSS – CEN Business Operations Support System
An online platform that centralises all the resources, guidance and regulation for CEN/CENELEC standardisation. A question about rules ? Check the BOSS : https://boss.cen.eu/
Example : “The BOSS is very clear : you need a 8-weeks ballot”
CIB – Committee Internal Ballot
An internal vote within a Technical Committee used for procedural or organizational decisions outside of formal standard development stages. A CIB is usually used to take decisions without waiting for the next TC plenary. The appointment of a new project leader, a change of scope, or activating a NWI can be decided through a CIB, that usually lasts from 4 to 8 weeks.
Example : “We will launch a CIB to change the scope of this standard.”
Citation in OJEU
Citation in the Official Journal of the European Union. When a harmonised standard is published, it is cited in the OJEU.
Convenor
The person appointed to lead and coordinate the work of a Working Group (WG), ensuring progress and consensus among experts.
CRM – Comments Resolution Meeting
A meeting organized to review and decide on comments received during a ballot or public enquiry stage.
Example : “We’ll organise a CRM on the first week of March” “Let’s deal with this issue after the CRM”
DIS – Draft International Standard (ISO/IEC terminology)
A draft standard circulated for public enquiry at the international level within ISO and/or IEC.
Example : “ISO/IEC 12345 is currently under DIS”
Editor
An expert within a WG who is responsible for overseeing the development of a specific standard. This individual manages the drafting, revision, and finalization of the standard. In the context of standardization, Project Leader and Editor refer to the same role.
EN – European Standard
A standard formally adopted by CEN and/or CENELEC and implemented identically as a national standard by all member countries.
ENQ – Public Enquiry
The public consultation stage of a draft European Standard.
ESO – European Standardization Organizations
Collective term referring to CEN, CENELEC, and ETSI.
FDIS – Final Draft International Standard (ISO/IEC terminology)
The final voting stage before publication of an International Standard. Only editorial comments are taken into account, technical comments are reserved for revision.
Example : “Do you have the FDIS version of this standard ?”
Form 4
The mandatory proposal form used to submit a New Work Item within a Technical Committee, defining scope, justification, and market relevance.
Example : “The form4 of this new project is unclear”.
FV – Formal Vote
The final voting stage of a European draft standard before publication as an EN.
HAS Consultant – Harmonized Standards Consultants
Experts appointed by the European Commission to assess whether a standard drafted under a Standardization Request complies with EU legislation. In JTC 21, this role is fulfilled by the AI Office. They assess the capacity of a standard to give presumption of conformity to a regulation. (more info : https://boss.cen.eu/developingdeliverables/pages/en/pages/has_assessment_process/)
Example : “Did you see the results of the assessment from the HAS consultant ?”
hEN – Harmonised standard
A standard links to a regulation or a directive, which contains at least an annex ZA.
HoD – Head of Delegation
The official representative appointed by a National Standardization Body to represent national positions within a plenary meeting of a JTC. They are responsible for expressing the national position that has been established prior to official JTC plenary meetings.
Example : “Mrs X is HoD for this country, only she can express a disapproval”.
Homegrown Standard
A standard specifically developed in response to a Standardization Request, rather than based on a pre-existing international standard.
Informative reference
A document which is cited in the text in such a way that some or all of their content constitutes not a requirement of the document.
ISO/IEC
Indicates joint standardization work conducted collaboratively between ISO and IEC, often within Joint Technical Committees (JTCs).
JTC – Joint Technical Committee
A technical committee jointly established by two standardization organizations (for example, ISO/IEC or CEN/CENELEC).
Liaison
A formal cooperation mechanism allowing one committee or external organization to observe and contribute to another committee’s work. This liaison should have a purpose, and is represented by the nomination of Liaison Officers, who have to report their work to both committees at each plenary meeting. There are different categories of liaisons to reflect different types of engagement.
Normative Reference
A document which is cited in the text in such a way that some or all of their content constitutes requirements of the document.
Mirror Committee
A national committee that mirrors the activities of an international and/or European technical committee (eISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 42 and CEN/CLC JTC 21). It ensures national input is reflected in the development of standards at the international or European level. This national input is called a position and should reflect the consensus of the national members of the mirror committee.
Example : “The French mirror committee expresses its support for this decision.”
N-Document (N-Doc, NDoc)A formally registered and numbered document (N123) within ISO, IEC, or CEN documentation systems. Sometimes used as a verb. Giving a number to a document makes it available to all experts of the structure (either a WG or a TC).
Example : “Your contribution is N123” “Can you NDoc this agenda for me please ?”
NSB – National Standardization Body
A national organization responsible for coordinating standardization activities and representing its country at European and international level (e.g., AFNOR, DIN, BSI).
Example : “Reach out to your NSB to be registered”
NWIP / NP / NewWI– New Work Item Proposal
A formal proposal to initiate development of a new standard, sometimes after a PWI. Approval triggers the official start of the project lifecycle. It is represented by the filling of the Form4. A new project has to be approved by a majority of members and 5 NSBs should appoint active experts on the subject.
Example : “We’ll activate the NWIP at the next plenary meeting”
OSD – Online Standards Development
A collaborative digital platform used for drafting and managing standardization projects. Often used to refer to the document itself.
Example : “The OSD link can be found in the pinned links of the WG 4 homepage” “I can’t find the OSD ?” “We’ll be using OSD from now on”
PDoC – Proposed Disposition of Comments
A document prepared by the editors after a ballot or a call for comments. For each comment received, the editors will propose a way to deal with them : accept them, disapprove them, note them, discuss them… This document is published on the portal. In case of short deadlines, experts are sometimes expected to read it and send Reconsideration Requests (RRs) to the editors, if a response does not satisfy them.
Example : “The PDoC is published, we are accepting RRs until next Monday.”
Plenary Meeting
A formal meeting of all members of a Technical Committee to discuss and make decisions on standards development. Sometimes referred to as “a plenary”. A pleanry meeting usually goes like :
1) Opening meeting : different reports are made, proposed decisions are presented
then Working Groups meet during 2 to 3 days
Then the Closing meeting, WGs present their report and decisions are discussed and taken.
List of decisions that can be taken during a plenary :
- creation of a PWI
- launch of a ballot for activating a NWI
- appointment of an editor
- …
Example : “When will be the next plenary ?” “We should pass this decision during next plenary”
Presumption of conformity
Given by a harmonized standard. It allows to apply the CE marking to the product because he meets the requirements of the European legislation.
Project Leader
An expert within a WG who is responsible for overseeing the development of a specific standard. This individual manages the drafting, revision, and finalization of the standard. In the context of standardization, Project Leader and Editor refer to the same role.
Projex
CEN-CENELEC data tool, where you can find all the information about the structures (TCs, WGs…) and projects (stage, name, …) of JTC 21.
PWI – Preliminary Work Item
An initial registration of a topic within a Technical Committee work programme before formal project approval. The goal is to work on the subject, to see if there are any other related works, refine the scope.
SC – Subcommittee
A subdivision of a Technical Committee responsible for a specific technical domain.
SR / SReq– Standardization Request
A formal mandate issued by the European Commission to one or more European Standardisation Organisations (CEN, CENELEC, ETSI) requesting development of standards supporting EU legislation.
Example : “Are we expecting an SR on this subject ?”
SR / Systematic Review
Once published, standards to determine whether they remain current, relevant, and effective. The review may result in confirmation, revision, or withdrawal of the standard.
Example : “The Systematic Review of the AI data quality standard concluded that it needed updates to reflect advancements in machine learning technologies.”
TC – Technical Committee
A governance structure within a standardization organization responsible for developing standards in a defined technical field.
TR – Technical Report
An informative document providing guidance or state-of-the-art information without normative requirements. Typically, they are called “Overviews”, “Mapping”…
Example : “This TR mentions a standard we forgot to cite”
TS – Technical SpecificationA normative document of lower consensus level than a full standard, often used for emerging technologies. For example, as TRs, it does not have a public enquiry phase.
Example : “A TS on quantum computing was published yesterday”
WD – Working Draft
In CEN/CLC, an optional (but recommended) draft standard circulated to National Bodies for comments and consensus-building before public enquiry.
In ISO/IEC, an optional early-stage draft developed within a Working Group for committee circulation.
Example : “This is the 1st WD for our standard”
WI – Work Item
Mostly used by staff of NSBs and CCMC. Defines a standardisation while it is still a project, more specifically when it has not a number yet.
Example : “This WI needs to be moved to WG 1 on Projex”
WG – Working Group
A group of experts operating under a TC or SC responsible for drafting and revising standards. Experts are appointed by their NSB and represent their NSB in the working groups.
Example : “I’m going to WG 2’s meeting tomorrow.”