Foreword by Dr Andreas Steinhorst, EA Executive Secretary
Dear all,
As you know, the importance of accreditation of conformity assessment bodies has substantially increased over the last decades. The European Commission, the European Free Trade Association, national authorities and stakeholders have recognized that accreditation is essential for the correct operation of a transparent and quality-oriented market, in order also to safeguard a high level of protection of public interests, such as health, safety and protection of the environment.
Given this position and the growing need for accreditation, it seemed fundamental for EA and its members to consider how EA should develop and adapt to the changing demand, to provide confidence to all stakeholders and users of accreditation and ensure effective support to its members – the National Accreditation Bodies.
A project team, led by Peter Strömbäck (CEO SWEDAC), was constituted to build a long-term strategy that can be summarized as follows. To be a reference for accreditation in the world, that enables an open and global market for competitive business, and provides reassurance to consumers in a sustainable society, EA has to ensure confidence in accredited conformity assessments results, through harmonized operation of accreditation activities, in support of European and global economies.
To achieve our vision and mission, 3 strategic objectives with supporting core values have been defined to support the implementation of our strategy, enabling the membership organization to speak with one voice and reach the desired position 2025.
We want to thank the high level, valuable work achieved by our project team and we are very proud to present this major document for EA. It will be essential for what we, the EA committees and our EA members, will do in the coming years to develop accreditation at the European and international
levels, getting “from Good to Great”.