On 17 April CEN and CENELEC, two of the official European Standardization Organizations, hosted JISC (the Japanese Industrial Standards Committee) in their Brussels headquarters to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of their Cooperation Agreement. 

The agreement was signed in 2014 by the then Presidents of the three organizations, as the culmination and formalization of an already long-standing cooperation on standards.  

The celebrations were held as part of this year’s Annual Secretariat Meeting. Guests from the European Commission, the Japanese government, industry, and technical bodies took part in hybrid form to the event, witnessing an important milestone in the relationship between Japan and Europe.

Participants discussed topics of strategic interest for standardization: among them, cyber resilience, Artificial Intelligence, quantum technologies, hydrogen, circular economy, and power consumption measurement of pure battery-operated equipment. 

The Annual Secretariat Meeting took place, as a customary practice, in connection with the EU-Japan Industrial Dialogue Working Group on Standards and Conformity Assessment between the European Commission’s DG GROW and the Japanese Ministry of Economy Trade and Industry, which was on 16 April. Europe and Japan alternate as hosts. 

Mr. Wolfgang Niedziella, President of CENELEC, said: “Since the beginning, this Cooperation Agreement between CEN, CENELEC, and JISC has laid a strong foundation for technical coordination, thanks to our joint commitment to international standardization. We look forward to strengthening our partnership and working closer together in European and international standardization in 2024, an election year with great challenges and uncertainties.” 

Mr. Tetsuya Tanaka, Secretary General of JISC, added: “Europe and Japan share fundamental values, and both of us are facing significant changes in the economic and social situation. In the pursuit of further growth of both Europe and Japan, collaboration and cooperation between CEN/CENELEC and JISC are ever more important. I believe that such efforts in our cooperation framework will generate synergy effects, and surely result in momentum for our mutual growth.”

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