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The number of responsibilities of Spanish experts in international and European standards bodies rose to 153 in 2023. Foremost amongst them is the vice-presidency of ISO, a position which is held by the Director General of UNE, Javier García.
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Leading the way in international standardization has a direct impact on international trade and competitiveness: standards contribute 1% of GDP to Spanish economic growth, reduce business costs by 7% and improve productivity by 13%.
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In the second year of implementation of the UNE 2025 Strategy, the Spanish standards body made significant progress through new standards that provide an effective response to the major challenges facing society, such as ESG (environmental, social and governance) objectives.
Madrid, 30 May 2024 - Today, the Spanish Association for Standardization, UNE, held its General Assembly, where it presented the 2023 Annual Report, which contains the main activities undertaken by the entity in the past year, and the 2024 UNE Standardization Awards were presented. The Deputy Director General of Industrial Quality and Safety at the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism, José Manuel Prieto, closed the Assembly, attended by a hundred representatives from the Spanish economic sectors, Public Administrations and other relevant entities.
The Director General of UNE and Vice-President of ISO, Javier García, noted that: “2023 was characterized by the promotion of the internationalization of Spain's leadership in standardization. Spanish experts lead 153 chairs and secretariats of technical bodies of international and European standardization bodies. Being at the forefront of global standardization is the difference between doing what others dictate to us, or being us who determine the content of standards that influence our businesses”.
Leading global standardization has a direct impact on the increase in international trade and the competitiveness of the production fabric: standards contribute 1% of GDP to Spanish economic growth, reduce business costs by 7% and improve productivity by 13%. In addition, standards contribute up to 5% of the gross profits through annual sales revenue to the companies that apply them, according to several studies by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the Institute of Economic Studies (IEE).
The Assembly highlighted the efforts of the Ministry of Industry and Tourism to prioritize standardization under the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the European Union in the second half of last year. In October, the Ministry and UNE organized the seminar “Standardization: a Strategic Instrument for the Climate and Digital Transition", which underscored the key role that standards play in achieving these objectives. It also noted the contribution of standardization to achieving two of the Spanish Presidency’s priorities: re-industrialize the EU and ensure its open strategic autonomy, and further the ecological transition.
UNE 2025 strategy
2023 marked the second year of the implementation of the UNE 2025 Strategy, which is based on three strategic objectives: to provide solutions to the challenges facing society, to carry out its digital transformation, and to be recognized as an exemplary organization. In this regard, the Spanish standardization body made significant progress in areas such as ESG (environmental, social and good governance) objectives.
Among others, the UNE published standards on compliance in terms of free competition and social responsibility; work began on the future ISO standard on United Nations Sustainable Development Goals management systems; and UNE worked on, together with more than 60 countries, and made a significant contribution to, the development of the first ISO International Standard on Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment, which was recently published.
New UNE members
In 2023, 30 new members joined the UNE's partnership base, which is made up of more than 500 members, representing virtually all of Spain's production and economic fabric. These include more than 200 national industry associations, companies, public administrations, universities and technology centres. UNE's members are the engine and foundation of Spain's standardization system.
Standards and consumers
In keeping with the UNE's strategic goal of providing solutions to the challenges facing society, the entity launched a communication campaign with the Federation of Consumers and Users CECU to raise consumer awareness of the importance of choosing products and services that comply with technical standards. The UNE also published its third Annual Report from the Market Surveillance Observatory to enforce compliance with technical standards and with regulations in order to prevent the marketing of unsafe products and services that cause damage to the economy and consumers and create unfair competition.
A model of public-private collaboration.
UNE is a model example of public-private collaboration. It currently has 15 collaboration agreements with government agencies to facilitate the implementation of laws and the development of regulations.
2024 UNE Awards
During the General Assembly, the UNE Standardization Awards 2024 were presented, which recognize the commitment and professionalism of the Standardization Committees and the people who make them up. This year's winners were:
- López Agüí award for outstanding UNE-TSC: CTN-UNE 146 Aggregates, whose secretariat leads the Federation of Aggregates.
- UNE Award for the most outstanding UNE-TSC or UNE-SC president: Val Díez, President of CTN-UNE 194 Gender Equality and Managing Director of STANPA.
- UNE Award for the most outstanding TSC spokesperson: Isabel Gonzalo Pascual, from the Division of Health Laboratories of Agricultural Production of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (CTN-UNE 331 Diagnostic analysis in animal health).
- UNE Award for the Integration of Standardization in Innovation: IRIS Technology Solutions.
View the 2023 UNE Annual Report here.
