Under the terms of EU Mandate 114, committee CEN/TC 51, cement, building limes and other hydraulic binders, is required to develop standards for ‘common cements’ and also for cements with special properties such as low heat cements, calcium aluminate cements and sulfate resisting cements. EN 197-1: Composition, specifications and conformity criteria for common cements was adopted in 2000 and was the first harmonised European Standard to be adopted for a construction product. Since 2000, European Standards for masonry, low heat, low early strength blastfurnace cements, very low heat special cements and calcium aluminate cements have been published. The development of a prescriptive EN for sulfate resisting cements has been complicated by national differences in the types of cement that are recognised to have sulfate resisting properties. Note, however, that all nationally standardised sulfate resisting cements meet the requirements of EN 197-1:2000, and that the absence of a specific standard for sulfate resisting cement has not constituted a barrier to trade.