Roadmap to the Eurocodes adoption: ASEAN countries visit the JRC-Ispra

The EU-ASEAN Eurocodes dialogue, implemented under the framework of the Enhanced Regional EU-ASEAN Dialogue Instrument (E-READI) by DG INTPA, aims to raise awareness on the Eurocodes in the ASEAN Member States (AMS). The Eurocodes dialogue strengthens both ASEAN regional integration and the overall EU-ASEAN partnership in the area of construction, supporting activities that promote the EU standards in construction and may facilitate the use of the European standards for construction in future investments under the Global Gateway initiative.

On 28-30 May 2024, the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) hosted a study visit of an AMS delegation on the Eurocodes. The visit was planned after the successful 2nd regional workshop on the Eurocodes dialogue held in Singapore in October 2023, following the general interest in the subject and direct feedback from the stakeholders in the region.

Through the three days of the event, 15 delegates from national authorities, standardisation bodies and universities of Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Thailand and Viet Nam have engaged with European Commission’s officials, Eurocodes Technical Committees’ experts (CEN/TC 250) and EU experts from national standardisation Bodies. The JRC also offered the visitors the opportunity to delve into selected EU research infrastructures and related research activities. 

The visit raised awareness of the benefits of using the Eurocodes, contributed to clarify the steps of a roadmap for their adoption and to facilitate the elaboration of the National Annexes to the Eurocodes. It aimed to facilitate collaboration among national stakeholders and establish synergies at a regional level, fostering networks among both public and private entities and developing communication modalities for follow-up activities. 

The key elements of the study visit were:

• Presentation of case studies on the adoption process and implementation of the Eurocodes by EU Member States and third countries.
• Workshop on a roadmap towards Eurocodes national implementation, to assist the ASEAN Member States that have expressed their interest in learning the steps towards the Eurocodes adoption, or have requested support on developing the National Annexes to the Eurocodes, with tailor-made support by EU experts.
• Demonstration session on the use of JRC’s Nationally Determined Parameters (NDP) database.
• Visits to selected JRC research infrastructures that support EU policy making for the built environment
• Meeting with representatives from the European Committee for Standardisation (CEN) to discuss the possibilities for review and adoption of the Eurocodes.

This successful study visit has prompted further opportunities for E-READI to engage in fruitful discussions and capacity-building activities on the Eurocodes with the ASEAN partners. 

More details, including the event agenda, are available at this page on this website.