International dimension of European standardisation

The objective is pursued by:

• aiming for the widest possible coherence between international and European standards;
• facilitating the use, or technical alignment, of European standards outside of the EU;
• raising awareness and promoting the advantages of European standardisation;
• contributing to the bilateral regulatory/policy dialogues between the EU and third countries, as well as to the relevant chapters of free trade agreements negotiations;
• extending the Single Market through the European Neighbourhood policy.

The EU can provide financial and technical assistance towards the implementation of the reforms necessary for the approximation of regulations. Such cooperation with partner countries can be achieved through:

• increasing the sharing of European knowledge and expertise in standardisation through joint projects and initiatives;
• assistance from European institutes and organisations for preparation of training courses and material (e.g. design aids and tools) for continuing professional development aimed at engineers and students;
• networking on research and further development of standards for structural design.

TAIEX is the Technical Assistance and Information Exchange instrument of the European Commission. TAIEX supports public administrations with regard to the approximation, application and enforcement of EU legislation as well as facilitating the sharing of EU best practices.

JRC has supported TAIEX related events (workshops organization, expert study visits etc.) and relevant information have been published in the Eurocodes website.