Improving the EN, TS, and TR Development Process
Overview
CEN and CENELEC are evolving the EN, TS, and TR development process to make it more efficient, predictable, and fit for today’s fast-paced standardization environment.
The objective is clear: deliver high-quality European standardization deliverables faster, without compromising consensus, inclusiveness or technical excellence.
This is achieved by streamlining voting stages, reducing administrative steps, and enabling more parallel work.
Why this initiative?
Standardization operates in a fast-moving environment where timely delivery of standards is essential. While the standard development process is robust, certain steps can be optimized, as voting and administrative phases may be lengthy and sequential activities can delay progress.
This initiative addresses these challenges by reducing unnecessary delays, preserving time for quality drafting and consensus-building, and shifting the focus from administrative tasks to technical work.
What will change?
The improvements focus on making the process leaner and more efficient, while preserving flexibility where needed.
1. Earlier start of drafting
- Working Groups may begin drafting in parallel with New Work Item approval
👉 Benefit: Time gains at the very beginning of projects.
2. Shorter voting phases
- Duration of New Work Item approval vote reduced to 4 weeks, with possibility to extend to up to 8 weeks when justified and decided by TC leadership before launch
- Duration of and Formal Vote for ENs reduced to 4 weeks
👉 Benefit: Faster decision-making.
3. More parallel activities
- For ENs and TSs, Translation of Enquiry/Vote drafts into French and English begins after editing and in parallel with a national preparation period of 4 weeks;
- For ENs and TSs, Enquiry/Vote can start with the English version only, while translations continue in parallel;
- For ENs, Translation of FV draft takes place in parallel with FV
👉 Benefit: Reduced overall project duration without increasing workload.
4. A new default pathway for ENs: from Enquiry to Publication
- After a positive Enquiry, the default route will be direct publication
- Formal Vote becomes the exception, only required when technical changes are introduced after Enquiry as agreed by the TC
- Within 6 weeks after Enquiry, the TC confirms the next step (publication, FV, or other)
👉 Benefit: Significant time savings and reduced procedural burden, while ensuring that technical integrity is preserved when changes are needed and cannot wait for a future revision.
Process for ENs
Process for TSs
Process for TRs
Implementation timeline
The improvements will be introduced in two phases:
Batch 1 – 6 October 2026
- The vote duration for the adoption of New Work Items (NWI) and for the creation or activation of Preliminary Work Items (PWI) is set to 4 weeks but can exceptionally be extended up to 8 weeks when decided by the TC leadership before the launch of the ballot/vote
- For ENs and TSs, a period for the preparation of the national consultations after CCMC editing is set to 4 weeks and is followed by Enquiry for ENs and Vote for TSs
- Translation of Enquiry drafts for ENs and Vote drafts for TSs into French and German starts in parallel with the national preparation period and is set to eight weeks (four weeks of national preparation period and the first four weeks of the Enquiry/Vote period);
- Enquiry for ENs/Vote for TSs is launched with the English version only, unless the translation is available at the moment of the launch;
- The Formal Vote for ENs duration is set to 4 weeks
- Translation of Formal Vote for ENs draft takes place in parallel with Formal Vote.
Batch 2 – Q1 2027
- The WG responsible for the drafting of a NWI may start drafting in parallel with the NWI approval ballot/vote
- for ENs, Publishing directly after a positive Enquiry vote, provided that all comments have been considered and that there are no technical changes agreed upon by the TC. If technical changes are introduced in the final draft by the TC, Formal Vote is requested
- Within 6 weeks from the closure of the positive ENQ, the TC shall inform CCMC about the next steps (go to publication, launch FV, other procedure). CCMC will proceed to publication in case no TC feedback is received within 6 weeks.
These changes will apply to:
- All New Work Items (homegrown standards only), and
- Drafts entering relevant stages after each batch is implemented.
What does this mean for Technical Committees?
These improvements are designed for you and with you in mind:
✅ Focus on technical work rather than administrative steps
✅ Faster delivery of standard
✅ Greater flexibility where needed
At the same time, your core role remains unchanged 👉 ensuring high-quality, consensus-based standards.
Frequently Asked Questions
The national preparation period is the time allocated to CEN and CENELEC Members to prepare their national consultation process and Public Enquiry activities before the Enquiry is launched. It is primarily an administrative preparation phase. During this period, the Enquiry draft itself is not yet available for the Public Enquiry.
The national preparation period has been an integral step in the standards development process for years but was previously completely in parallel with the translation period.
Yes. French and German remain official languages of CEN and CENELEC. Translations will start in parallel with the national preparation period before Enquiry (4 weeks) and in parallel with Formal Vote (it may be difficult to have those in time before the end of the vote).
Yes. If the French and German translations are not ready when the Enquiry is launched, the Enquiry may start with the English version only. The translations will be circulated as soon as they become available. This was already the case before the modifications introduced by the new EN process.
Not necessarily. A positive Enquiry can lead directly to publication if no technical changes are required. If technical changes are needed, the draft proceeds to Formal Vote.
All technical comments must be considered by the TC. The TC decides whether the comments require technical changes. If so, the draft proceeds to Formal Vote; otherwise publication may proceed and comments can be addressed in a future revision.
The decision rests with the TC leadership, based on discussions within the WG and/or TC. Technical comments do not automatically trigger a Formal Vote.
The role and timing of HAS assessments remain unchanged. Publication after Enquiry remains subject to the existing HAS requirements.
No. EN ISO projects developed under the Vienna Agreement continue to follow the agreed ISO procedures and timelines.
The TC may decide to proceed to Formal Vote, organize a second Enquiry, or abandon the work item, depending on the circumstances.
The new timelines apply to all new EN, TS and TR work items reaching the relevant stages on or after 6 October 2026. Work items that have already passed a given stage before that date will continue to follow the timeline in force at the time the stage was initiated. For reference:
They are planned to enter into force in Q1 2027. More information will follow once the timeline becomes clearer.
Learn more
Webinars
Dedicated webinars are offered to support implementation, with dedicated time for Q&A.
Participation is mandatory for TC Secretaries, TC Chairs, WG Convenors, WG Secretaries, and Project Leaders, and is encouraged for TC members and WG experts.
👉 Register for one of the two webinars 'EN Development Process - First batch of changes':