Euralarm News

Advancements in technology and industry practices as well as changes in regulatory agendas and directives make it necessary to continuously initiate new standards and update existing standards to ensure they remain relevant and effective. In this context, leadership in standardisation is a crucial factor for achieving the desired benefits and outcomes both for industry and society. That requires the ability and willingness of an actor to initiate, influence and shape the development and implem...

Following a decision of its Board, Euralarm has welcomed Safety Technology International as a new member. The company will join the Fire Section of Euralarm which monitors and analyses the developments and reviews what the impact of new technologies can be. This not only will help members to better understand the topics and their impact, but also act as a guidance on prioritising the actions and the work regarding standardisation and certification. Understanding of the EU policy Companies jo...

During the 2024 General Assembly of Euralarm in Prague, the members chose Peter Mita as the new President of Euralarm. He succeeds Jon Könz who was President for the past three years. Peter Mita is the Southern Europe Commercial leader of Honeywell Fire.  ​2024 General Assembly The 2024 General Assembly was held in Prague where the outgoing President praised among others the work that was done in information sharing, supporting members with regulatory expertise, and guiding stan...

The European Parliament has plenary voted in favour of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) recently. This is a major step towards decarbonisation of the building stock. However, the new directive also creates fire safety and security challenges. Euralarm proposes a planned and holistic approach of these topics. European building stock A large majority of the buildings in the European Union, about 85%, were constructed prior to 2000. Within this group, 75% are categorised as...

Euralarm urges the European Commission to extend the Article 11(3) exemption of the Batteries Regulation to include smoke alarm devices, carbon monoxide alarms, and gas alarms. These products should meet the following criteria:  Life Protection: Explicitly designed to protect human lives within living environments.  EN Product Standard: Tested and approved according to valid EN standards.  10-Year Battery: Powered by a portable battery that reliably supplies the device for a...

Following a decision of the Board Euralarm has welcomed Detectortesters as their newest member. The company will become a member of the Euralarm Fire Section and Services Section. Detectortesters are the world’s pioneering designer and manufacturer of functional test solutions for fire detection systems. With over 50 years of experience in the field of testing, the company’s product range provides a global audience with functional test solutions for smoke, heat and CO fire detectors...

The fire safety and security industry is facing a talent shortage, as many experienced professionals are retiring and fewer young people are entering the field. This is a challenge, but also an opportunity, for the industry to attract and retain the best and brightest talent from diverse backgrounds and perspectives.  Live webinar Euralarm will organise a live webinar on attracting and retaining talent on Thursday, 18 April 2024. The webinar will start at 16:00 CET and run until 17:30 CE...

Euralarm, representing the electronic fire safety and security industry in Europe, celebrates the European Parliament’s plenary vote in favour of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD); a major step towards decarbonisation of the building stock. Better-performing buildings also mean safer and more secure buildings. Every year, EU countries face major fires in residential, commercial, and industrial buildings, taking the lives of thousands of European citizens and causin...

The delegates of Euralarm’s Extinguishing Section have elected Gerd Hülsen as Vice-Chair of the section. He follows in the footsteps of Torbjørn Laursen. Alan Elder, Chair of the Extinguishing Section, stated, “I’d like to thank Torbjørn for his efforts as the previous Vice-Chair. I am sure that Gerd will be given the support that our delegates have always given Torbjørn and I, to help us to move the Extinguishing Section to the next level.” Fu...

The Horizontal Compliance Committee of Euralarm has started a new Task Group focusing on environmental and sustainability issues. The kick-off meeting of the new Task Group took place on August 23rd.  Environment & Sustainability  In early 2023, the Horizontal Compliance Committee acknowledged that the number of European legislative initiatives related to environment and sustainability under the European Green Deal was continuously growing and that the experts from the Eura...

Euralarm will organise a live webinar on the recently published guidance document on remote services on Thursday, 4 May, 2023. Recently, Euralarm released a guidance document including three checklists on remote services. Self-assessment It allows service companies to make a self-assessment of their readiness and compliance with the provisions laid down in EN 16763, EN 50710, and CLC/TS 50136-10.  The Guidance Document and checklists are the topics of a webinar that will be organised on...

Euralarm has released a statement on postponement of the applicability date of the RED DA. The European Commission has taken steps to protect its citizens from cyber-attacks and data breaches by establishing the Delegated Act ((EU) 2022/30) for the Radio Equipment Directive. Although CEN/CLC/JTC 13/WG 8 is achieving an unprecedented task with the extremely fast development of harmonised standards supporting the RED DA requirements, Euralarm feels that the applicability date of the RED DA (curr...

Euralarm, the Security Industry Association (SIA), the Latin American Security Association (ALAS) and the Canadian Security Association (CANASA) invite to join the multi-association virtual panel discussion on cybersecurity strategies for physical security and the importance of a holistic approach to cybersecurity. The webinar will take place on April 5th, starting at 16.00 hours CET. Discussion with experts In this discussion, pioneering experts will emphasise the responsibility of everyone...

Euralarm has formed an Executive Advisory Council that is open for members' senior managers. They should bring a broad view of the fire safety and security industry and how it is evolving. Standardisation of products and systems Ever since its founding Euralarm has been heavily involved in standardisation of products and systems for the fire and security industry to guarantee continuous improvement of product quality and system reliability. This important contribution to a Europe where citiz...

Euralarm has released a position paper on the Cyber Resilience Act. The position paper provides Euralarm’s view on the elements of the proposed Cyber Resilience Act that should be kept for the published legislation, identifies some unclarities that, if maintained, would lead their manufacturers into some legal uncertainty, and proposes several amendments to the text. Cyber Resilience Act The Cyber Resilience Act is the proposal for a regulation on cybersecurity requirements for products...

This year, Euralarm started a new initiative focusing on diversity and attracting new talent. The importance of the initiative is underlined by the rapid engineer retention and the lack of competent and qualified engineers. This article details the Euralarm initiative and reviews several activities undertaken by Euralarm and its members. The fire and security industries are industries with a long and rich history. The origins of the fire industry could be traced back to Nero, the Roman Emperor...

Remote services are covered by three standards (EN 50710:2021 3, EN 16763:2017 and CLC/TS 50136-10:2022) and the concepts introduced in them are complex. Guidance document  Euralarm felt the need to produce a guidance document, that provides micro and small service companies with a handy checklist when subcontracting the operation and maintenance of the Remote Access Infrastructure (RAI) to a Remote Infrastructure Service Provider (RAISP). The guidance explains the main elements of the R...

CertAlarm published the updated versions of their Scheme Rules after having received the confirmation of the successful audit from the European co-operation for Accreditation (EA) and its members, the European National Accreditation Bodies. The Scheme Rules form the basis for CertAlarm's approach, which is unique in Europe, to offer a pan-European quality mark in the fire protection and security systems industry. While all other quality marks present in this industry in Europe primarily focus o...

Alarm systems are essential for the economic success of almost all sectors of European markets. Rapid technological developments and policy developments have brought new challenges for alarm systems and the alarms systems’ market. One of these challenges is the cyber security of the connected alarm systems. Euralarm members are involved in these challenges via the CENELEC Technical Committee 79 (TC 79). Within Europe the CENELEC Technical Committee 79 (TC 79) is developing and maintaining...

The BSIA has expanded its membership of Euralarm into its Services Section. This section links all services associated with the installation, maintenance, and monitoring of security and fire systems across Europe and internationally. The BSIA was already an active member of the Euralarm Security Section, representing the interests of manufacturers in regulatory and standardisation matters. The BSIA also represents the views of its members in their horizontal compliance, cyber security, and mark...

Following a decision of the Board Euralarm has welcomed ANPI as their newest member. The Belgian association will become a member of the Euralarm Security Section. ANPI Located near Brussels, the heart of Europe, ANPI is a non-profit organisation founded as an initiative of insurance companies. More and more professional associations and associations of industry interested in the fields of fire and theft prevention are becoming members of ANPI. Public authorities are also represented within AN...

This year’s Euralarm international Industry Forum takes place on 21st June in Brussels. The forum Joins to discuss topical issues of the Fire and Security industries. This year’s topics include the Euralarm Strategy 2019-2024 followed by workshops on ‘International Standards and Trade’ and 'Is your business ready for the future?' Industry Forum This year's conference venue is the Double Tree by Hilton Brussels City in Brussels, Belgium. The Industry Forum will start wit...

Euralarm, the European association representing the electronic fire safety and security industry, has given feedback on the NLF. The association’s response to the questions of the European Commission was laid down in a Position Paper. Improvements Euralarm remains convinced that the New Approach and the New Legislative Framework (NLF) are the best tools to support the free movement of goods and the proper functioning of the European Single Market for Goods. The NLF in its broad set-up i...

Jon Könz, President of Euralarm, has been selected as a member of the CEN-CENELEC Industry Advisory Forum. The Industry Advisory Forum consists of 18 members who were selected, based on their particular experience and knowledge in the identified CEN-CENELEC Strategy 2030 areas and European Industrial Ecosystems. Industry Advisory Forum (IAF) Via the Industry Advisory Forum (IAF) high-level European industry representatives and CEN and CENELEC can have an open exchange on current standard...

Since the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic introduced the world to the concept of ‘the new normal’, nothing is normal anymore. A simple incident can be disastrous for something as vital as the supply chain, as one has seen with the blockage of the Suez Canal. The essence of that chain is to give companies the certainty that raw materials and components are available, in order to produce the finished goods. The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in lockdowns, and a high demand because of digit...

During the 51st General Assembly of Euralarm, the European association representing the fire safety and security industry, the members have chosen Jon Könz as new President of Euralarm. He succeeds Martin Harvey, who was President for the past three and half years. Before being elected President, Jon Könz was Chair of the Services Section of Euralarm. He is Head of Industry Affairs, at Siemens Smart Infrastructure. Euralarm’s 2021 General Assembly The 2021 General Assembly was...

Following a decision of its Board, Euralarm has welcomed its newest member Sitasys, the Swiss pioneer in alarm management, best-in-class finger-print identification, and secure communication. The company will join the services section of Euralarm. Sitasys will benefit from Euralarm’s services in terms of representation towards European institutions and standardisation organisations. This includes the monitoring of legislative and standardisation issues relevant to the industry. Sitasys w...

In 2013, the Technical Group False Alarms (TG FAS) of the Fire Section began its work to better understand the causes and the data behind false alarms in fire detection and fire alarm systems. Since then, the Technical Group published reports and in 2018 published Euralarm’s first book; a study on the data analysis and collection methodology in selected European countries. The TG FAS is in its final stages to publish an update of the study. On December 16th, the Technical Group will conduc...

Euralarm recently released a Position Paper on the EC proposal for a Regulation on Artificial Intelligence. The Position Paper follows some informal discussions with DG CONNECT and contains proposals on several articles in the Regulation on Artificial Intelligence. Following the release of the Position, Paper Euralarm spoke to Gabriele Mazzini, lawyer of DG Connect, and in the lead for the proposal. First-ever legal framework on AI When asked to briefly explain the Regulation on Artificial In...

Euralarm, representing the fire safety and security industry, has launched a new logo and website. The new website reflects Euralarm’s core values where the new logo signifies the industry that Euralarm represents – multi-faceted, diverse, challenging, connected, transparent and proactive. The new website is designed to present Euralarm’s expertise and leadership for the industry, market, policymakers, and standards bodies. It features a clean and responsive modern design, enh...