NoC14/20 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities 20.1.92
OpinionontheReportontheOperationofDirective83/189/EECin1988and1989
(PreventionofTechnicalBarrierstoTrade)
(92/C14/09)
On6June1991theCommissiondecidedtoconsulttheEconomicandSocialCommittee,
underArticle198oftheTreatyestablishingtheEuropeanEconomicCommunity,onthe
ReportontheOperationofDirective83/189/EECin1988and1989(PreventionofTechnical
BarrierstoTrade).
TheSectionforIndustry,Commerce,CraftsandServices,whichwasresponsibleforpreparing
theCommittee'sworkonthesubject,adopteditsOpinionon9October1991,inthelight
oftheReportbyMrPearson.
Atits290thplenarysession(meetingof30October1991)theEconomicandSocialCommittee
adoptedthefollowingOpinionunanimously .
1.Introduction
1.1.ThisisthesecondReportontheoperationof
Directive83/189/EEC(andasamendedin88/182/EEC)
andconcernstheprocedurefortheprovisionofinfor­
mationinthefieldoftechnicalstandardsandregu­
lationsin1988and1989.TheCommitteegaveon
27September1989itsOpiniononthefirstReport
whichdealtwiththeyears1984-1987(1).Whilstitis
realisedthattheReportisintwoSections—(a)stan­
dards(b)technicalregulations—thisOpinionembraces
bothsubjects.
1.2.TheCommitteerecallsthattheprocedureset
outintheInformationProcedureDirective(83/189/
EEC)hastheprimeaimofpreventingthecreationof
newtechnicalbarrierstotradewithintheCommunity
throughtheprovisionofamechanismforthecollective
scrutinyofdrafttechnicallegislationatnationallevel
whilstatthesametimeprovidinganinstitutionaland
proceduralframeworktofacilitateandaccelerate
standardisation atEuropeanlevel.
1.3.TheCommitteewelcomestheReportbutwould
drawattentiontothefollowingcomments.
2.Generalcomments
2.1.TheCommitteeunderstandsthatinmanyareas
coveredbythe'NewApproachDirectives'(particularly
inConstructionproducts)progressintheissueofman­
datestotheEuropeanStandardsOrganizations—the
EuropeanCommitteeforStandardization (CEN)and
theEuropeanCommitteeforElectrotechnical Standard­
ization(Cenelec)—isbehindschedule.Thishasdelayed
thecompletionoftheHarmonizedEuropeanStandards
requiredintheregulatorysector.
2.2.TheCommittee,fromtheReport,getsthe
impressionthatCENandCenelecdonotalwaysget
thefullco-operationorenthusiasmwhichmightbe
expectedfromthenationalbodieswithintheMemberStates,althoughtheCommitteeisequallyawareofthe
Commissiondocument'GreenPaperontheDevelop­
mentofEuropeanStandardisation '(2)inwhichitcalled
forthegreatercommitmentfromthemembersofthe
CENandCenelec.Itisimportantthatthestageat
whichnewworkshouldbenotifiedbynationalbodies
shouldbelaiddownandmadecommontoall.
ThereappearstobealethargyfromwithintheMember
States'institutionalbodiesinresponseandnotification
towardsbothresponsiblebodiesandtheCommission .
Thesenseofurgencyneedstobeemphasized.
2.3.TheReport'scommentsontheoperationof
theinformationprocedurein1988andin1989are
forthright.Themoredetailedanalysescarriedoutby
theCommissionshowconfusionexistswithinthepar­
ametersinwhichthestatisticsarepreparedinthe
MemberStatesandthusthesestatisticsshouldbe
approachedwithcaution.Neverthelessitcanclearlybe
seenthatadistinctmovementhascommencedtowards
workintheinternationalcontext,whilstatnational
levelthenumberofnewprojectsstartedhasdropped
sharply.Theextenttowhichthestandstillarrange­
mentsarecompliedwithishowevernotdetailedinthe
Report.
2.4.TheCommitteenotesthatthemostfrequent
objectiongivenintheCommissionanalysisofitsde­
tailedopinionsonnotifieddrafttechnicalregulations
arisesfromlackofunderstanding oftheprinciples
ofrecognitionofequivalenttechnicalspecifications .
Educationtoremovethismisunderstanding needs
urgentattention.
2.5.Theincreaseinmovementtowardinternational
levelofnewprojectsmakesthequalityofnotification
fromNationalStandardisation Institutionsofconsider­
ableimportance .TheReportishighlycriticalinthis
areaanditwouldappearthatalltheitemsenumerated
couldeasilybemademuchmoreefficientbyconcerned
application—forexamplethereseemslittleexcusefor
(i)OJNoC298,27.11.1989. (2)OJNoC20,28.1.1991.

20.1.92 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities NoC14/21
thetranslationsintotheCEN/Cenelecworking
languages'beingincompleteorofpoorquality'.
2.6.TheCommitteewouldsupporttheCommission
verystronglyinitsproposalthataEuropeanStandard
DataBankshouldbesetupasabibliographical data
bankforstandardisation activities.ThisDataBank
shouldbeaccessibleandavailabletothenationalbodies
andtoallotherpartiesconcerned.Thereisalackof
transparencyatalllevelsofsettingoradoptingastan­
dardorregulationandthisisanaspectthatshouldbe
attendedto.
2.7.TheCommitteenotesthattheReportisfor
1988/1989andregretsthatitwasnotpossibletoinclude
1990.1989wasseenasatransitionalyear:1990figures
wouldthushaveshowniftheimprovement inthe
trendtowardacceptanceofEuropeanStandardswas
maintained .Itistobeexpectedthatfutureannual
reportsshouldbeavailablewithlittledelayattheyear
endandCENandCenelecareurgedtoco-operateso
thatthiscanbeachieved.
2.8.Whilstnotifications doubledin1988andin
1989,morethanhalfcamefromonlytwoMember
Statesandthegreatmajorityoftheseconcernedthe
foodstuffsindustries.Thissuggestseitheralackof
co-operationbythelargemajorityofMemberStates
standardsInstitutionsoralackofknowledgeofthe
requirementsofDirectives83/189/EECand88/182/
EEC.Thereisuncertaintyastowhetherstandardsor
regulationsconsideredtobeintheenvironmentfield
arewithinthescopeofDirective83/189/EECandare
legallynotifiable.
2.9.TheCommittee endorsestheCommission
requesttoCENthatitshouldadoptaproceduresimilar
tothatoperatingwithinCenelecas'Vilamoura'.sumersaregiventheopportunitytosubmittheircon­
cernstothesemeetings'^).Thiswouldatleastbea
steptowardthetransparencydeemednecessaryat2.2
and2.6above.
3.2.TheCommitteeagaindrawsattentiontothe
shortcominginthebasicDirective—83/189/EEC—,in
thatitdoesnotaddressitselftothebarrierstotrade
whichcanbecreatedbytheloopholeinrespectof
ProcessandProductionMethods(PPMs)forindustrial
products.
3.3.TheCommitteesharestheconcernoftheCom­
missionthatMemberStatesareveryslowtotranslate
theprincipleofmutualrecognitionintostatutoryand
regulatorytermsandpracticalapplication .
4.Conclusions
4.1.Whilstthestatisticsconfirmasustainedincrease
inthenumberofnotificationsrecordedsince1984,
therewereobviouslydifficultiesinthe1989transitional
yearwhenmutualrecognitionwasnotoperatingas
hadbeenintendedintheabsenceofpublishedand
transposedEuropeanstandards.
4.2.TheReportdoesnotbringoutthedifficultiesof
thesafeguardclauseswhichcancircumventorqualify
clausesinindividualDirectiveswhentheyareadopted.
4.3.Theproblemofconfidentialityandlegalguaran­
teesasincludedintheMemberStatesecurityregu­
lationsisamatterofconcernandtheCommitteerec­
ommendsthattheCommissionsetoutregulationsin
aclearmannertoenableclearerunderstanding for
commercialoperators.
4.4.TheCommitteeemphasiseshowvitaltheproper
functioningofthisDirectiveisinthecontextofthe
SingleMarketandstressestheneedforsufficienthuman
andfinancialresourcestobeavailabletotheCom­
missiontoachievethat.
4.5.Thereappearstobeconsiderablescopefor
closeroperatingcohesionbetweentheCommission ,
CEN/CenelecandtheMemberStates[andtheEuro­
peanFreeTradeAssociation (EFTA)]StandardsInsti­
tutions:withonlyoneandahalfyearsbeforethe
deadlineforthecompletionoftheinternalmarketthis
isacauseofgraveconcern.3.Specificcomments
3.1.TheCommitteenotesthatunderArticle5ofthe
Directive83/189/EECtheStandingCommitteehasthe
righttoholdatleasttwomeetingseachyearwhereby
itisentitledtomeetwithrepresentatives oftheNational
StandardsInstitutions .AsthisStandingCommittee
doesnothaveanyrepresentation fromthesocialpart­
ners,theEconomicandSocialCommitteereiteratesits
previousrequeststhat'theSocialPartnersandCon­(!)OJNoC298,27.11.1989,p.20.
DoneatBrussels,30October1991.
TheChairman
oftheEconomicandSocialCommittee
FrancoisSTAEDELIN