News

Involvement with the European Commission on future legislations
As European legislation increasingly relies on accreditation to support a broad range of policy objectives, EA and its members continue to actively support the development of new accreditation activities. To facilitate the consistent and effective implementation of new legislative requirements, EA is strengthening its activities and resources in order to provide more guidance, technical expertise, training and workshops, enabling national accreditation bodies to develop the necessary competence and to ensure a harmonised approach across Europe.

In this context, the previous Strategy had already identified the need to reinforce the Secretariat’s technical resources. The objective has been fulfilled with the recruitment of Maureen van den Wijngarrt, the new EA technical manager.

Since the beginning of 2026, EA has hosted several workshops, many of them about new regulations but also on new developments, e.g. the consultation workshop on the Commission recognition of certification schemes under the Carbon Removals and Carbon Farming (CRCF) Regulation on 10 April.

Thanks to the tight and constant cooperation with the European Commission, EA is increasingly involved well in advance and proactively in future and revised regulations.

To inform the accreditation community on these new developments, EA has established channels to provide information on EU legislation and new developments, such as the regular update of EA-INF/05 Directory of European legislations and EU schemes with provisions to accreditation and/or conformity assessment, or on the EA website in the news category.

Adoption of the Implementation of the EA Strategy 2030
The EA Strategy 2030 was approved and published in November 2025. As a result of the May 2026 meeting, the GA approved the proposed implementation plan.

How to implement the Strategy?

A specific plan has been designed.

Harmonisation continues to rank high in the plan objectives. Improving the peer evaluation system is also a high priority. Discussions have already started in the MAC on how AI and other digital tools could help improve the PE process. Furthermore, the EA Workshop held on 28 May gave valuable insight to consider for the evolution of the EA system. The Secretariat will assess opportunities arising from the introduction of AI and new digital tools in EA operations. The EA budget will set limits, but the team is ready for changes where repetitive tasks can be transferred appropriately.

To continue reinforcing the dialogue with stakeholders, a project is underway to develop a “public-consultation-like” platform on the EA website. It will start in 2026, aiming to give stakeholders and all interested parties the means to give EA their feedback, formulate expectations, and create closer links between EA and everyone concerned by accreditation and Conformity Assessment services.

EA MLA Mark
The EA MLA mark has been registered in all MLA signatory countries except Switzerland. EA NABs have started to use the mark. 18 NAB members in all have expressed so far their wish to use the mark. The current question is about the use of the EA MLA mark together with other marks. In Luxembourg, it was decided to check legal aspects regarding the use of the EA MLA mark in combination with other marks and to launch a survey on the value and use of the EA MLA mark.

Stakeholders offered their support regarding the proposed survey. Feedback will be used to confirm a policy on the use of the EA MLA mark in combination with other marks.

Revision of the New Legislative Framework
How is the revision going? Some background elements.

With this revision, and building on the findings of the 2022 evaluation of the New Legislative Framework, the European Commission aims to address the shortcomings that were identified and ensure a framework that is fit for the future and aligned with the objectives of the circular economy and digitalisation. 

The revision of the NLF is on the European Commission Work Programme 2026. The objective is to develop a new European Product Act (EPA) covering the revision of Regulation 765, Decision 768, Regulation 2019/1020 on market surveillance and compliance of products, Regulation 1025/2000 on European Standardisation.

According to EC representatives, revision is progressing well andthe publication of a draft legislative text is still scheduled for the  3rd quarter of this year.

Cooperation with Global ACI
The EA General Assembly was pleased to welcome Brahim Houla, the Chair of Global ACI. He reported on progress with the revision and approval of the Global ACI Constitution. A special GA online meeting is planned on 18 June to vote on the revised text.

According to the rules, the final proposal for the Constitution has been distributed to the members in advance of their vote. The new proposal addresses the following points:

• About the conflict between national law and Global ACI requirements. It is now reflected that national law has precedence.
• Global ACI must not operate for the purpose or with the effect of entering into market competition.

The 2 points were raised by EA and discussed at large. During the Global ACI GA in Prague (April 2026), Maureen Logghe (EA President) made a presentation, which was much appreciated; it effectively clarified EA’s position and rationale for it.

Brahim Houla exhorted the EA members to accept the new text, which considers EA’s concerns. It is now time to move forward.

Farewell
4 key figures announced they would soon leave the scene: Leopoldo Cortez (IPAC), Stephan Finke (DAkkS), Boštjan Godec (SA), and Ulf Hammarström (SWEDAC). Each of them expressed their appreciation of the experience gained in EA. The GA paid them a warm tribute for their constructive contribution to the debates and wished them the best for their future projects.

The Resolutions of the 60^th General Assembly are available here.

The next EA General Assembly will take place on 25-26 November 2026 in Marseille, France.