CEN, the European Committee for Standardization, is an association that brings together the National Standardization Bodies of 34 European countries, providing a platform for the development of European Standards and other technical documents in relation to various kinds of products, materials, services and processes.
It is one of three European Standardization Organizations (together with CENELEC and ETSI) that have been officially recognized by the European Union and by the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) as being responsible for developing and defining voluntary standards at European level.
CEN and CIE co-operate in the interest of international and European standardisation, with the aim to make to the maximum possible extent use of the knowledge and experience available within each of the organisations, with this co-operation formalized through an agreement.