AFNOR 2021 review: a resilient group

On Monday June 27, 2022, AFNOR held its annual general meeting in Paris, chaired by Marc Ventre. The year 2021 was marked by a double virus, biological and computer-related, which disrupted business, but not results.
With 1,490 members by December 31, 2021, 86% of them companies, the AFNOR association held its General Meeting 2022 on June 27 in Paris, chaired by Marc Ventre. The moral report presented and approved shows a resilient balance sheet, despite the disruptions caused by two viruses: the covid-19 virus, responsible for the spring 2020 pandemic, and a computer virus, responsible for a cyberattack that paralyzed the Group’s information system in the spring. Throughout the year, and to honor the business continuity plan reactivated in 2020, AFNOR took great care to ensure continuity of service for its customers and partners, and to protect its 1,210 employees.

On the basis of the association’s activities (standardization, publishing), the results show a positive net income of €2 million, on sales of €68.2 million, excluding public subsidies (€6.1 million). These figures can be consulted in the 2021 Activity and Social Responsibility Report, available here.

At the service of European economic sovereignty

As a forum for all the players in the French economy, standardization wanted to be at the heart of the debates during the French Presidency of the European Union (PFUE), which ran from January¹ to June 30, 2022. Voluntary standards are undreamt-of tools for gaining sovereignty, and for achieving digital and green transformation. The European Commission reiterated this at a conference held that very morning, through its Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton. AFNOR has put forward two projects: a future international standard on gender equality, inspired by an initial French document – a project under French leadership at the International Organization for Standardization – and a standards roadmap for the artificial intelligence ecosystem. Click here to find out more about the PFUE’s activities.

AFNOR’s Annual General Meeting was also an opportunity to assess AFNOR’s performance, on behalf of France, in terms of taking on responsibilities on the European and international standards scene. The 2022 edition of the international standardization barometer shows France in^2nd place on the European stage (CEN-CENELEC), behind Germany, and in^3rd place on the international stage (ISO-IEC), behind Germany and the United States, neck-and-neck with China, Japan and the United Kingdom.