Publication date: 2002
This publication sets the European standardization process in its changing context where European standards are increasingly being framed at the international level. The development of standards to fill out the European directives that ensure free movement for work equipment but also affect health and safety is now moving up to a more global setting.
At the time when the European Union brought in its New Approach to technical harmonization, standardization was essentially a national exercise. Now, industrial production is almost without exception a European and international activity: in a globalized market with strong growth in international trade, manufacturers see international standards as a key to gain market access and boost trade.
This book sets out to exemplify some aspects of the current debates on how European and international standards as developed in the ISO and IEC can affect the health and safety of Europe's workers.