The European Union, enlarged to include the EFTA countries for a total of eighteen european states, is concluding the first phase of preparation of a homogeneous set of Standards for structural design, called the Eurocodes. It is intended that these Standards will ultimately acquire a supranational level and will supersede national codes. Eurocode 8, dealing with seismic design, has just recently reached the status of a Pre-Standard, which allows it to be adopted in any of the above states. By providing an outline of the content of Eurocode 8, it is hoped to raise the interest of the international community towards it, both with a view to the benefits that can be expected from their interaction and, in the longer run, to a more far reaching harmonization of technical codes.