ANEC

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

ANEC, the European Association for the Co-ordination of Consumer Representation in Standardisation (known informally as 'the European consumer voice in standardisation'), is an organisation promoting and defending consumer interests in the processes of standardization and certification and in legislation related to standardization and certification.

ANEC provides technical expertise and advice drawn from a network of more than 200 consumer representatives across Europe. The organisation's experts contribute directly to the work of more than 80 technical committees and working groups of the European Standards Organisations, CEN, CENELEC and ETSI.

[edit] History

ANEC was set up in 1995 as an international non-profit association under Belgian law. 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 Standards Organisations.

It represents consumer organisations from the European Union Member States and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) countries. The organisation's General Assembly is composed of one national member per country, nominated jointly by the national consumer organisations in that country. ANEC is funded by the European Commission and EFTA, while national consumer organisations contribute in kind. Its Secretariat is based in Brussels.