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Analysis

The state of EU harmonised standards, October 2026

Published 2 November 2026 · Standards Drift · every figure computed from the record, none typed in

A dated piece. It covers October 2026. Its figures were computed from the record once, on 2 November 2026, and the page has not been recomputed since; a later correction to it is published as a dated note on the corrections page, never as a silent edit. Published 2 November 2026. The live position is on the status board and every reference has its own page in the register.

This is the monthly report on the EU harmonised standards record. It covers 1 to 31 October 2026. Every figure is computed from this archive's record of the Commission's summary lists, the Official Journal and the standards bodies' public work programmes, as captured on 1 November 2026; no figure is typed in. A harmonised standard is a European standard whose reference the Commission has published in the Official Journal of the European Union. Publication gives presumption of conformity: a product made to the standard is presumed to meet the legal requirements the standard covers. This report counts references, each written as the Commission writes it, and takes every date from the official record. A reference counts as cited on a day when it is on the Commission's list with an Official Journal publication date on or before that day and no end of legal effect before it; the end of legal effect is the day presumption of conformity stops.

At the end of October 2026, references cited with presumption of conformity: 77 under the General Product Safety Regulation, 906 under the Machinery Directive and 210 under the Radio Equipment Directive. The number cited did not change on any of the three lists in the month. Harmonised standards cited under the AI Act: 1; under the Cyber Resilience Act: 0. Commission implementing decisions on harmonised standards published in the Official Journal in the month: 3. The Machinery Regulation applies on 20 January 2027, 81 days after the end of October 2026.

Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC

References cited at the end of October 2026: 906, the same figure as on 30 September 2026. Of the 906, 13 carry a restriction notice in the list (a notice that limits what the standard covers) and all 906 carry an end of legal effect that is still ahead. The list holds 1,342 references in all, counting those whose presumption has ended.

No reference was cited, restricted, withdrawn or reached its end of legal effect under the Machinery Directive in October 2026.

The Commission's list itself was edited in the month: this archive recorded 14 row changes on 28 October (2 new references on the list, 6 end of legal effect entries set or changed, 2 references no longer on the list, 4 withdrawal entries set or changed), on 10 references: EN 12525:2000+A2:2010, EN 12635:2002+A1:2008, EN 13241:2003+A2:2016, EN 15997:2011, EN 17969, EN 17969:2026, EN 474-1:2006+A4:2013, EN ISO 13849-1:2015, EN ISO 6909, EN ISO 6909:2026. Each change, with the text before and after, is on the changes page for week W44 2026.

Radio Equipment Directive 2014/53/EU

References cited at the end of October 2026: 210, the same figure as on 30 September 2026. Of the 210, 53 carry a restriction notice in the list (a notice that limits what the standard covers) and 20 carry an end of legal effect that is still ahead. The list holds 275 references in all, counting those whose presumption has ended.

No reference was cited, restricted, withdrawn or reached its end of legal effect under the Radio Equipment Directive in October 2026.

General Product Safety Regulation (EU) 2023/988

References cited at the end of October 2026: 77, the same figure as on 30 September 2026. Of the 77, 1 carries a restriction notice in the list (a notice that limits what the standard covers) and 4 carry an end of legal effect that is still ahead. The list holds 80 references in all, counting those whose presumption has ended.

No reference was cited, restricted, withdrawn or reached its end of legal effect under the General Product Safety Regulation in October 2026.

Machinery Regulation (EU) 2023/1230

No harmonised standard is cited under the Machinery Regulation and the Commission publishes no list for it yet. The Regulation applies on 20 January 2027, 81 days after the end of October 2026. Until then every machinery reference is cited under Directive 2006/42/EC. Status page: Machinery Regulation.

Cyber Resilience Act, Regulation (EU) 2024/2847

Harmonised standards cited in the Official Journal: 0. A draft gives no presumption of conformity until the Commission publishes its reference.

Standards on the public work programmes, not yet cited: 30: 1 in drafting (no text open for comment yet), 16 in public enquiry (the stage at which the draft is open for comment), 11 with the public enquiry closed and the vote not yet opened, 2 at formal vote. The full table, with each draft's stage date and next milestone, is on the Cyber Resilience Act page.

Drafting stage changes recorded in October 2026: 10, stage names as the source records them.

  • EN 304 619: Stable draft to Comments categorisation assessed, recorded 15 October 2026
  • EN 304 621: Deliverable approval procedure initiated to 7 VR – EC assessment before EV received, recorded 15 October 2026
  • EN 304 622: Deliverable approval procedure initiated to 7 VR – EC assessment before EV received, recorded 19 October 2026
  • EN 304 624: 7 V – EC assessment before EV requested to Closing of approval procedure, recorded 30 October 2026
  • EN 304 627: 7 VR – EC assessment before EV received to Comments categorisation assessed, recorded 1 October 2026
  • EN 304 631: 7 VR – EC assessment before EV received to Comments categorisation assessed, recorded 15 October 2026
  • EN 304 632: 7 VR – EC assessment before EV received to Comments categorisation assessed, recorded 15 October 2026
  • EN 304 633: 7 VR – EC assessment before EV received to Comments categorisation assessed, recorded 15 October 2026
  • EN 304 634: 7 VR – EC assessment before EV received to Comments categorisation assessed, recorded 17 October 2026
  • EN 304 636: 7 VR – EC assessment before EV received to Comments categorisation assessed, recorded 6 October 2026

Milestone dates moved without a change of stage: EN 304 617, EN 304 626, EN 304 642.

New on the work programme in October 2026: prEN 40004-3.

The standardisation request is C(2025)618 of 3 February 2025. Adoption deadlines: items 1 and 15 by 30 August 2026, items 16 to 41 by 30 October 2026, items 2 to 14 by 30 October 2027. The deadline of 30 October 2026 fell in October 2026 with no harmonised standard cited.

AI Act, Regulation (EU) 2024/1689

Harmonised standards cited in the Official Journal: 1: EN 18286:2026. Cited in October 2026: EN 18286:2026.

Standards on the public work programmes, not yet cited: 15: 6 in drafting (no text open for comment yet), 2 in public enquiry (the stage at which the draft is open for comment), 7 under approval (the standards body's vote on the final draft). The full table, with each draft's stage date and next milestone, is on the AI Act page.

Drafting stage changes recorded in October 2026: 2, stage names as the source records them.

  • prEN 18229-3: Under Enquiry to Under Approval, recorded 22 October 2026
  • prEN 18283: Under Approval to Under Enquiry, recorded 1 October 2026

Milestone dates moved without a change of stage: prEN ISO/IEC 24970.

Implementing decisions in the Official Journal

Commission implementing decisions on harmonised standards published in the Official Journal in October 2026: 3, every sector. An implementing decision is the act by which the Commission publishes, restricts or withdraws the reference of a harmonised standard; a corrigendum corrects a published text. Each links to its EUR-Lex page. The full list since July 2024 is on the decisions page.

Corrections

Corrections to this site's own published figures and claims logged in October 2026: 11. Each is dated, with what was wrong and what changed, on the corrections page.

What to watch in November 2026

Dates already on the record for November 2026. Nothing here is a forecast; a date the standards body announces can move, and when it does the old date stays in the archive.

On the record

Published under CC BY 4.0. Cite as: Standards Drift, “The state of EU harmonised standards, October 2026”, https://standardsdrift.com/analysis/state-of-eu-harmonised-standards-2026-10/, accessed [date]. Corrections: support@standardsdrift.com.