Every cloud has a silver lining. “Certification”, “Standards”, “Conformity”, for the first time, people are using our vocabulary, and understand what it means. National authorities and the general audience strongly need transparency and want to understand where products are coming from and their compliance to applicable legislations and standards.

Meanwhile, the EU Court of Justice confirmed the significance and the application of Regulation (EC) No 765/2008, and decided that, in the European Economic Area (EEA), accreditation can only be carried out by the National Accreditation Body.

One of the biggest tasks of 2021 was the evolution of the EA Articles of Association and Rules of Procedure, in order to allow UKAS to remain an EA Member after the Brexit, but also to open EA a bit further, and welcome National Accreditation Bodies from the European continent.

The COVID-19 crisis is a business-changing experience and a turning point for EA Members, Stakeholders, Evaluators, and the Secretariat. Working remotely in the cloud has allowed EA and its members to develop new techniques for trainings and peer evaluations, and accelerate the use of digital tools. These valuable assets will help EA to enter this new era, to fulfil one of its objectives to reduce EA’s Carbon footprint, and support the objectives set by the European Green Deal.

Let’s hope that 2022 will be the year when we will all meet again.

Dr Andreas Steinhorst, Executive Secretary

Click here to download the EA Annual Report 2021.