ANEC (organisation)

Last updated

The European consumer voice in standardisation
AbbreviationANEC
Formation1995
TypeRegional consumer organisation
Registration no.507800799-30 [1]
Legal statusnon-profit organisation (AISBL)
PurposeRaising standards for European consumers
Headquarters Rue d'Arlon 80
Location
Region
Europe
Fields standardization
Membership
29 states
President
Dermott Jewell
Director-General
Stephen Russell
Main organ
ANEC Secretariat
Affiliations European Union, EFTA
Website www.anec.eu

ANEC, formally The European consumer voice in standardisation (prior to June 2022, The European Association for the Coordination of Consumer Representation in Standardisation), [2] is an organisation promoting and defending the collective European consumer interest in the process of standardization, and in related fields such as conformity assessment (e.g.certification), market surveillance and enforcement. ANEC also aims to influence legislation that makes reference to standards or standardization. [3] In November 2008, ANEC adopted the strapline 'Raising Standards for Consumers' as part of an initiative to improve the visibility of the association. On 15 March 2018, World Consumer Rights' Day, ANEC launched a short video (2 minutes 15 seconds) to explain its role and highlight some of its successes. [4]

Contents

ANEC provides technical expertise and advice drawn from a network of consumer representatives across Europe. In 2022, the association's 185 experts contributed to the work of 237 technical committees and working groups of the European Standardization Organisations, CEN, CENELEC and ETSI and international standards organisations, ISO and IEC, participating in 579 meetings and contributing 456 sets of comments on draft standards. [5]

On 15 June 2022, an Extraordinary General Meeting of the association adopted new Statutes. The most visible modifications introduced by the Statutes were the change in the legal title of the association, and the change in the title of the lead executive from Secretary-General to Director-General. [6]

History

ANEC was set up in 1995 as an international non-profit association under Belgian law. [2] Its principal motivation was to ensure organised consumer participation in the development of European Standards intended to support European legislation introduced under the New Approach to Technical Harmonization and Standardization. However, its competence also extends to other European Standards developed by the European Standardization Organisations, as well as to other standards that may impact directly or indirectly on the European consumer (for example, certain standards of W3C, the World Wide Web Consortium). [3]

Organisation

ANEC is open to the representation of consumer organisations from the 27 European Union Member States and the United Kingdom, three European Free Trade Association (EFTA) countries (Iceland, Norway and Switzerland) as well as North Macedonia, Serbia and Turkey. The organisation's General Assembly is composed of one national member per country, nominated jointly by the national consumer organisations in that country. Its Working Groups bring together experts from the countries of its members who define the consensual positions on behalf of the collective European consumer interest in fields related presently to seven areas of priority (Accessibility, Child Safety, Digital Society, Domestic Appliances, Services, Sustainability, and Traffic & Mobility). These areas of priority respond to the needs voiced through the General Assembly by the national consumer organisations. ANEC reimburses the travel, accommodation and subsistence costs of its volunteers, and pays a daily allowance. [3]

Regarding services, ANEC is primarily concerned with the safety of services, rather than their quality which is of secondary concern. It does not strive to eliminate all diversity in services, but rather demands that certain core safety requirements need to be complied with by providers to ensure all customers' wellbeing through standardisation. Nevertheless, it believes a horizontal legislative framework for the safety of services is needed, in other words, an extension of the "New Approach" to services. [2]

Van Leeuwen (2017) claims that ANEC lacks the human resources and technical expertise to play a major role in the process of European standardisation, and is able to obtain achievements on only a limited number of consumer protection issues. [2] ANEC confirms that the 'national delegation principle' means it "does not have a central role in the European Standardisation System". [7] However, it notes its achievements do include "a few big wins", and highlights a number of them (such as ensuring the safe use of "100s of millions" [8] of domestic electrical appliances by vulnerable consumers, and safe sound limits by default in Personal Music Players) but stresses they are not limited to these "high-profile successes". [9]

ANEC is funded by the European Union (95%) and EFTA (5%) for its core mission under Regulation (EU) 1025/2012, while the time of the representatives of the national consumer organisations and experts is accepted by the EU and EFTA as a "contribution in kind". [3] In 2020, the grant made available to ANEC was 1.44 million euros. [10] The ANEC Secretariat calculated the "contribution in kind" in 2007 to be worth 260.000 euros. [11] The contribution was calculated to be worth 516.000 euros in 2020, [10] and 620.000 euros in 2022. [5]

The ANEC Secretariat is based in Brussels. In October 2020, the Secretariat relocated to rue d'Arlon 80, the same premises as The European Consumer Organisation (BEUC). [12] The Secretariat team is responsible for leading the political activities of the association. ANEC has signed the European Union's Transparency Register (with identification number 507800799-30) and accepted its Code of Conduct. [10]

On 15 June 2023, Dermott Jewell (Ireland) was re-elected ANEC President for the term 2023 to 2027. Rusnė Juozapaitienė (Lithuania) was elected Vice-President, and Olav Kasland (Norway) was elected Treasurer. [13] The Director-General is Stephen Russell. [14]

See also

Related Research Articles

Standardization or standardisation is the process of implementing and developing technical standards based on the consensus of different parties that include firms, users, interest groups, standards organizations and governments. Standardization can help maximize compatibility, interoperability, safety, repeatability, or quality. It can also facilitate a normalization of formerly custom processes. In social sciences, including economics, the idea of standardization is close to the solution for a coordination problem, a situation in which all parties can realize mutual gains, but only by making mutually consistent decisions.

A standards organization, standards body, standards developing organization (SDO), or standards setting organization (SSO) is an organization whose primary function is developing, coordinating, promulgating, revising, amending, reissuing, interpreting, or otherwise contributing to the usefulness of technical standards to those who employ them. Such an organization works to create uniformity across producers, consumers, government agencies, and other relevant parties regarding terminology, product specifications, protocols, and more. Its goals could include ensuring that Company A's external hard drive works on Company B's computer, an individual's blood pressure measures the same with Company C's sphygmomanometer as it does with Company D's, or that all shirts that should not be ironed have the same icon on the label.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">European Committee for Standardization</span> Standards organization

The European Committee for Standardization is a public standards organization whose mission is to foster the economy of the European Single Market and the wider European continent in global trading, the welfare of European citizens and the environment by providing an efficient infrastructure to interested parties for the development, maintenance and distribution of coherent sets of standards and specifications.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ASTM International</span> Standards organization

ASTM International, formerly known as American Society for Testing and Materials, is an international standards organization that develops and publishes voluntary consensus technical standards for a wide range of materials, products, systems, and services. Some 12,575 ASTM voluntary consensus standards operate globally. The organization's headquarters is in West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, about 5 mi (8.0 km) northwest of Philadelphia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">European Union Aviation Safety Agency</span> European Union civil aviation authority

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is an agency of the European Union (EU) with responsibility for civil aviation safety. It carries out certification, regulation and standardisation and also performs investigation and monitoring. It collects and analyses safety data, drafts and advises on safety legislation and co-ordinates with similar organisations in other parts of the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CE marking</span> European Declaration of conformity mark

On commercial products, the presence of the logo means that the manufacturer or importer affirms the goods' conformity with European health, safety, and environmental protection standards. It is not a quality indicator or a certification mark. The CE marking is required for goods sold in the European Economic Area (EEA); goods sold elsewhere may also carry the mark.

European Standards, sometimes called Euronorm, are technical standards which have been ratified by one of the three European Standards Organizations (ESO): European Committee for Standardization (CEN), European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (CENELEC), or European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI). All ENs are designed and created by all standards organizations and interested parties through a transparent, open, and consensual process.

The European Organisation for Civil Aviation Equipment (EUROCAE) is an international organisation that deals exclusively with aviation standardisation, for both airborne and ground systems and equipment. It was created in 1963 in Lucerne, Switzerland by a decision of the European Civil Aviation Conference as a European forum focusing on electronic equipment for air transport. The organisation's offices are based in Saint-Denis, France near Paris.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BSI Group</span> National standards body of the UK

The British Standards Institution (BSI) is the national standards body of the United Kingdom. BSI produces technical standards on a wide range of products and services and also supplies certification and standards-related services to businesses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">European Cooperation for Space Standardization</span> Standardization organization for European space activities

The European Cooperation for Space Standardization (ECSS) is a collaboration between the European Space Agency (ESA), the European space industry represented by Eurospace, and several space agencies, to develop and maintain a coherent, single set of user-friendly standards for use in all European space activities. Established in 1993 following a call by Eurospace to unify space products assurance standardization on a European level, it was officially adopted by the ESA on 23 June 1994 through the resolution ESA/C/CXIII/Res.1, to replace its own Procedures, Specifications and Standards (PSS) system. The ECSS currently has 139 active standards, forming the ECSS system. These standards cover management, engineering, product assurance, and space sustainability disciplines. The ECSS is managed by the ESA Requirement and Standard Division, based in the European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) in Noordwijk, the Netherlands. The ECSS maintains connections with multiple European and international standardization organizations, to contribute to standardization and to adopt relevant standards as part of the ECSS system.

Transport standards organisations is an article transport Standards organisations, consortia and groups that are involved in producing and maintaining standards that are relevant to the global transport technology, transport journey planning and transport ticket/retailing industry. Transport systems are inherently distributed systems with complex information requirements. Robust modern standards for transport data are important for the safe and efficient operation of transport systems. These include:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ETSI</span> European tech standards organization

The European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) is an independent, not-for-profit, standardization organization in the field of information and communications. ETSI supports the development and testing of global technical standards for ICT-enabled systems, applications and services.

CEN/CENELEC Guide 6: Guidelines for standards developers to address the needs of older persons and persons with disabilities is a document for participants in standardisation activities at CEN and CENELEC that contains guidance for the creation and the revision of standards to ensure greater accessibility of products and services. The document is a "Guide", in other words, not a European Standard (EN). The guide is identical to ISO/IEC Guide 71 and was adopted by both the CEN Technical Board and the CENELEC Technical Board, and published in January 2002. The adoption of CEN/CENELEC Guide 6 resulted from a European mandate to the European standardisation organisations, and the European Commission is funding projects to promote the use of the Guide.

Design for All in the context of information and communications technology (ICT) is the conscious and systematic effort to proactively apply principles, methods and tools to promote universal design in computer-related technologies, including Internet-based technologies, thus avoiding the need for a posteriori adaptations, or specialised design.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The European Consumer Organisation</span>

The European Consumer Organisation, from the French name Bureau Européen des Unions de Consommateurs, "European Bureau of Consumers' Unions") is an umbrella consumers' group, founded in 1962. Based in Brussels, Belgium, it brings together 45 European consumer organisations from 32 countries.

Market surveillance for products ensures that products on the market conform to applicable laws and regulations. This helps to foster trust among consumers buying products or financial services and protects consumers and professionals from harm from non-compliant products. It also helps companies that comply to stay in business and avoid losing market share to rogue traders.

The Swedish Consumers' Association is a collaborative consumer organization based in Sweden that works for consumers' interests through increased consumer power. It is an independent, democratically anchored organisation that works through lobbying, opinion formation, and public education. Behind the organization are 19 member organisations. The Swedish Consumers' Association is a member of Consumers International, BEUC, and ANEC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cyprus Organisation for Standardisation</span>

The Cyprus Organisation for Standardisation, or CYS, is the national standardisation body of Cyprus, whose principal activity is the production of standards and the supply of standards-related services.

EN 16114 "Management consultancy services" is a standard published by the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) on September 28, 2011. It focuses on the providing of management consulting services by management consultancy service providers (MCSPs).

References

  1. ↑ Lobbyfacts.eu
  2. 1 2 3 4 Van Leeuwen, Barend (23 February 2017). European Standardisation of Services and its Impact on Private Law: Paradoxes of Convergence. London: Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. 67–68. ISBN   9781509908349 . Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  3. 1 2 3 4 ANEC website
  4. ↑ ANEC: "ANEC - the Movie"
  5. 1 2 ANEC: Annual Review 2022
  6. ↑ ANEC: ANEC Newsletter 4, 2022.
  7. ↑ ANEC: Brochure, "What we do for you" - Second edition.
  8. ↑ ANEC Annual Review 2017
  9. ↑ "Success Stories". ANEC. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  10. 1 2 3 EU: Transparency Register.
  11. ↑ ANEC: ANEC/GA Open Session – 11 June 2009, Secretary-General’s statement.
  12. ↑ ANEC: ANEC Newsletter 8, 2020.
  13. ↑ ANEC: ANEC Newsletter 4, 2023.
  14. ↑ ANEC: ANEC Secretariat.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.