The road to the second generation Eurocodes: where are we?

The family of the second generation Eurocodes will include 11 European Standards and 3 Technical Specifications, in total 74 parts. The European Committee for Standardization (CEN) will make the different parts available to the National Standards Bodies after the closure of all the Enquiries and Formal Votes, before the 30 March 2026.

What are the Enquiry and Formal Vote?

The Enquiry is a process of public comment and vote on the final draft of an EN standard. During the enquiry, everyone who has an interest (e.g. manufacturers, public authorities, consumers, etc.) may comment on the draft. These views are gathered by the members who then submit a national position by means of a weighted vote. If the results of the Enquiry show a 100% approval for the EN, then the European Standard will be published.

If the results of the Enquiry are not 100% approval, and show that the draft EN requires technical reworking, then the Technical Committee updates the draft and resubmits it for another weighted vote, called the Formal Vote.

This process applies to each single part of the second generation Eurocodes.

Click here to learn more about the steps to develop a European Standard (EN)

After the final text of the standard is approved by Formal Vote, CEN translates it in the official languages and distributes it to National Standards Bodies (NSBs) as soon as possible. The date by which NSBs receive the new standard is the Date of Availability (DAV). All the second generation Eurocode parts included in the European Commission Mandate M/515 will be distributed to NSBs no later than 30 March 2026 (latest DAV). 

The Date of Publication (DoP) is the latest date by which the new EN standard has to be implemented at national level, by the publication of an identical national standard or by endorsement. All the second generation Eurocode parts will have a DoP of 30 September 2027.