The European Commission has recently published a report to the European Parliament, the Council, and the European Economic and Social Committee, highlighting the value to the international market of a strong and well-established accreditation system as set out in Regulation (EC) No 765/2008.

The highest governing body of the European Union has thereby reaffirmed its confidence in accreditation as a tool to support exports and the free movement of goods: "A robust accreditation system that ensures reliable assessment of the product compliance and safety facilitates the free circulation of goods, deepens the single market and is thus a pillar of the implementation of the EU industrial policy".

The report states that the correct practical application of the European legal framework on accreditation, i.e. EC Regulation No 765/2008, plays an essential role in strengthening the European conformity assessment system. In this regard, the Commission considers it essential that "European Accreditation continues to receive EU support to help it implement its tasks and to ensure the coordination of accreditation activities as well as the operation of the peer evaluation system”.

The European Commission concludes its report by ensuring that it "will continue to promote the use of accreditation and CE marking in any new proposals requiring conformity assessment”.