Up to now translation quality standards dealt only with the relationships between clients and translators as far as assignments and contracts were concerned. The first national standards for translation quality arose by the end of the ‘90s, but it is not until the end of 2000 that an European quality standard is undertaken. After a few years’ work, the standard was passed in May, 2006. The official Spanish version (Spanish Standard UNE-EN 15038), entitled Requirements for Translation Services does not standardize or judge the quality of the translation but the service itself, by surveying the process leading to the final product. The spirit of the standard pursues a new working method that some professional associations had already included in their deontological codes when first established. This paper describes the value of EN-15038 as recommended practice with objective and measurable criteria and as basic operational translation norms for a real standardization and a better of the profession. [Based on abstract in journal]