(Brussels – 16 June 2010) A new CEN-CENELEC Guide, which provides guidance to standards writers on how to take into consideration the needs of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) when writing standards, is available. Providing advice and a useful checklist, the Guide addresses the issues to be considered during the development process of preparing European Standards relevant to SMEs.

The Guide raises awareness of the matters that may be of importance to SMEs in the development of standards with the ultimate aim of increasing the uptake of European Standards amongst this group. If standards take more account of the SME perspective, considerable benefits would accrue to all stakeholders in standardization.

The Guide can be downloaded from www.cen.eu/go/SME and www.cenelec.eu/go/SME and is available in both English and French. It is also available on the NORMAPME website: www.normapme.com

The document (CEN/CLC Guide 17) was prepared by the CEN/CLC Technical Board Working Group 208 “Guidance on SME needs”, the secretariat of which was held by NORMAPME (the European Office of Crafts, Trades and Small and Medium sized Enterprises for Standardisation).

SMEs play a vital role in the European economy and are present in the majority of sectors. Nearly 99 per cent of European companies are SMEs, employing almost 81 million people, providing 66 per cent of Europe’s total employment. Small businesses are therefore crucial for growth and employment throughout Europe. As a key player in the European market, it is important that SMEs are aware of the added value of standards for their business and the various ways to participate in the standardization process.

With the introduction of this Guide, CEN and CENELEC pay close attention to the interests of SMEs and in particular microenterprises as potential users of standards.

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Media Contacts:

CEN and CENELEC Elisabeth Brodthagen Unit Manager - Communication Tel.: +32 2 519 68 90 E-mail: ebrodthagen@cencenelec.eu