Elisabeth Stampfl-Blaha                          Walter Barfuss                  Günter Idinger                      Christian Gabriel
                                               Managing Director, ASI                            President, ASI                   President, OVE NC               Managing Director Standardization, OVE

Dear Colleagues,

We greet you by saying “Servus”. This is a friendly salute commonly used in Austria that originates from Latin and means “at your service”. In this spirit, we welcome you to our city on the Danube.

On behalf of Austrian Standards International ASI and the Austrian Electrotechnical Association OVE, we are delighted to invite you to come to the heart of Europe, to Vienna from 17 to 18 June 2020. We are proud to jointly host the CEN/CENELEC General Assembly – for the first time organized together by a CEN member and a CENELEC member.
Vienna has always built bridges. The city has been a place of encounter and communication – on the political stage, in business, science as well as the arts. Landmark decisions taken here have re-defined the ways of co-operation. This is illustrated, for example, by the Vienna Congress that gave Europe a new face in 1815.
We want to live up to this reputation and ensure that there is sufficient time for exchanging ideas at the General Assembly. After all, the core task of standardization is to build networks and bridges. We bring people together. Vienna is well-known for harmoniously blending history and modernity. This is also reflected by the venues of the two days: We will meet in the sumptuous Ballroom of the House of Engineers at OVE, the modern Julius Raab Hall at the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber and the impressive Ceremonial Hall of the Vienna City Hall.

We are looking forward to welcoming you to interesting days in Vienna.

See you soon!

Elisabeth Stampfl-Blaha
Managing Director, ASI

Christian Gabriel
Managing Director Standardization, OVE

About Austrian Standards International - ASI

Austrian Standards International makes it possible for thousands of Austrian experts to set standards based on their innovative ideas internationally and brings know-how in the form of standards from all over the world to Austria.
Austrian Standards International was established in 1920. It is structured in the business divisions of development, consulting, publishing, training and certification. Austrian Standards International has more than 120 employees.

About Austrian Electrotechnical Association - OVE

The OVE Austrian Electrotechnical Association unites enterprises and institutions as well as experts and interested parties from the entire field of electrical engineering. The Association promotes the reputation of the entire line of business, the development of the profession as well as the progress of technology and science and deals with current challenges of electrical engineering and information technology. The Austrian Electrotechnical Association (OVE) was founded in 1883, when electrical engineering was a new but fast developing technology. The young organization set the following objectives: to support the development of electrical engineering and to care for the safety of electrotechnical applications at the same time, to establish contact between universities and economy and to offer an information platform for professionals and people interested in this new and revolutionary technology.

                                                                                     Welcome from the Presidents of CEN and CENELEC

                                     Vincent LAFLÉCHE                                                                                                                                                  Dany STURTEWAGEN
                                     President CEN                                                                                                                                                        President CENELEC

Dear Delegates,

We are very pleased to welcome you to the 16th CEN and CENELEC Annual Meeting. 
This year we are in Vienna, and we would like to express our heartfelt thanks to ASI and OVE, our members in Austria, for kindly offering to host our yearly gathering in June.
With the completion of Ambitions 2020 in sight, the CEN and CENELEC CAs in November acknowledged the need for CEN and CENELEC to jointly develop a concise and agile Strategy ‘beyond 2020’. 
2020 will be a strategic year in the evolution of the European Standardization System. The CEN and CENELEC vison and mission for 2030 includes the building of a safer, more sustainable and competitive Europe through international standardization. To this end we will use our networks to build consensus across industry and society in order to generate trust, stimulate market access and drive innovations for a better life.
At our General Assemblies, we plan to adopt formally the CEN-CENELEC Strategy 2030.
The CEN General Assembly and the CENELEC General Assembly are strictly statutory. The common session of the CEN and CENELEC General Assemblies will offer the opportunity to report on and discuss key strategic, policy and technical matters related to European standardization.

We look forward to seeing you in our Annual Meeting in the magnificent city of Vienna!