Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on the role of European standardisation in the framework of European policies and legislation {SEC(2004) 1251}
Date: 2004-10-18
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU law, European standard, European standardisation body, economic and social cohesion, economic policy, international standard, single market, standardisation

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 18.10.2004 
COM(2004) 674 final 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION 
TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL 

on the role of European standardisation 
in the framework of European policies and legislation 

{SEC(2004) 1251} 

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COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION 
TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL 

on the role of European standardisation 
in the framework of European policies and legislation 

(Text with EEA relevance) 

1. 

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY  

Standardisation  is  an  integral  part  of  the  Council’s  and  the  Commission’s  policies  to 
carry out “better regulation”, to increase competitiveness of enterprises and to remove 
barriers to trade at international level. This was confirmed by the European Parliament in 
19991 and by the Council both in its Resolution of 28 October 19992 and its Conclusions of 1 
March 20023 on the role of standardisation in Europe. At the same time, the Council invited 
the Commission to review the objectives, scope and needs of European standardisation 
policy.  The  Commission  has  accepted  this  invitation,  analysed  the  current  situation  and 
identified  the  key  areas  where  the  European  standardisation  system  and  the  instruments 
available to European standardisation policy can and should be further improved. The results 
of  this  analysis  comprise  two  documents.  The  first  one  consists  in  this  Communication  and 
underlines  the  increasing  importance  of  standardisation  to  support  the  EU’s  policies.  The 
second  document,  a  Commission  staff  working  paper  dealing  with  the  “challenges  for 
European standardisation”, is geared at analysing the challenges European standardisation is 
facing in the face of an ever-changing economy and intends to provide recommendations on 
how best to overcome these challenges. 

The  review  has  shown  that  the  current  standardisation  system  in  Europe  which  is 
essentially  framed  by  Directive  98/  344  has  delivered  what  it  was  expected  to  do. 
European  standardisation  has  proven  to  be  a  successful  tool  for  the  completion  of  the 
Single Market for goods. 

Nevertheless, there is room for improvement which affects all stakeholders in European 
standardisation, starting from the European Commission itself, the European Standards 
Organisations (ESOs), the National Standards Bodies, the national authorities, business, 
in 
and  extending 
standardisation. 

the  non-governmental  organisations  having  an 

interest 

to 

1 

2 

3 
4 

Resolution on the report from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament “Efficiency 
and Accountability in European standardisation under the New Approach”, OJ C 150 of 28.5.1999 
Council Resolution of 28 October 1999 on "the Role of Standardisation in Europe" (OJ C141 of 2000 
05-19) 
Council conclusions on standardisation of 2002-03-01, (OJ C66 of 2002-03-15) 
Directive  98/  34  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  laying  down  a  procedure  for  the 
provision of information in the fields of technical standards and regulations and of rules on information 
services,  OJ L  204 of 21.7.1998,  amended by  Directive 98/48  of  the  European  Parliament  and of  the 
Council, OJ L 217 of 5.8.1998 

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– 

– 

– 

European standardisation has made an important contribution to the functioning 
of Single Market legislation. Since 1998, approximately 20 new legislative acts and 
projects  in  which  standards  play  a  supportive  role  have  been  developed  and 
implemented.  These  relate,  in  particular,  to  ICT,  the  environment  and  consumer 
protection.  This  gives  reason  to  believe  that,  by  means  of  the  New  Approach  or 
beyond it, the use of standards to support legislation could be further extended 
to new areas of European legislation. The Commission will continue to promote, in 
accordance with its commitment to better regulation, the broader use of standards to 
support  legislation.  European  standardisation  can  play  an  important  role  to 
increase  the  competitiveness  of  European  enterprises.  This  implies  that  the 
voluntary European standardisation system is developing activities in all areas which 
are  important  for  the  proper  functioning  of  the  Internal  Market  beyond  the  Single 
Market for goods, e.g. services, ICT, consumer and environment protection. 

In  this  context,  however,  European  standardisation  must  respond  properly  to 
market needs, in particular to those of industry. The Commission is aware of some 
criticism  with  regard  to  the  effectiveness  and  speed  of  the  standards  developing 
process,  in  particular  in  those  areas  of  new  technologies  such  as  ICT  where  quick 
standardisation  development  is  necessary  in  order  to  meet  the  requirements  of  the 
rapidly changing market conditions. Specifications elaborated by industrial fora and 
consortia  play  an 
level.  The 
Commission considers that there is an enormous potential for the improvement 
of  effectiveness  and  efficiency  of  the  European  standardisation  system  and  its 
mechanisms  to  satisfy  market  needs  and  the  needs  of  enterprises  under 
continuously  changing  conditions.  Bearing  in  mind  that  European  standardisation 
is  independent  and  business  driven,  the  European  Standards  Organisations  are 
invited,  together  with  stakeholders,  to  verify  whether  their  working  methods, 
procedures  and  policies  sufficiently  reflect  the  needs  of  their  stakeholders  with 
regard to providing a better response to current market requirements.  

increasing  role,  particularly  at 

international 

As a contribution from the EU side to add value to standardisation in the context of 
EU  policies,  the  institutional  framework  must  be  overhauled  in  order  to  ensure 
that standardisation can effectively play its role. This involves the creation of a legal 
basis  for  the  financing  of  European  standardisation  and  a  revision  of  the  standards 
part  of  Directive  98/34  establishing  an  information  procedure  in  the  field  of  the 
standards and technical regulations. 

The  Commission,  in  co-operation  with  the  European  Standards  Organisations,  will 
continue to encourage the development of international standards by the appropriate 
international standards bodies and promote their use. Where international standards 
exist,  they  shall,  wherever  possible,  be  uniformly  transposed  by  the  European 
Standards Organisations and used as a basis for Community legislation.  

The  Commission  believes  that  the  European  standardisation  system  and  its 
achievements could even be more visible outside the EU with a view to presenting 
the  advantages  of  the  European  harmonisation  model,  in  particular  to  the  new 
“neighbours”  of  the  EU  after  enlargement.  In  its  recent  Communication  on 
“European  Neighbourhood  Policy”5,  the  Commission  has  explicitly  highlighted  the 

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COM (2004) 373 final 

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importance  of  conformity  assessment  and  standardisation 
this  context. 
Furthermore,  more  synergies  should  be  created  through  an  increased  co-operation 
between  the  European  Standards  Organisations,  their  national  members,  the 
Commission  and  Member  States  to  make  European  standardisation  more  visible 
outside Europe6. 

in 

2. 

NEW STANDARDS RECEPTIVE POLICY AREAS  

2.1 

New legislation and new legislative initiatives 

European standardisation, in support of New Approach legislation, has proven to be a 
successful  and  essential  tool  for  the  completion  of  the  Single  Market  for  goods.  In  its 
Conclusions  of  1  March  2002  on  European  standardisation,  the  Council  confirmed  this 
success. It requested the Commission to examine whether the support given by European 
standards  to  European  legislation  could  be  extended  to  new  policy  areas  even  beyond 
the Single Market legislation. 

In  this  context,  it  must  be  underlined  that  the  "New  Approach"  has  proven  to  be  a  specific 
model of legislation by which both the public interest (i.e. protecting public health and safety, 
consumer  and  environmental  protection)  and  the  interest  of  private  business  to  produce 
standards according to the relevant "state of the art", could be merged in an adequate way. It 
allows for more flexible and less stringent forms of legislation in areas where, otherwise, any 
detail would have to be determined by the legislative act itself.  

Already in its "Interim Report to the Council and the European Parliament on Actions Taken 
Following  the  Resolutions  on  European  Standardisation  adopted  by  the  Council  and  the 
European Parliament in 1999", the Commission has reported on its activities to broaden the 
use of standards to support its legislation and policies7. Since the Council's further request of 
March 2002 to continue with this approach, and in the context of both the need to simplify 
legislation  with  regard  to  an  enlarged  European  Union  and  the  activities  proposed  to 
update  and  simplify  the  "acquis"8,  further  progress  was  made  by  a  large  variety  of 
initiatives  in  Community  legislation  and  policies.  These  areas  concern,  in  particular  in  line 
with  the  Commission’s  “better  regulation  policy”9,  ICT,  services,  transport,  consumer  and 
environmental protection. 

Therefore, the extension of making use of standards in areas of Community legislation 
beyond  the  Single  Market  is  highly  desirable,  taking  of  course  into  account  the 
specificities  of  the  ares  concerned,  in  accordance  with  the  Commission  proposals  on 
governance and better regulation. 

6 

7 
8 
9 

see  Commission  staff  working  paper  on  “the  challenges 
http://europa.eu.int/comm/enterprise/standards_policy/index.htm (to be published) 
for more details, see COM (2001) 527 final, p. 9 ff 
COM (2003) 71 
Report from the Commission on European Governance, December 2002, COM (2002) 705 final. As a 
consequence  of  better  regulation  policy,  the  Commission  has  committed  itself  to  carry  out  more 
systematically an impact assessment for important legislative projects. In this context, alternatives and 
the least stringent solution must be considered. Reference to voluntary standards is one of the means ). 

for  European  standardisation” 

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2.2 

Standardisation in support of the competitiveness of industry  

The  benefits  of  European  standardisation  go  far  beyond  just  supporting  European 
legislation.  The  development  of  voluntary  standards  by  stakeholders  can  provide  further 
added  value  and  increase  competitiveness10.  Standards  have,  since  ancient  times,  been  an 
integral  part  of  the  market  system  and  have  played  a  key  role  in  advancing  the  wealth  of 
nations.  Standards  tend  to  increase  competition  and  allow  lower  output  and  sales  cost, 
benefiting  economies  as  a  whole.  Standards  function  by  reducing  variety,  ensuring  inter-
operability, maintaining quality, and providing information. A recent study issued by one of 
the  major  National  Standards  Bodies  has  asserted  that  in  Europe  standardisation  adds 
approximately 1 % to the value of the gross domestic product11. It was also pointed out that 
the added value generated by standardisation is at least as important as the value generated by 
patents.  This  confirms  why  standardisation  is  so  important  for  European  policies.  The 
Commission  is  well  aware  of  these  facts  and  has,  consequently,  incorporated  the  use  of 
standards in various documents related to its policies. 

2.2.1 

Improving the Internal Market for Goods and Services 

In its Internal Market Strategy 2003-200612, the Commission has developed a ten point plan 
to  make  the  Internal  Market  work  better.  Particular  priorities  include  improving  the  free 
movement of goods and making the free movement of services a practical reality.  

The service sectors (e.g. business services, transport, energy, telecommunication, tourism and 
leisure) account for a large percentage of total employment (70% of overall employment is in 
market  services)13  in  the  market  economy  of  the  European  Union.  Nevertheless,  the 
availability of  voluntary  standards in the  area of services lags considerably behind the 
economic importance and potential of this area14. European standards are acknowledged as 
one of the measures able to enhance intra-EU trade on services and to foster competitiveness. 
Accordingly,  the  European  Standards  Organisations  have  been  asked  by  the  Commission  to 
set  up  a  programme  in  order  to  identify,  together  with  stakeholders,  priority  areas  for 
European  standardisation and to initiate a dynamic process of standards setting at European 
level. 

In addition, the Commission notes with regret, despite the existence of a remarkable common 
set of standards, that the certification systems and national quality marks are still dispersed. 
Producers who wish to place their products on the EU market therefore often feel obliged to 
demonstrate  the  compliance  of  their  product  by  affixing  the  relevant  national  certification 
mark. It would in particular be an enormous step forward to rely on a common European key 
mark  system  to  provide  a  voluntary  basis  for  compliance  with  voluntary  standards.  The 
European  Standards  Organisations,  their  national  members,  Member  States  and 

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13 
14 

E.g., according to a study issued by the Austrian Standards Body ON (“Der Nutzen der Normung für 
Unternehmen und Volkswirtschaft”, p. 20) In Austria, the benefit of standardisation was € 1.74 billion 
whereas the cost was € 43 million. Thus, the benefit was 40 times higher than the cost. 
Economic  benefits  of  standardisation,  published  by  DIN  (German  Institute  for  Standardisation)  2000 
ISBN 3-410- 1486- 4 
Commission Communication: Internal Market Strategy - Priorities 2003 – 2006, COM (2003) 238 final 
Market services comprise all services besides services by public authorities 
see  in  this  context,  Standards  in  the  Service  Sectors,  Fraunhofer  Institute  Systems  and  Innovation 
Research, April 2003, p 1, 2 

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Stakeholders are invited to seek solutions as to how the approach in this area could be 
improved 

2.2.2 

Innovation 

Standards  also  play  an  important  role  for  innovation,  thus  influencing  business  investment 
decisions on R+D. As a source of the most up-to-date technical knowledge, standards broaden 
the knowledge base of the economy and can integrate new technologies and research results 
harmoniously  into  the  design  and  development  process  of  new  products  and  services.  As  a 
market  instrument  standards  help  business  to  create  a  common  trading  language.  A 
prominent  example  is  GSM  (“Global  System  for  Mobile  Communications”),  which 
created  an  international  market  for  mobile  communications  and  is  a  driving  force  for  the 
development  of  many  mobile  applications.  Moreover,  for  the  new  satellite  navigation 
infrastructure “Galileo”, European and international standards provide support in a similar 
way not only for its implementation, but also for its use in a large variety of applications. The 
smooth  entry  of  Galileo  devices  and  services  on  to  the  global  market  is  dependant  on  the 
widest  acceptance  of  related  standards.  Peri-normative  research  (research  to  provide  a 
scientific  base  for  standards)  contributes  to  the  business  environment  conducive  to 
investments in R+D and innovation. It is therefore important to strengthen the link between 
research activities and standardisation with a view to the optimum benefit for standardisation. 

2.2.3 

Standardisation and ICT/IT 

Standards can help to create and ensure interoperability and hence contribute to avoid the 
fragmentation  of  markets.  This  is  of  particular  importance  in  rapidly  evolving  markets  with 
ever changing technologies, notably in the ICT area. Here, the marketplace has fundamentally 
and permanently changed over the last decade. The liberalisation of this market has brought 
competition  between  sectors.  The  monolithic  world  of  the  past  has  been  replaced  by  a 
heterogeneous technology development.  

There is a significant shift from hardware to software. It implies a shift away from traditional 
forms  of  standardisation  towards  products  with  short-term  development  and  exploitation 
cycles. It creates parallel routes to standards to achieve the objective of interoperability which 
is a key requirement to avoid market fragmentation and requires speeding up the delivery of 
standards  and  the  promotion  of  new  deliverables.  Moreover  telecommunications  and  IT  are 
converging and the markets have become global leading to new market structures and global 
industry  partnership.  As  a  result,  consortia  and  fora  are  playing  an  increasing  role  in  the 
development  of  standards,  challenging  the  role  and  structures  of  the  ESOs  as  well  as  the 
intervention of public authorities at the EU level. Standardisation in support of legislation in 
the ICT sector should be reviewed. 

The European standardisation policy as well as the European Standards Organisations have to 
recognise these facts and re-design policies, processes and organisational structures, in close 
collaboration  with  stakeholders  and  in  particular  industry  in  view  of  providing  a  better 
response to changed market requirements. 

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2.3 

Standardisation in support of societal needs 

2.3.1 

Environment 

In  its  Communication  on  Integrated  Product  Policy15,  the  Commission  pointed  out  that 
standards  have  a  high  potential  to  support  sustainable  development,  comprising 
economic, social and environmental aspects. It also listed standards as one of the tools whose 
improvement  could  help  in  establishing  the  framework  for  the  continuous  environmental 
improvement of products throughout their whole life-cycle. Standardisers are now encouraged 
to give greater consideration to environment. Accordingly, in its recent Communication on 
the "Integration of Environmental Aspects into Standardisation16", the Commission has, 
as a key message, strongly encouraged all stakeholders in standardisation to take sustainable 
steps aiming to integrate environmental protection into standardisation17.  

2.3.2 

Accessibility for all 

Standards  are  an  important  instrument  for  making  society  and  economy  more  inclusive.  In 
Europe, society is aging. As a consequence, there is a growing market for goods and services 
that  satisfy  the  requirements  of  disabled  and/or  elderly  people.  Standardisation  has  the 
potential to respond to this challenge and to pave the way for the introduction of innovative 
state  of  the  art  technologies  that  ensure  accessibility  for  all.  However,  this  requires  strong 
commitment from all stakeholders involved in this process.  

2.3.3 

Security 

Standardisation  should  also  play  an  important  role  in  the  context  of  policies  relating  to 
security  combat  against  terrorism  and  prevention  of  crime  aiming  to  protect  citizens, 
infrastructures and services which are potential targets. 

3. 

THE GLOBAL DIMENSION OF STANDARDISATION 

The European Union’s core international commitments in this area are expressed through the 
WTO Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade. This Agreement requires of its signatories 
inter  alia  that  technical  regulations  and  international  standards  should  be  developed  and 
implemented in a non- discriminatory manner, and without creating unnecessary obstacles to 
trade.  It  also  recommends  the  recourse  to  international  standards  wherever  possible  while 
drafting technical regulation.  

The  Commission,  in  co-operation  with  the  European  Standards  Organisations  promotes  the 
use  of  international  standards.  To  this  extent,  it  participates  in  Business  Dialogues  such  as 
TABD18  and  MEBF19,  it  provides  support  to  the  co-operation  and  partnership  agreements 
between  the  European  and  International  Standards  Organisations,  it  promotes  standards 
receptive  regulatory  models  like  the  United  Nations  Economic  Commission  for  Europe 

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16 
17 

18 
19 

COM (2003) 302 
COM (2004) 130 final of 25 February 2004 
As a practical consequence, the Commission has issued a mandate for programming of standardisation 
work  in  the  field  of  eco-  design  of  energy-  using  products;  this  mandate  has  been  accepted  by  the 
European Standards Organisations and work is expected to start soon 
Trans Atlantic Business Dialogue 
Mercosur European Business Forum 

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(UN/ECE) and provides technical assistance. These actions aim to enable market access for 
European industry and to raise its competitiveness. 

However, in order to be in a position to do this, and to demonstrate the effectiveness of the 
European  system,  the  Community  needs  a  strong  standards  system  including  sufficient 
infrastructure  at  European  level  which  is  able  to  ensure  that  international  standards, 
elaborated  and  transposed  into  European  standards  to  support  Community  policies,  are 
coherent  with  these  policies.  A  diversified  system  based  on  many  competing  national 
standards  bodies  could  never  play  such  a  role.  Member  states,  their  National  Standards 
Bodies  and  stakeholders  are  therefore  requested  to  continue  to  support  a  strong  and 
coherent  European  standards  system.  At  the  same  time,  it  is  necessary  that  European 
industry  and  stakeholders  are  fully  engaged  in  European  standardisation  so  that  they 
can be a driving force at the level of international standardisation 

4. 

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FURTHER ACTIONS  

The  consultations  carried  out  with  member  states  and  stakeholders  in  standardisation  have 
confirmed  the  Commission’s  views  with  regard  to  standardisation  policy.  They  also  have 
confirmed that there is a need for improvement requiring a whole set of follow-up activities 
which are explained in more detail in the Commission’s staff working document on “the 
challenges  for  European  standardisation”.  The  Commission  will 
the 
recommendations for actions outlined below. Furthermore, it invites the European Standards 
Organisations,  Member  States  and  stakeholders  to  perform  these  actions  within  their  own 
areas  of  competence.  The  implementation  of  the  recommendations  may  lead  to  further 
actions, to be laid down in an Action Plan, developed by the Commission in conjunction with 
Member States and stakeholders. 

implement 

The recommendations for actions are: 

4.1. 

To  continue  to  make  more  extensive  use  of  European  standardisation  in 
European policies and legislation. 

– 

– 

4.2. 

– 

The  Commission  is  convinced  that  the  extension  of  making  use  of  standards  to 
support  European  legislation  and  policies  to  areas  beyond  the  Single  Market  for 
goods was successful. The Commission is committed to continue with this approach 
and to support an extended use of standards in its policies. 

In  this  context,  it  is  important  to  increase  the  knowledge  of  decision-makers  of 
Member States with respect to the advantages of European standardisation in support 
of Community legislation and policies. 

Improvement  of  efficiency,  coherence,  visibility  of  European  standardisation 
and of its institutional framework 

Efficiency: it is essential for European standards to be developed within a reasonable 
period  of  time.  To  this  extent,  the  European  Standardisation  Organisations  must 
continue to improve their efficiency substantially in order to respond properly to the 
needs of industry and regulators. This refers also to the availability of procedures by 
which  the  needs  of  consortia  can  be  better  accommodated  in  ESOs.  ESOs  should 

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– 

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– 

fully exploit the potential for synergies by improving their co-operation and reinforce 
their mechanisms of coordination for subjects of common interest.  

ICT: The Commission will seek to initiate a strategic review, together with Member 
States and stakeholders, that would target how all players involved in standardisation 
could  better  match  the  challenges  responding  to  societal  and  market  needs,  thus 
providing efficiently elaborated specifications in the IT sector. 

The  effective  participation  of  all  interested  parties  concerned  (NGOs,  environment, 
consumers, SMEs, authorities, business representatives in accordance with the spirit 
of the TBT Agreement) is not yet sufficiently well guaranteed, neither at ESO level, 
nor within all Member States. Improvements are necessary. We also must step up our 
efforts for European standardisation to be recognised by entrepreneurs as a strategic 
tool  for  competitiveness  and  for  the  uniform  application  of  technical  legislation  in 
the  internal  market.  The  commitment  of  everybody  should  be  reactivated  in  this 
respect. 

Strengthening  of  the  institutional  framework:  The  institutional  framework  must  be 
reformed  in  order  to  ensure  that  standardisation  can  effectively  play  its  role.  This 
involves  the  creation  of  a  legal  basis  for  the  financing  of  European  standardisation 
and  a  revision  of  the  standards  part  of  Directive  98/34  establishing  an  information 
procedure in the field of standards and technical regulations.  

Financial  viability  of  European  standardisation  The  financing  of  European 
standardisation must be based essentially on the contributions of the parties involved 
in  it.  Given  the  role  played  by  European  standardisation  in  supporting  European 
policies,  the  Commission  undertakes  to  co-finance  European  standardisation 
activities and European infrastructures. Member States assume co-responsibility with 
regard  to  the  financial  viability  of  the  European  standardisation  system.  The 
financing  of  the  central  infrastructure  of  CEN/CENELEC  which  so  far  depends 
exclusively  on  EU  contributions  and  the  annual  contributions  of  the  National 
Standardisation  Bodies  should  be  reviewed  with  a  view  to  putting  it  on  a  broader 
basis.  Maintenance  of  strong,  centralised  infrastructures  representing  the  European 
interest  is  essential.  The  Commission  will  put  forward  a  legislative  proposal 
providing  for  a  legal  basis  to  financially  support  European  standardisation,  with 
reference to all of these activities and needs, as a tool serving to European policies. 

4.3 

European standardisation and the challenge of globalisation 

– 

– 

– 

The  Commission  will  continue  to  promote  international  standards  drawn  up  by  the 
international  standardisation  bodies  (ISO,  IEC,  ITU)  and 
their 
transposition in the EU. 

to  support 

When international standards are developed and transposed into European standards 
in  support  of  European  policies,  the  European  Standardisation  Organisations  must 
ensure that these standards are consistent with the objectives of EU policies. 

The role of European standardisation in the international context and the visibility of 
its achievements to enhance market access and competitiveness must be reinforced. 
It is important to urge European industry and the parties concerned to reiterate their 
commitment  to  European  standardisation  as  a  driving  force  for  international 

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standardisation. It is also appropriate to confirm with the Member States (with a view 
to the enlarged Union) their commitment to European standardisation. The European 
Standards  Organisations  and  stakeholders  are  encouraged  to  undertake  concrete 
actions to enhance visibility. 

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