COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Information on actions of the Joint Initiative on Standardisation; progress of implementation of the actions foreseen in the AUWPs, including on the development of European service standards; state-of-play of the standardisation requests addressed to the ESOs and number of standards produced and registered in work programme of the ESOs; actions promoting innovation; contribution of the Annex III organisations (SBS, ANEC, ECOS and ETUC) representing respectively SMEs, consumers, workers and environmental interests in standardisation) to the production processes of standards (inclusiveness); EU financial contribution to the ESOs under the Regulation; state of play of ICT Standardisation Priorities for the Digital Single Market; action plan to decrease the stock of non-cited harmonised standard Accompanying the document REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS on the implementation of EU standardisation policy and the contribution of European standards to EU policies
Date: 2018-01-16
Institutions: Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, European Commission
Subjects: European standard, European standardisation body, harmonisation of standards, innovation, institutional cooperation, interinstitutional cooperation (EU), international cooperation, single market, standard

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 16.1.2018  SWD(2018) 15 final  COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Information on actions of the Joint Initiative on Standardisation; progress of implementation of the actions foreseen in the AUWPs, including on the development of European service standards; state-of-play of the standardisation requests addressed to the ESOs and number of standards produced and registered in work programme of the ESOs; actions promoting innovation; contribution of the Annex III organisations (SBS, ANEC, ECOS and ETUC) representing respectively SMEs, consumers, workers and environmental interests in standardisation) to the production processes of standards (inclusiveness); EU financial contribution to the ESOs under the Regulation; state of play of ICT Standardisation Priorities for the Digital Single Market; action plan  to decrease the stock of non-cited harmonised standard  Accompanying the document REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS  on the implementation of EU standardisation policy and the contribution of European standards to EU policies {COM(2018) 26 final}  
 
 
Contents 
1.  Actions of the Joint Initiative on Standardisation ........................................................................... 3 

2.  Progress of implementation of the actions foreseen in the AUWPs, including on the 
development of European service standards (from planning up to transmission of a specific 
standardisation request to the ESOs) ................................................................................................... 20 

State-of-play of the standardisation requests addressed to the ESOs and number of standards 

3. 
produced and registered in work programme of the ESOs (from the transmission of a specific 
standardisation request to the ESOs until the delivery of the requested standards) .......................... 41 

4.  Actions promoting innovation ...................................................................................................... 52 

5.  Contribution of the Annex III organisations (SBS, ANEC, ECOS and ETUC) representing 
respectively SMEs, consumers, workers and environmental interests in standardisation) to the 
production processes of standards (inclusiveness) .............................................................................. 56 

6. 

7. 

EU financial contribution to the ESOs under the Regulation ........................................................ 60 

State of play of ICT Standardisation Priorities for the Digital Single Market ................................ 61 

8.  Action plan to decrease the stock of non-cited harmonised standards ....................................... 64 

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1. 

Actions of the Joint Initiative on Standardisation 

Action  1  –  Study  on  the  economic  and  societal  impacts  of  standardisation  in  the  EU  and  EFTA 
Member States. 

Scope and objectives 

Even though it is generally acknowledged that standards play an important part, there is a clear need 
of better understanding their economic and broader societal impact. Also, the impacts of standards 
within businesses and their supply chains are less well understood. The same applies for the public 
sector,  not  always  being  well  aware  and  informed  about  the  impact  of  using  standards  in  public 
policies. Therefore, as already requested by the COMPET Council in 20151, the first action calls for 
launching a study to analyse the economic and societal impact of European standardisation on a EU 
and  EFTA  MS  level.  The  study  has  also  been  announced  in  the  annual  Union  work programme  for 
European standardisation for 2017 (AUWP 2017) 2. 

Participants 

The  Commission  with  support  from  EFTA  and  in  co-operation  with  National  Standards  Bodies  and 
other participants to the JIS. 

 State of play 

The Commission launched a survey  between the JIS participants  on 30 September 2016 asking for 
possible definitions of the topics that could be covered under the study, on possible data resources 
and assumptions about relations between standards and other economic and societal variables. The 
results were presented at the JIS Steering Group of 13 December 2016. Furthermore, a roundtable 
was organised on 16 May 2017 with academia and scientists to exchange views on various research 
methodologies  and  existing  reports.  The  Commission  proceeded  by  launching  a  call  under  a  low 
value contract to perform a feasibility study (max. 6 months) which is foreseen to start in October 
2017.  The  outcomes  of  this  assessment  will  inform  the  broader  decision  by  the  European 
Commission to launch a study, or other suitable instrument, on the economic and societal impact of 
standards and standardisation on an EU and EFTA MS level.   

1 The Competitiveness Council on 2 March 2015, "INVITES the Commission to finalize the Independent 
Review and analyse the impact of standardisation on the economy taking into account the interest of all the 
parties".  
2 See COM (2016) 357 final, p 7-8. 

3 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
Action 2 – Linking research and innovation with standardisation 

Scope and objectives 

It  is  important  to  highlight  the  link  between  research,  innovation  and  commercialisation  using 
standardisation as early as possible in order to exploit to a maximum the outcomes of current and 
future  research  and  innovation  projects  from,  for  example,  Horizon2020  or  from  other  existing 
innovation  related  initiatives  and  networks  (the  European  Technology  Platforms  (ETP),  Joint 
Technology Initiatives (JTI), Public-Private Partnerships (PPP), and European Innovation Partnerships 
(EIP).  In  fact,  about  30%  of  Horizon2020  projects  have  a  direct  or  indirect  link  to  pre-normative 
activities. An early in-depth analysis should be carried out of where, when and how standardisation 
can help to boost innovation in European innovation programs. It would also be helpful to increase 
the use of standards by business to foster market access for their innovation. Those standardisation 
deliverables  supporting  research  and  innovation  projects  that  have  been  realised  so  far  will  be 
assessed and the development of pilot projects may also be taken into consideration. 

Participants 

The action is led by Joint Research Center in close collaboration with CEN and CENELEC, as well as 
with  the  Commission  services  (CNECT  and  GROW).  The  sponsors  of  the  action  include  also  the 
Commission (CNECT), ETSI, the COST Association, eight NSBs, EURAMET and one industry association. 

State of play 

The  Action  Group  prepared  a  roadmap  with  the  objective  to  establish  a  sustainable  system  that 
encourages  the  natural  cooperation  between  researchers  and  innovators  with  the  European 
Standardisation System, and allows for the smooth uptake of research and innovation outputs into 
standardisation. The roadmap contains four sets of actions: 

 

 

 

to  further  develop  and  exploit  foresight  mechanisms:  Exploit  foresight  mechanisms  to 
identify  challenges,  and  subsequently  integrate  research  and  standardization  to  address 
those challenges  
to  deepen  Research  –  Standardisation  integration:  Facilitate  the  transfer  of  research  and 
innovation to the market through standardization) 
to  introduce  standardisation  in  the  European  Innovation  Eco-system:  Build  a  strong 
network of innovation actors to raise awareness of standardization) 

  Coordination, Dissemination and Reporting. 

4 

 
 
 
 
 
 
Action  3  –  Programmes  for  education 
standardisation 

in  standardisation/Training  and  awareness  on 

Scope and objectives 

The  importance  of  standardisation  for  competiveness  and  economic  growth  is  undisputed.  Smart, 
innovation-friendly EU and national legislation makes increasingly use of standards. However, on EU 
level neither formal education nor vocational training address standardisation consistently in view of 
offering the development of related competences.   

This  action  will  develop  a  concise  set  of  recommendations  and  strategic  advice  regarding  the 
education  about  standardisation  (EaS)  in  Europe.    The  action  will  look  at  programmes  of  formal 
education  and  vocational  training  addressing  standardisation  on  a  strategic  level,  including 
education on the European standardisation system. The action will look at ways how to explore and 
promote standardisation as an element of formal education, academic and vocational training, in co-
operation with Member States with experience in this area, as well as engaging academia and other 
stakeholders.  A  training  programme  for  policy  officers  of  the  European  and  EFTA  institutions  (and 
experts on standardisation) will also be considered.  

Participants 

Action 3 – Lead: BITKOM (co-lead "industry") and EURAS, the European Academy for Standardisation 
(co-lead  "academia")  –  Sponsors  and  Contributors:  3  EU  MS,  3  ESOs,  1  university,  1  industrial 
association, European Commission   

Associated:  1 technical university, 1 societal stakeholder organisation 

State of play 

The action consists of two major project parts, (a) standardisation as element of formal education 
(hereinafter referred to as Education on Standards - "EaS") and (b) the design of a standardisation-
related training programme for EC and EFTA institutions officials were confirmed.   

As high level objectives were defined: 

  promote  the  strategic  relevance  of  standardisation/standards  to  leaders  of  universities 
(non-technical  faculties)  and  business  schools  and  trigger  the  development  of  related 
educational programmes  
trigger a better articulation to and representation of the need of business for EaS   

 
  develop recommendations and a strategic roadmap outlining the further progress in EaS in 

Europe. 

The operational targets are 

  Programmes on EaS (identification & collection)     
  Studies on need for EaS (identification & analysis)  
 

Institutions active in EaS (identification & reach out)  

5 

 
 
 
  Awareness raising  
  EaS teaching material (identification & collection, specific development)   
  EaS training programme for EC and EFTA officials 

These operational targets are further defined in work packages with specific deliverables and tasks. 

A number of activities are already ongoing:  

  EC  commissioned  two  assessments  in  order  to  provide  the  evidence  basis  for  this  project: 
the "market need for standardisation competence" (delivery of Final Report: 30.9.2017) and 
"the role of European universities as standardisation-related education supplier" (awarded:  
September 2017);  

  EC has awarded to ETSI a grant for developing academic teaching materials for ICT-

standardisation (May 2017: validation workshop for teaching material on ICT standardisation 
for universities, delivery scheduled for end 2018); 

  A  roundtable  between  EC  and  European  academia  (May  2017)  reached  out  to  academia 
active  in  researching  into  and  teaching  standardisation  to  exchange  views  on  programmes 
on EaS and their integration in academic teaching;     

  All sponsors contribute to the different WPs and take leadership ; 
  Action 3 formally called upon industry, their associations, to join the work considering that 
at the end industry is the main beneficiary – a respective joint mail was addressed to the SC 
of the JIS  

6 

 
 
 
 
 
 
Action 4 – Improvement of standardisation awareness in national public authorities. 

Scope and objectives 

At national level, a certain lack of knowledge about the role of standards in support to regulations 
and  public  policy  has  been  observed.  It  is  therefore  recommended  to  further  involve  public 
authorities in the standards setting and referencing processes. Therefore, an enhanced engagement 
of Member States will be a fundamental achievement; other practical measures will be envisaged, 
such  as  a  common  kit/toolbox/template  with  communication  material  for  individual  use  in  the 
Member States. 

Participants 

Lead:  National Standardisation Body of Portugal 

Sponsors: 2 EU MS, 4 NSB of EU MS, 1 ESO, 2 industrial associations, European Commission 

State of play 

The action-group has made good progress on defining a roadmap of actions. Individual contacts took 
place  between  the  sponsors  and  their  national  contact  points  in  order  to  assess  the  interest  to 
organise national information sessions or to produce information material.  

At  present  a  practical  manual  for  regulators  on  use  and  referencing  of  standards  in  legislation  is 
under consultation (closing date:  10 October 2017).   

The  final  outcome  will  be  a  tool  box  containing  the  manual,  a  training  programme  and  material 
(Power Point). A roll-out campaign is scheduled for 2018.  

7 

 
 
 
 
Action 5 - Pilot Project - Aiding the implementation of the Construction Products Regulation (CPR) 
through standards 

Scope and objectives:  

The  action  focuses  on  mapping  some  of  the  main  specificities  and  challenges  pertaining  to 
harmonised standards and the standardisation process for construction products. It will cultivate a 
common  understanding  on  the  role  of  harmonised  standards  in  the  CPR  context;  it  will  clarify  the 
role  of  the  various  actors  and  explore  the  use  of  a  simplified  procedure  for  amending  existing 
mandates.  Furthermore,  the  action  will  enhance  the  process  of  introducing  new  classes  and 
threshold  levels  into  harmonised  standards  and  apply  collaborative  efforts  to  ensure  their  timely 
revision and citation. 

Participants: 

Commission (DG GROW), Member States, CEN, NSBs, SBS, industry 

State of play: 

A working group (WG) was established comprising representatives of the above mentioned sponsors. 
The WG has met on a monthly basis. So far, the WG has finalised the action sheet. Five sub-actions 
were identified to achieve the action's overall objective for which the work has begun: 

  Action 1: Promotion of a common understanding and the role of standards in the CPR context 

including clear definitions of the roles of the different actors. 

  Action  2:  Explore  and  clarify  the  use  of  a  simplified  procedure  for  amending  existing 

mandates 

  Action  3:  Further  improve  the  process  of  introducing  new  classes  and  threshold  levels  into 

Harmonised European Standards (hEN) 

  Action 4: Streamline process for timely revisions and  citation of hENs through collaborative 

efforts 

  Action 5: Ensure continued availability of CPR consultants and their effective use in resolving 

outstanding issues. 

Target  date  for  the  action  is  December  2019;  one  of  the  objectives  is  to  resolve  the  outstanding 
publication  of  references  in  the  OJEU  and  to  mitigate  past  bottlenecks  into  new,  more  efficient 
procedures. 

in  December  2016  between  EC,  European 
In  addition,  a  Workshop  has  been  organised 
respective  Technical  Committees,  National 
Standardisation  Organisations, 
Standardisation  Bodies,  industry  associations  and  industry  to  address  the  issue  of  non-published 
Harmonised Standards in the OJEU. An action plan has been established. 

stakeholders, 

8 

 
 
 
 
 
Action 6 – Improve the exchange of information and dialogue with industry through a Standards 
Market Relevance Roundtable (“SMARRT”) 

Scope and objectives 

From the side of many actors of the system, the need for a better exchange of information, more 
transparency  and  dialogue  to  enhance  the  effectiveness  of  the  legislator’s  use  of  the  European 
Standardisation System has been strongly called for. To achieve this result, and in line with Article 12 
of Regulation (EU)1025/2012, an adequate consideration of market relevance, in addition to public 
policies and  regulation is  needed. In order  to look  at improvements for market relevant testing of 
European  standardisation  policy  planning,  a  roundtable  is  established  between  the  European 
Commission  and  industry,  called:  “Standards  MArket  Relevance  Round  Table”,  “SMARRT”.  This 
Roundtable will meet on a regular basis in full transparency, for example, during the development of 
draft standardisation requests, prior to Committee on Standards meetings, to offer market relevant 
opinions. 

Participants 

The action is led by the Commission; the sponsors of the action include also industry, two Member 
States, three ESOs, one NSB and two Annex III organisations.  

State of play 

On  06  October  2016,  a  preparatory  meeting  to  set  up  the  “Standards  MArket  Relevance  Round 
Table”,  (“SMARRT”)  was  held.  In  this  meeting,  a  consensus  was  reached  with  respect  to  the  basic 
principles for the operation of the SMARRT. The first meeting of the SMARRT was organised on 17 
February  2017,  prior  to  the  1st  Comitology  Committee  on  Standards  Meeting  of  2017  of  9  March 
2017.  The  second  meeting  of  the  SMARRT  was  organised  on  13  June  2017,  prior  to  the  2nd 
Comitology Committee on Standards Meeting of 27 June 2017. 

9 

 
 
 
 
Action 7 - Optimisation of operational aspects of Regulation (EU) 1025/2012 

Scope and objectives 

It is important to use the planning instruments and tools at EU level to their full extent to effectively 
support policy objectives. Stakeholder collaboration and coordination are fundamental for optimised 
support  to  EU  policy  priorities  and  for  the  effectiveness  of  these  instruments.  An  analysis  of  the 
available  planning  instruments  for  standardisation  at  EU  level  and  a  gathering  of  best  practices  as 
evidence  to  support  EU  policy  objectives  would  help  to  clarify  the  different  roles,  responsibilities, 
processes,  objectives  and  deliverables,  and  would  contribute  to  better  plan  further  actions  (e.g. 
complementary coordination actions). 

Participants 

Commission (DG GROW, DG CNECT), Member States, ESOs, NSOs,  Industry associations 

State of play 

The  Action  Group  has  met  on  a  monthly  basis  through  teleconferences.  So  far,  it  has  found  a 
common  agreement  and  finalised  the  action  sheet.  In  addition,  background  documents  were 
elaborated  providing  information  on  the  Commission's  annual  Union  work  programme  (AUWP)  in 
standardisation,  the  ICT  Rolling  Plan  for  ICT  Standardisation,  the  European  Multi  Stakeholder 
Platform (MSP) on ICT standardisation  and the Committee on Standards (Cos). Target date for the 
action is December 2019. 

10 

 
 
 
 
 
Action 8 – Provide high-quality standards delivered and referenced in a timely manner 

Scope and objectives 

The strong call for standards/specifications issued when the market/regulations/public policies need 
them and when the users of the standards are ready to implement their requirements or use them 
in the legislation is an undeniable need expressed by the actors of the system - be it policy makers, 
industry  or  society  –  a  challenge  which  has  to  be  tackled  through  collaborative  processes: 
improvement  of  performance  in  terms  of  quality  and  timeliness  over  the  entire  life  cycle  of 
European standards linked with policy and regulations, ensuring that the roles and competences of 
each actor remain preserved, in respect of the European and Member State regulations. 

Participants 

Three  European  Standardisation  Organisations,  seven  stakeholders'  organisations,  four  national 
standards bodies, one Member State and the European Commission. 

State of play 

Workplan  and  deadlines  Consultation  between  the  Commission  and  the  stakeholders  on  the 
technical and operational details, a number of teleconferences and face-to-face meetings took place 
to  define  them.  The  most  recent  meeting  of  the  Action  Group  of  12  September  2017  in  Brussels 
discussed the 3 work items as previously agreed: 

  Work Item 1 - Standardisation requests development process 
  WI 2 - Standards development process 
  WI 3 - Assessment of (draft) harmonised standards and publication in the OJEU 

At the same time, the Action Group agreed to add one additional work item extending the scope of 
work item 3 with the aim to put the discussions on the development, assessment, verification and 
publication of harmonised standards in a broader context. This additional work item could address 
questions like: 

Are there better ways to reach the purpose of the JIS ACTION 8 exercise? 
• What benefits can be taken from ‘digitization’? 
• Are the current tools (like ‘Annex Z’) the best way to meet the EC requirements? 
• How can ‘seamlessness’ be ensured in data available from various sources (OJEU, websites, 
databases,…)? 

11 

 
 
 
 
Action 9 – Inclusiveness, transparency & effective participation of all stakeholders in the European 
Standardisation System 

Scope and objectives 

An increased awareness of the role of Annex III organisations would strengthen the system, as well 
as  increase  their  contribution  during  the  development  of  standards,  and  to  overcome  additional 
obstacles  at  international  level.  In  order  to  promote  a  real  and  effective  inclusiveness  of  the 
European  Standardisation  System,  an  easy  access  of  all  interested  stakeholders  to  national, 
European  and  international  standardisation  work  and  their  effective  participation  should  be 
supported  through  appropriate  means  and  actions.  Awareness  raising  actions  targeted  at  national 
standards bodies and technical bodies should take place. It is also of importance that standards are 
market  relevant  and  reflect  the  interests  and  needs  of  all  stakeholders,  including  societal  and 
environmental. 

Participants 

Leader: DG GROW 

Sponsors: CEN/CENELEC, ETSI, ANEC, ECOS, ETUC, SBS, ETUI, Orgalime, BSI, NEN, AFNOR 

State of play 

After  the  first  meeting  in  December  2016,  a  second  one  took  place  in  May  2017.  The  fruitful  and 
positive exchange during this second meeting allowed for the smooth finalisation of the action fiche. 
A strong link with actions 10 and 15 was included in the final text, so that results of the 3 actions are 
maximised  and  optimised.  Currently  the  action  plan  is  Consultation  between  the  Commission  and 
the  stakeholders  on  the  technical  and  operational  details,  with  sponsors  actively  contributing  by 
sending proposals for concrete actions to be implemented.  DIN has joined has sponsor of the action. 

12 

 
 
 
 
 
Action 10 – Facilitating participation of all stakeholders at national level 

Scope and objectives 

Enhanced participation of some existing and emerging categories of stakeholders at national level, 
including those representing societal and public interests (e.g. national authorities including market 
surveillance)  would  bring  added  value  to  the  final  quality  of  the  standardisation  deliverables.  As 
contributions from all stakeholders are considered to be pivotal in order to produce state-of-the-art 
standards,  tools  are  to  be  developed  through  which  participation  of  underrepresented  categories 
could be extended at national level to more countries, building on existing best practices. 

Participants 

Leader: France (Ministry of Finances) 

Sponsors: ANEC, ECOS, ETUC, SBS, BSI, NEN, AFNOR, DG GROW. UK, French Ministry for Ecology and 
Sustainable Development, French Ministry for Social Affairs and Health 

State of play 

At  this  stage,  only  France  is  represented  at  Member  State  level;  therefore  in  2017  the  French 
representative  has  asked  for  the  involvement  of  other  Member  States  and  has  also  asked  for  the 
Commission's support in order to mobilise them.  After this call for interest, Greece has expressed 
the will to support the French colleagues in their work. 

The  first  stage  of  the  action  implementation  consisted  of  an  in-depth  analysis  of  the  current 
situation. For this purpose, a questionnaire has been prepared (and discussed at a meeting in Paris, 
January 2017) which has been distributed in the first half of the year, also through the network of 
the Committee on Standards. To be exact, two questionnaires have been sent out: one targeted to 
National Standard Bodies and  MS authorities, and one targeted to stakeholders. 

Now that the answers to the questionnaires have been collected, there is the need to move forward 
and: 

- 

- 

- 

- 

share the results; 

analyse them; 

identify areas for improvement; 

decide how to run the next step. 

This will be done during a confcall meeting on September, 20th. 

13 

 
 
 
 
 
Action  11  –  Increased  use  of  standards  in  Public  Procurement  to  better  implement  the  public 
procurement Directives 

Scope and objectives 

Currently, there is a rather low use of standards in Public Procurement, which means that suppliers 
face numerous, different requests and various definitions in the “suppliers documents”, resulting in 
higher  costs  and  inefficiency  in  procurement.  Approximately,  ±2%  of  goods  and  services  in  public 
procurement cross the borders today in the EU. Therefore, practical and concrete actions should be 
envisaged,  such  as  a  guide,  for  how  to  use  standards  in  combination  with  the  new  procurement 
directive.  In  order  to  improve  the  current  situation,  it  would  also  be  important  to  find  out  how 
Member  States  deal  with  the  use  of  standards  in  public  procurement  in  terms  of  structure,  tools, 
guides, education etc. A study or analysis could be considered in that context. 

Participants 

Two of the three European Standardisation Organisations, five industrial stakeholders, eight national 
standards bodies, five Member States and the European Commission. 

State of play 

Work-plan  foresees  4  separate  outcome  where  drafting  process  for  output  2  (guide)  is  most 
advanced.  

  Output 1: Analysis of public sector procurement activities (might be merged with output 2); 
  Output 2: Guide on how to reference standards in tender dossiers and contracts; 
  Output 3: Process management standard or guide; 
  Output 4: Dissemination of best practice. 

14 

 
 
 
 
 
Action 12 – Encouraging the greater development and use of European Service Standards to help 
integrate Europe's service markets 

Scope and objectives 

Both  the  2006  Services  Directive  and  Regulation  (EU)  No  1025/2012  on  European  standardisation 
recognise the potential benefits of service standards to increase market transparency, raise quality 
and  safety,  and  facilitate  market  access  for  businesses  and  consumers.  Indeed,  there  is  untapped 
potential for service standards in Europe, respecting national and European regulations. While their 
number is growing, most existing and newly emerging services standards are national (fewer than 20% 
of existing service standards are European). This action will look to promote where appropriate the 
increased  development  and  use  of  market  driven  European  service  standards  to  benefit  European 
businesses and consumers, through better identification and prioritisation of areas, where standards 
could help the integration of Europe's services markets, increased awareness and understanding of 
services  standardisation,  and  greater  involvement  of  services  providers  and  users  in  services 
standardisation.  CEN,  with  the  contributions  of  all  stakeholders,  will  develop  and  implement  a 
strategy to address European standardisation in the field of services (by 2018). The implementation 
will include  prioritisation  of  service  areas  (taking  into  consideration  the  EC  Guidance  document  as 
taken  up  in  the  Staff  Working  Document  of  the  1  June  2016  Standardisation  Package)  and  the 
development  of  an  awareness  raising  package  with  the  support  and  contribution  of  relevant 
stakeholders in 2017 and 2018. 

Participants 

Very diversified support for this action: one of the European Standardisation Organisations has the 
lead,  supported by  the  Commission,  two  Member  States,  one  stakeholder organisation,  4  national 
standards bodies and several business organisations.  

State of play 

Workplan  already  well  defined,  with  milestones  and  deadlines  up  to  2018.  The  CEN  strategy  on 
services  standardisation  was  published  early  2017,  is  coherent  with  the  June  2016  dedicated 
guidance  issued  by  the  European  Commission,  take  into  account  the  inputs  received  during  the 
stakeholders’  engagement  workshop  of  October  2016  and  considers  national  competences  in  a 
number of service areas.  

15 

 
 
 
 
 
Action  13  –  Promote  the  European  regulatory  model  supported  by  voluntary  standards  and  its 
close link to international standardisation in third countries. 

Scope and objectives 

Considering it is widely recognised as a success story and a best practice, the European  regulatory 
and  standardisation  model  should  be  promoted  outside  the  EU  and  EFTA  Member  States.  This 
means that all stakeholders should globally promote the concept of common regulatory objectives 
supported  by  voluntary  standards  developed  in  a  transparent  and  inclusive  way  (cf.  the  “New 
Approach”  and  NLF-type  legislation)  outside  Europe,  in  the  context  of  international  trade 
negotiations and other relevant channels.. 

Participants 

One  of  the  European  Standardisation  Organisations  has  the  lead  on  this  action,  supported  by  the 
other  two,  the  Commission,  two  stakeholder  organisations,  some  national  standards  bodies  and 
several business organisations.   

State of play 

Workplan, milestones and deliverables are being defined and several teleconferences took place up 
until the summer. 

The action is now split in several well defined and concrete deliverables:  

1. 

Identification of 3 geographic priority areas relevant to all stakeholders (including the EC, via its 
FTA negotiations and/or regulatory dialogues with a strong standardisation dimension),  

2.  Develop  a  promotion  strategy,  agreeing  core  messages  and  communication  channels/support, 
target  groups,  indicators  to  measure  success,  timeline  and  key  milestones  a  well  as  develop 
support materials as needed (e.g. brochures, PPTs…) 

3.  Raise awareness among relevant EC services 
4.  Ensure  appropriate  involvement  of  European  standardization  and  industry  stakeholders  in 

relevant regulatory dialogues and trade negotiations 

5.  Launch a pilot initiative to support the development of an African Continental Free Trade Area 
based on the European Quality Infrastructure model and on "New Approach" and NLF principles 
(to be confirmed if all stakeholders agree to the relevance of this region) 

6.  Launch  within  H2020  a  support  action  to  reinforce  the  presence  of  EU  in  international  ICT 

standardisation. 

7.  Projects within Foreign Policy Instrument to promote EU ICT standardisation and ICT standards 

in other regions. 

16 

 
 
 
 
 
 
Action 14 – Standardisation to support digitisation of European industry 

Scope and objectives 

Digitisation of European industry and services represent an important opportunity for the growth of 
the  European  businesses  and  for  the  society,  as  well  as  an  important  milestone  in  the  context  of 
achieving a Digital Single Market. 

longstanding 

in  Europe  has  had 

Industry 
intelligent 
manufacturing  technologies.  Currently,  digitisation  of  industry  and  services  and  the  application  of 
cognitive  technologies  set  connections  across  sectors  as  well  as  throughout  the  value  chain,  from 
the innovator to the manufacturer and from provider to the consumers. This is a push for innovation 
and technology integration throughout the value chain.  

in  factory  automation  and 

leadership 

The EC package on “Digitising of European Industry” as well as several initiatives at Member State 
level and within industry federations recognise  that  standardisation has an important role  to play, 
helping  European  industry  in  securing  their  leadership  in  manufacturing  and  service  provision 
adapting  best  available  digital  technologies,  amongst  other  benefits:  "An  effective  standardisation 
environment  for  digital  technologies  is  crucial  for  Digitising  European  Industry,  and  is  key  for  the 
Digital Single Market. ICT standards allow devices and services to connect seamlessly across borders 
and  technologies.  In  the  future,  billions  of  connected  devices  -  including  appliances,  industrial 
equipment,  and  sensors  –  depend  on  such  seamless  communication,  regardless  of  manufacturer, 
technical details, or country of origin." 

The  smart  collaboration  between  CEN,  CENELEC  and  ETSI,  together  with  industry  actors,  EC/EFTA 
Member States and other international and global organisations and initiatives, can pave the way for 
promoting an effective set of standards, taking into account existing ones available at European and 
global level, resulting in an efficient support to digitisation of industry. 

The  overall  scope  of  Action  14  is  the  leverage  and  further  improvement  of  the  effective 
standardisation  environment  to  provide  standards  and  other  standardisation  deliverables  enabling 
and  promoting  the  digitisation  of  European  industry.  In  addition,  it  encourages  coordination 
between  European  and  national  standardisation  programmes  and  related  deployment  activities. 
Also, it foresees in the promotion of the global cooperation and acceleration of the transposition of 
standards and standardisation deliverables at international level.  

This action is looking at how to best support the EU policy objectives, as, for example, outlined in the 
EC package on “Digitising of European Industry”. 

State of play 

The actions undertaken in the context of Action 14 relate to the pillars of the ICT Standards Priorities 
of the DSM, in particular Big Data and Data Protection, Cyber Security and Internet of Things 

The aim of Action 14 is therefore to create an overarching initiative that engages with a multitude of 
stakeholders  and  European/national  policy  and  standardisation  initiatives  that  are  addressing  the 
various  aspects  of  the  digitalisation  of  European  industry.  The  actual  focus  in  the  first  months  of 

17 

 
 
Action 14 has been on some vertical areas, namely advanced manufacturing of products, processes, 
and  systems  including  robotics,  and  on  smart  meters  and  smart  grids  as  well  as  smart  cities  and 
efficient energy use. These areas are intrinsically linked to priority standardisation domains (IoT and 
Big  Data)  that  are  addressed  in  the  Communication  on  ICT  standardisation  priorities  for  the  DSM 
adopted in April 2016, as well as their wider impact on the digital transformation on industry. 

Further  work  on  Action  14  shall  be  conceived  in  a  way  to  ensure  its  alignment  with  the 
implementation of the ICT standardisation priorities, and will an explanation on How, by Whom and 
by When the actions will be implemented. In addition, the group will have a strategic reflection on 
these aspects and on possible forthcoming priorities related to these topics. 

Participants 

Action Leaders: CEN, CENELEC and ETSI 

Sponsors: 
1. 
2. 
3. 
4. 

EC: DG CNCT, DG GROW 
NSOs: AFNOR, BSI, DIN, NEN 
Member States: France, Germany  
Industry: BITKOM, DigitalEurope, FIEEC, Orgalime, UNIFE, ZVEI 

18 

 
 
 
 
Action  15  –  Pilot  Project  –  Improve  the  representation  of  the  interests  of  SMEs  in  Europe  in 
international standardisation processes 

Scope and objectives 

Standards  drafted  by  international  standards’  bodies,  such  as  ISO  and  IEC,  are  more  and  more 
important  on  the  global  markets.  They  are  increasingly  transposed  as  Harmonised  Standards  in 
Europe to prove presumption of conformity with EU legislation. SMEs from Europe should have their 
voices  better  heard  in  international  standardisation,  based  on  the  improvements  that  have  been 
made at European level. International standards that meet the needs of SMEs in Europe contribute 
to  enhancing  their  competitiveness.  While  the  presence  of  SMEs  and  their  associations  is  already 
improving  at  European  level,  more  should  be  done  to  ensure  appropriate  representation  and 
effective participation in international standardisation processes, building on existing best practice; 
this could also be extended to the other societal stakeholders under the Annex III of Regulation (EU) 
No 1025/2012. There is, hence, room for more coordinated strategies and joint efforts by European 
stakeholders and National Standardisation Bodies to influence the processes at ISO and IEC - both at 
the  technical  and  policy  -  level.  Also,  best  practices  for  SMEs  at  the  international  level  could  be 
promoted  for  the  benefit  of  SMEs  in  Europe,  where  appropriate  with  the  help  of  national 
standardisation  bodies.  These  best  practices  can  also  benefit  to  the  other  societal  stakeholders, 
Annex III Organisations. 

Participants 

Two of the three European Standardisation Organisations, three stakeholders' organisations (one of 
which is in the lead), two national standards bodies and the European Commission. 

State of play 

It  has  been  agreed  that  Action  9,  10  and  15  will  be  addressed  to  all  Annex  III  organisations 
representing societal stakeholders in standardisation (i.e. SMEs, consumers, environment and trade 
unions)in  order  to  improve  the  inclusiveness  of  the  standardisation  process  at  all  levels,  national, 
European and international.  

The core of this Action is to raise inclusiveness at international, ISO-IEC level. 

Discussions  are  still  ongoing,  but  a  draft  action  plan  has  been  proposed,  from  identifying  Good 
Practices  at  national,  European  and  international  level  to  reinforcing  coordination  between  SMEs, 
societal  stakeholders  and  NSOs  (as  NSOs  are  those  participating  directly  to  IO  and  IEC  work).  The 
final aim is to establish cooperation between Annex III organisations and ISO and IEC, possibly in the 
form of a structured dialogue. 

19 

 
 
 
 
 
2. 

Progress of implementation of the actions foreseen in the AUWPs, including on the 
development of European service standards (from planning up to transmission of a specific 
standardisation request to the ESOs) 

Reference in the 
2017 AUWP 
SWD(2016)185 
accompanying the 
COM(2016)357 

Objective 

State of play 

Commission's priorities 

The European e-Competence Framework 
(http://www.ecompetences.eu/) for IT 
professionals is a European standard. Now CEN 
should work on the development of a 
comprehensive European framework for the ICT 
profession.   
In order to implement new Regulation (EU) No 
165/2014 and revised Directive 96/53/EC on 
Digital Tachographs and on Weights and 
Dimensions  an additional standard on DSRC is 
needed to allow the transmission of data via DSRC 
from a fix weigh in motion (WIM) station to a 
moving vehicle equipped with a smart tachograph 
The Commission is evaluating the need for 
standardisation with the industry and other 
stakeholders in the framework of the Forum on 
Digital Transport and Logistics that was launched in 
Summer 2015. 

1 

2 

3 

Consultation between the Commission 
and the stakeholders on the technical 
and operational details 

2. A Connected Digital Single 
Market 

The work has not started yet. This action 
will be however removed from the work 
programme for next year due to its low 
level of interest and the threads to 
tachograph security 

2. A Connected Digital Single 
Market 

Consultation between the Commission 
and the stakeholders on the technical 
and operational details 

2. A Connected Digital Single 
Market 

20 

 
 
Reference in the 
2017 AUWP 
SWD(2016)185 
accompanying the 
COM(2016)357 

Objective 

State of play 

Commission's priorities 

 Consultation between the Commission 
and the stakeholders on the technical 
and operational details 

3. A Resilient Energy Union with a 
Forward-Looking Climate Change 
Policy 4. A Deeper and Fairer 
Internal market with a 
Strengthened Industrial Base and 
1. A New Boost for Jobs, Growth 
and Investment 

Consultation between the Commission 
and the stakeholders on the technical 
and operational details 

3. A Resilient Energy Union with 
with a forward-looking climate 
change policy 

4 

Enabling harmonisation of licensing process and 
industrial standards for EU nuclear infrastructures 
development throughout their lifetime 
(construction, operation, and decommissioning, 
waste management). 

5 

Increase of renewable energies in the power mix 
contributes to energy security and reduction of 
greenhouse gas emissions.  Injection of renewable 
electrolytic hydrogen into the NG grid allows to 
exploit the huge storage capacity of the NG grid 
and to link the gas and power grids, enhancing 
energy security, and to decarbonise  
the transport, heat and industrial sectors. To 
enable this, new and/or updated European 
standards on interoperability between grids, on 
safe admixture of hydrogen to the NG grid, on gas 
quality and on compatibility with end-use 
appliances are needed. Standardisation aspects of 
electrolysers for grid balancing  standardisation 
aspects of hydrogen admixture to natural gas grid: 
safety, gas quality, … standardisation aspects 
related to gas-fuelled appliances         

21 

 
 
Reference in the 
2017 AUWP 
SWD(2016)185 
accompanying the 
COM(2016)357 

Objective 

State of play 

Commission's priorities 

6 

7 

The development of assessment methods for 
regulated dangerous substances and the emission 
of radiation must be finalised and the new 
assessment methods should be gradually 
introduced in product standards. 
Construction products Regulation (EU) 305/2011 
and Drinking Water Directive 98/83/EC do not set 
out limits for the transfer of substances that are 
components of materials to drinking water they 
are in contact with (only exist for food in contact 
with materials). Hygienic and safety requirements 
and test methods for construction products in 
contact with water intended for human 
consumption have been developed in a 
rudimentary way by TC164, but further specific 
standardisation work on hygiene and safety for 
products and materials in contact with drinking 
water is urgently needed.  A replacement of 
mandate  to CEN M/136rev2 concerning the 
execution of standardisation work for harmonised 
standards on construction products in contact with 
water intended for human consumption is 
ongoing. 

Consultation between the Commission 
and the stakeholders on the technical 
and operational details 

4. A Deeper and Fairer Internal 
Market with a Strengthened 
Industrial Base 

The Commission has withdrawn M/136 
and is currently working on a number (3-
4) mandates for products in contact with 
drinking water for which hENs under 
mandate M/131 exist; stakeholder 
consultation in Q1 2017; final mandates 
foreseen Q3/Q4 2017 

4. A Deeper and Fairer Internal 
Market with a Strengthened 
Industrial Base 

22 

 
 
 
Reference in the 
2017 AUWP 
SWD(2016)185 
accompanying the 
COM(2016)357 

Objective 

State of play 

Commission's priorities 

The development of certain new product 
standards, e.g. for innovative products and the 
amendment of existing standards necessary for the 
implementation of Regulation (EU) 305/2011 
should be completed. Certain regulated aspects, 
e.g. accessibility of construction works, sustainable 
use of natural resources must be included in 
harmonised European product standards.  
Under Article 19 of Regulation (EU) No 10/2011 
the risk of unlisted substances shall be assessed in 
accordance with internationally recognised 
scientific principles on risk assessment. It is not 
clear to business operators and to competent 
authorities which principles are meant as these are 
nowhere defined. This leads to differences in 
requirements and burden. This is problematic to 
the internal market and trade. Therefore these 
should be laid down in a standard. 
Development of plastic biodegradability standards 
(including marine biodegradability; and 
compostability/biodegradability field tests) 
Close open points of the rail Technical 
Specifications for Interoperability namely in the 
field of interior passive safety.  

8 

9 

10 

11 

Consultation between the Commission 
and the stakeholders on the technical 
and operational details 

4. A Deeper and Fairer Internal 
Market with a Strengthened 
Industrial Base 

 Consultation between the Commission 
and the stakeholders on the technical 
and operational details 

4. A Deeper and Fairer Internal 
Market with a Strengthened 
Industrial Base 

 Consultation between the Commission 
and the stakeholders on the technical 
and operational details 
 Consultation between the Commission 
and the stakeholders on the technical 
and operational details 

4. A Deeper and Fairer Internal 
Market with a Strengthened 
Industrial Base 
4. A Deeper and Fairer Internal 
Market with a Strengthened 
Industrial Base 

23 

 
 
Reference in the 
2017 AUWP 
SWD(2016)185 
accompanying the 
COM(2016)357 

Objective 

State of play 

Commission's priorities 

Simplification of the methodology for the 
calculation of the free passage of the pantograph 
(mechanical kinematic pantograph gauge) to 
facilitate the assessment of the acceptance of 
pantograph heads in overhead contact lines 
(revision of EN 50367). 
Triggered by several accidents and incidents, the 
following products/procedures are to be 
addressed in standards:  weather information 
products provided to pilots including applications 
in the cockpit based on different sources, Runway 
Overrun Awareness Alerting systems, On board 
Weight and Balance systems 

12 

13 

 Consultation between the Commission 
and the stakeholders on the technical 
and operational details 

4. A Deeper and Fairer Internal 
Market with a Strengthened 
Industrial Base 

 Consultation between the Commission 
and the stakeholders on the technical 
and operational details 

4. A Deeper and Fairer Internal 
Market with a Strengthened 
Industrial Base 

24 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Reference in the 
2017 AUWP 
SWD(2016)185 
accompanying the 
COM(2016)357 

Objective 

State of play 

Commission's priorities 

14 

Development of European performance and 
descriptive Standards and other standardisation 
deliverables as interim outputs for sustainable 
chemicals based on various secondary raw 
materials including biomass, plastic recycling, bio-
nutrient recycling, re-use of gaseous effluents, etc.. 
This work would include: 
1) Quality and type of secondary raw materials 
(biodegrability, compostability, hazardous 
chemicals content, bio-based (carbon) content, 
calorific value, molecular structure enabling 
integrated biorefinery use, prioritisation in relation 
with the Raw Material Initiative, segregation at 
source, collection, sorting, purity of materials 
including organic matter, etc.) 
2) Processing of secondary raw materials 
(including Best Available Techniques, indicators on 
GHG emissions, processing sustainability criteria, 
resource efficient use of energy and materials, 
etc.) 
3) Quality and technical performance of the 
sustainable chemicals produced from secondary 
raw materials. 
4) Pre-and co-normative research 

 CEN accepted the Commission's  
ancillary and preliminary action related to 
sustainable chemicals early 2016 

4. A Deeper and Fairer Internal 
Market with a Strengthened 
Industrial Base  

25 

 
 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
   
  
  
  
  
  
Reference in the 
2017 AUWP 
SWD(2016)185 
accompanying the 
COM(2016)357 

Objective 

State of play 

Commission's priorities 

15 

To consider requests for standards in the defence 
field following the establishment of the new 
mechanism to identify the need for defence 
standards proposed in the Communication. 

 Consultation between the Commission 
and the stakeholders on the technical 
and operational details 

4. A Deeper and Fairer Internal 
Market with a Strengthened 
Industrial Base  

26 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Reference in the 2016 
AUWP SWD(2015)301 
accompanying the 
COM(2015)686 
1.         

2.         

Commission's 
priorities 

2. A Connected 
Digital Single 
Market 

On 27/04/2017 was issued the COMMISSION 
IMPLEMENTING DECISION (C(2017)2585) –
M/554 on a standardisation request to the 
European standardisation organisations in 
support of Directive (EU) 2016/2102 of the 
European Parliament and of the Council on the 
accessibility of the websites and mobile 
applications of public sector bodies 

Consultation between the Commission and the 
stakeholders on the technical and operational 
details 

2. A Connected 
Digital Single 
Market 

Objective 

State of play 

The current European standard EN 301 549 was adopted 
under mandate M376 from the Commission. Parts of the 
standard refer to Web accessibility. After the adoption of 
the Directive on accessibility of public sector bodies' web 
sites (currently Consultation between the Commission and 
the stakeholders on the technical and operational details by 
the European Parliament and the Council) a follow up is 
necessary to establish harmonized standards for the 
presumption of conformity for the accessibility 
requirements set out in the Directive. That follow up should 
be coherent with the ongoing revision process. 
The present labelling and marking schemes rely on physical 
labels. With the uptake of eCommerce and online retailing, 
traditional labelling is becoming less effective to convey 
information to consumers. It is expected that eLabelling will 
also facilitate demonstrating and verifying eCompliance 
with regulatory requirements, while keeping labelling costs 
at affordable levels, in particular to SMEs 

27 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Reference in the 2016 
AUWP SWD(2015)301 
accompanying the 
COM(2015)686 
3.         

Commission's 
priorities 

2. A Connected 
Digital Single 
Market 

Objective 

State of play 

The Joint Action supporting the eHealth 
Network (JAseHN) 2015-2018 delivered 
technical guidance to support the 
establishment of the European eHealth Digital 
Service Infrastructure for purpose of cross-
border exchange of prescription and Patient 
Summaries; as well as a policy paper, reports 
and recommendations to promote the use of 
common standards or technical specifications 
in eHealth within the EU. The new eHealth 
Network Multi Annual Work Programme 2018-
2021 adopted in November 2017 and the 3rd 
Joint Action on eHealth to be launched in June 
2018 will equally promote the use of common 
standards for the wider exchange of health 
data in the EU and  develop a strategy on 
European Semantic Interoperability. 

Directive on patients’ rights in cross-border healthcare 
established the eHealth Network (eHN) of representatives 
of national authorities responsible for eHealth. Its objective 
is to work towards delivering sustainable economic and 
social benefits of European eHealth systems and services, 
and in particular to promote their interoperability. The new 
joint action on eHealth, liaising with Standardisation 
Organisations and other relevant stakeholders, will support 
the eHealth Network in taking policy decisions on 
standardisation initiative in the eHealth sector to boost 
interoperability, in line with the Work Plan 2015-1018 of 
the eHealth Network. In particular, it will explore the option 
of starting a standardisation process of specific elements of 
the guidelines adopted by the eHealth Network as well as of 
other cross-border eHealth services, such as 
interoperability aspects of telemedicine. In this 
rdronegards, the Commission will support member states 
co-operation on interoperability by further developing and 
validating specifications and components and also through 
standardisation mandates if necessary. In addition a special 
effort should be dedicated to interoperability and 
harmonised coding of clinical databases, screening 
databases, genetic databases, cancer registries and, more in 
general, of all health-related databases (in the medium 
term to make it possible to interface health data with e.g. 
environmental, food safety, safety at work data 

28 

 
 
 
Reference in the 2016 
AUWP SWD(2015)301 
accompanying the 
COM(2015)686 
4.         

5.         

Objective 

State of play 

Commission's 
priorities 

Consultation between the Commission and the 
stakeholders on the technical and operational 
details 

2. A Connected 
Digital Single 
Market 

Consultation between the Commission and the 
stakeholders on the technical and operational 
details 

2. A Connected 
Digital Single 
Market 

Creation of the International Patient Summary: The 
objective of this action is to participate in the 
standardisation of the International Patient Summary and 
ensure an European presence in the development of this 
standard. This work is performed under the auspices of the 
Transatlantic Economic Council and is formalised in the EU-
US eHealth/Health IT Memorandum of Understanding, its 
roadmap and annex. Standardisation activity should take 
into consideration the patient summary guidelines 
endorsed by the eHealth Network. 
Creation of an European standard on quality criteria for the 
development of health and wellness apps. In order to 
enhance the quality of health and wellness apps, the 
Commission has proposed in the 2016 Rolling Plan for ICT 
standardisation a standard on quality criteria for the 
development of health and wellness apps (e.g. 
functionality, usability, reliability). The standard could be 
based on the publicly available specification PAS:277 
recently published by the British Standards Institution (BSI) 
and would provide guidance to app developers by setting 
out principles to follow throughout the app development 
life cycle, including testing, maintenance and risk 
management. 

29 

 
 
 
 
 
 
Reference in the 2016 
AUWP SWD(2015)301 
accompanying the 
COM(2015)686 
6.         

Objective 

State of play 

Commission's 
priorities 

Standardization of location authentication based on the 
Commercial Service and the Open Service of Galileo. 
Development of performance standards and associated test 
procedures to standardise the location authentication. The 
activities will upgrade the interfaces between elements in 
the chain, in particular from the GNSS signals to the final 
location services. The work may address standardization 
groups such as OMA, 3GPP, CEN/CENELEC, ETSI, IMO. 

Consultation between the Commission and the 
stakeholders on the technical and operational 
details 

2. A Connected 
Digital Single 
Market 

30 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Reference in the 2016 
AUWP SWD(2015)301 
accompanying the 
COM(2015)686 
7.         

Commission's 
priorities 

2. A Connected 
Digital Single 
Market 

Objective 

State of play 

The Common Information Sharing Environment for the 
surveillance of the EU maritime domain (maritime CISE) 
action seeks to enhance automatic information sharing 
between the national authorities involved in maritime 
surveillance, including defence. The development of 
standards enabling national systems to become 
interoperable is instrumental to promote and ease cross-
sector and cross-border information sharing. 

The launch of the action, foreseen for the 2nd 
quarter of 2016, has been postponed of 
approximately 10 months due to the 
unexpected delay suffered by the MS-led 
preparatory project called 'EUCISE 2020' 
funded under FP7. The aim of EUCISE 2020 is 
to set-up and test a prototype solution for 
decentralised information exchange among 
national legacy systems used for maritime 
surveillance, and to deliver refined 
recommendations on standardisation needs 
for ICT interoperability standards. Prior to 
drafting a mandate, the Commission is 
investigating how the e-navigation concept 
and the evolution of Global Maritime Distress 
and Safety System (GMDSS) affect marine 
radio communication and navigation 
standardisation in the mid/long term, taking 
also into account future requirements in terms 
of capacity/rate for data transmission as well 
as security aspects which are essential for 
improving maritime safety.  

31 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Reference in the 2016 
AUWP SWD(2015)301 
accompanying the 
COM(2015)686 
8.         

9.         

10.     

Objective 

State of play 

Commission's 
priorities 

Standardization activities for the Galileo Timing Service and 
the Galileo Search and Rescue Return Link Service. These 
standardization activities will address the standardisation of 
user receiver components including receiver chip, 
calibration of location timing receivers and processing of 
GNSS signals to obtain precise timing products. The actions 
will develop performance standards to standardise timing 
services provision and will investigate the use of the RLS for 
remote beacon activation of ELT in aircraft 
Objective is to facilitate the flow, access and use of 
information in transport, in order to enhance efficiency and 
reduce costs of  transport operations 

The Commission is considering issuing a standardisation 
request with respect to access to in-vehicle data. This will 
be developed within the framework of the Cooperative ITS 
initiative (platform, working group, master plan) 

Consultation between the Commission and the 
stakeholders on the technical and operational 
details  

2. A Connected 
Digital Single 
Market 

2. A Connected 
Digital Single 
Market 

2. A Connected 
Digital Single 
Market 

Consultation between the Commission and the 
stakeholders on the technical and operational 
details, considering the Commission Decision 
C(2015)2259 setting up an Expert Group on 
Digital Transport and Logistics; Communication 
A study (final report in June 2017) is currently 
on-going to identify possible options/scenarios 
regarding access to in-vehicle data. Depending 
on the results on this study, standardisation 
may be launched related to the 
physical/electrical/logical interface including 
minimum level of security (see ICT Rolling Plan 
2016 p. 86 action 14). As it touches the vehicle, 
most probably DG GROW would be in the lead.  
Launch of process in the Commission: 3rd 
Quarter of 2017. Deadline for delivery by the 
standardisers: Preliminary results by end of 
2018 - final standards by end 2020 

32 

 
 
Reference in the 2016 
AUWP SWD(2015)301 
accompanying the 
COM(2015)686 
11.     

12.     

13.     

Objective 

State of play 

Further standardisation requests in support of Commission 
Regulations implementing the Ecodesign Directive (e.g. 
televisions, smart appliances, machine tools and welding 
equipment) will be issued as individual mandates. 

Where the Commission considers it likely that new 
measures (i.e. Commission Regulations or Commission 
Delegated Regulations) on Ecodesign and/or Energy 
Labelling will be proposed for products under the Ecodesign 
Working Plan 2012-14, new standardisation requests in 
these fields could be issued. 
Standardisation requests in support of new Commission 
Regulations implementing the Ecodesign/Energy Labelling 
Directive on the taps and showers products will be issued as 
individual mandates. 

A new mandate on welding equipment should 
be adopted in Q1 2017. A standardisation 
mandate on the Ecodesign and Energy 
labelling of ventilation units has been adopted 
on 27/11/2015 (M/537). 
Activities are proceeding in this workstream, 
with individual mandate on computer servers 
being issued to ESOs in 2017.  

Consultation between the Commission and the 
stakeholders on the technical and operational 
details 

Commission's 
priorities 

3. A Resilient 
Energy Union 
with a Forward-
Looking Climate 
Change Policy 
3. A Resilient 
Energy Union 
with a Forward-
Looking Climate 
Change Policy 

3. A Resilient 
Energy Union 
with a Forward-
Looking Climate 
Change Policy 

33 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Reference in the 2016 
AUWP SWD(2015)301 
accompanying the 
COM(2015)686 
14.     

15.     

Objective 

State of play 

The Commission is currently initiating a research and 
innovation policy agenda to further develop and upscale 
the use of nature-based solutions and to promote the 
market for them in Europe and worldwide– including Green 
Infrastructure elements and adaptation measures. This 
refers as well to the sustainable construction of buildings 
(such as with green roofs and walls). The development of 
protocols for functional or performance based 
specifications and measurement and testing 
methodologies, leading eventually to standardisation, 
would help the assessment of the cost-effectiveness of 
nature-based solutions in economic, social and 
environmental terms, support public procurement of such 
solutions and overall stimulate the market for them. In 
addition to the above mentioned activities under Horizon 
2020, a dedicated feasibility study is needed to involve 
relevant stakeholders to scan the area on this particular 
subject, based on and complementing actions towards 
standardisation prepared by other services. 
An external consultant has been carrying out for DG CLIMA 
a survey in Member States to find out where the obstacles 
and gaps are as regards standards to enabling a broader 
uptake of alternative, climate-friendly technologies. Results 
were discussed with stakeholders (Consultation Forum) and 
are available in 4th quarter 2015. These results will be the 
basis for drafting a mandate to European standardization 
organisations. 

34 

Commission's 
priorities 

3. A Resilient 
Energy Union 
with a Forward-
Looking Climate 
Change Policy 

The Communication COM(2013)249 on the 
strategy on Green Infrastructure identifies 
standards as possibly contributing to 'growing 
the market' for Green Infrastructure solutions. 
The Commission will assess how technical 
standards, particularly in relation to physical 
building blocks and procedures, could increase 
the deployment of Green Infrastructure. 
Internal work to prepare a mandate is being 
started, aiming at a completed draft mandate 
by the end of Q2 2018.  

M/555 -COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING 
DECISION C(2017)7284 on a standardisation 
request to the European Committee for 
Standardisation and to the European 
Committee for Electrotechnical 
Standardisation as regards use of flammable 
refrigerants in refrigeration, air conditioning 
and heat pump equipment  

3. A Resilient 
Energy Union 
with a Forward-
Looking Climate 
Change Policy 

 
 
Objective 

State of play 

Consultation between the Commission and the 
stakeholders on the technical and operational 
details 

Commission's 
priorities 

3. A Resilient 
Energy Union 
with a Forward-
Looking Climate 
Change Policy 

Reference in the 2016 
AUWP SWD(2015)301 
accompanying the 
COM(2015)686 
16.     

17.     

The Minamata Convention regulates i.e. emissions of 
mercury from industrial processes at a global level. Under 
the Industrial Emissions Directive there is an obligation to 
monitor mercury emissions from relevant sources, in 
particular coal fired power plants and waste incineration 
plants. Some Member States are applying more frequent 
emission monitoring at the most relevant sources. There is 
a need for a reliable and practical standardised method 
allowing both short term and long term mercury emission 
monitoring. Such a method could be based on the existing 
US EPA standard. Activity taking place in the context of the 
Global Earth Observation (GEO) initiative, Task:  "HE-02-C1: 
Global Mercury Observation System" 
https://www.earthobservations.org/ts.php?id=171 and the 
FP7 funded project "Global mercury Observation System – 
GMOS" http://www.gmos.eu/ that should be taken into 
account when the new standards will take place. 
A new BREF on production of wood-based panels is under 
preparation and the BAT conclusions are scheduled to be 
adopted by the Commission in 2015. The need to develop a 
European standard for the monitoring of formaldehyde was 
highlighted in this document. The standard could also be 
applied in other industrial sectors where this pollutant is 
emitted. 

35 

Consultation between the Commission and the 
stakeholders on the technical and operational 
details 

3. A Resilient 
Energy Union 
with a Forward-
Looking Climate 
Change Policy 

 
 
 
 
 
Reference in the 2016 
AUWP SWD(2015)301 
accompanying the 
COM(2015)686 
18.     

19.     

20.     

21.     

Objective 

State of play 

Standardisation will be needed to implement the Clean 
Power for Transport package, including the European 
Alternative Fuels Strategy and the Directive 2014/94/EU of 
22 October 2014 on the deployment of alternative fuels 
infrastructure. In addition to already ongoing work of CEN. 
CENELEC and ETSI under the existing mandates in support 
of the implementation of this directive, standardisation 
work on labelling is also needed for meeting the 
requirement of the directive to provide the users with 
simple and easy to understand information on the 
compatibility of their vehicles with the fuels or electricity 
re-charging points. 
Completion of the Internal Market for construction 
products 

Consultation between the Commission and the 
stakeholders on the technical and operational 
details 

Consultation between the Commission and the 
stakeholders on the technical and operational 
details 

Develop a standard for home compostable plastic 
packaging (definitions of biodegradability and 
compostability). 

Consultation between the Commission and the 
stakeholders on the technical and operational 
details 

The Commission will request the development of standards  
under the GPSD Directive for certain consumer products 
selected in consultation with national and stakeholder 
experts of the Consumer Safety Network. 

Consultation between the Commission and the 
stakeholders on the technical and operational 
details 

36 

Commission's 
priorities 

3. A Resilient 
Energy Union 
with a Forward-
Looking Climate 
Change Policy 

4. A Deeper and 
Fairer Internal 
Market with a 
Strengthened 
Industrial Base 
4. A Deeper and 
Fairer Internal 
Market with a 
Strengthened 
Industrial Base 
4. A Deeper and 
Fairer Internal 
Market with a 
Strengthened 
Industrial Base 

 
 
Reference in the 2016 
AUWP SWD(2015)301 
accompanying the 
COM(2015)686 
22.     

23.     

24.     

Commission's 
priorities 

4. A Deeper and 
Fairer Internal 
Market with a 
Strengthened 
Industrial Base 
4. A Deeper and 
Fairer Internal 
Market with a 
Strengthened 
Industrial Base 
4. A Deeper and 
Fairer Internal 
Market with a 
Strengthened 
Industrial Base 

Objective 

State of play 

Define elements, messages and message flows in order to 
facilitate the interoperability of case management systems 
in charge of supporting out-of- court (alternative) dispute 
resolution cases 

The action is postponed due to further 
reflection needed in light of the finalisation 
and launch of the ODR platform on 
09/01/2016 

Consultation between the Commission and the 
stakeholders on the technical and operational 
details 

New actions by the standardisers are being 
programmed for example on activity toys (in-
house toy trampolines) and on tests for 
chemicals in toys in accordance with recent 
amendments of Directive 2009/48/EC. 

Close open points of the rail Technical Specifications for 
Interoperability namely in the field of aerodynamic effect 
on ballast for high speeds, eddy current brake, track 
geometry quality levels, load limits and variable gauge 
wheel sets 
Directive 2009/48/EC is the legal basis to ensure the free 
movement of toys that provide a high level of safety for 
children under 14 years of age. The Directive requires toys 
to be safe with regard to physical and mechanical 
properties, flammability, chemical properties, electrical 
properties, hygiene and radioactivity. Ensuring a high level 
of safety throughout the EU and by all stakeholders as well 
as the free movement of toys in the Internal Market 
requires standardised specifications. These specifications 
need to keep up with new scientific-technical and market 
developments, such as the development of innovative toys, 
and reports about accidents with toys. The available 
specifications therefore require updates as appropriate, the 
establishment of new specifications is of a lower priority. 

37 

 
 
 
 
 
Reference in the 2016 
AUWP SWD(2015)301 
accompanying the 
COM(2015)686 
25.     

26.     

27.     

Objective 

State of play 

improved security and compliance of software defined 
radio 

Align the European harmonised standards to the provisions 
of the new Regulation, especially on new and/or modified 
essential health and safety requirements 

M/536 - C(2015)5376 of 04/08/2015 
COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING DECISION on a 
standardisation request to the European 
Committee for Electrotechnical 
Standardisation and to the European 
Telecommunications Standards Institute as 
regards radio equipment in support of 
Directive 2014/53/EU of the European 
Parliament and of the Council  
Consultation between the Commission and the 
stakeholders on the technical and operational 
details 

Align the European harmonised standards to the provisions 
of the new Regulation 

Consultation between the Commission and the 
stakeholders on the technical and operational 
details 

Commission's 
priorities 

4. A Deeper and 
Fairer Internal 
Market with a 
Strengthened 
Industrial Base 

4. A Deeper and 
Fairer Internal 
Market with a 
Strengthened 
Industrial Base 
4. A Deeper and 
Fairer Internal 
Market with a 
Strengthened 
Industrial Base 

38 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Objective 

State of play 

Reference in the 2016 
AUWP SWD(2015)301 
accompanying the 
COM(2015)686 
28.     

29.     

Regulation (EU) No 1935/2004 provides the legal basis for 
several specific measures on food contact materials. These 
include Regulation 10/2011 (OJ L 12, 15.1.2011, p. 1) on 
plastic materials, Directive 84/500/EEC on ceramic articles 
and Regulation (EC) No 450/2009 on Active and Intelligent 
Materials. These acts set out limits for the transfer of 
substances that are components of materials to the food 
they are in contact with. The transfer of more than 1000 
relevant substances may need to be determined in 
analytical testing. Yet only a very limited number of 
standardized methods are available.  Certain emerging 
issues (oligomer migration, multi-analytical methods) call 
for the establishment of different standards to prevent that 
they develop into a non-tariff barriers. Moreover testing for 
specific substances may be selected according to internal 
market/trade relevance. To this end COM services (JRC) are 
already collaborating with ISO TC166 (ceramic ware, glass-
ceramic ware and glass dinnerware in contact with food -- 
Release of lead and cadmium). 
Directive 2008/50/EC states that modelling technique can 
be used to assess the air quality. In order to ensure 
comparability of models throughout Europe, validated 
standard is needed as regards the use of model. 

39 

Commission's 
priorities 

4. A Deeper and 
Fairer Internal 
Market with a 
Strengthened 
Industrial Base 

Internal work to prepare a mandate is being 
started, aiming at a completed draft mandate 
by the end of Q2 2018. The work has been 
narrowed down to standardised methods and 
analytical data for the determination of certain 
specific substances. The focus will give priority 
to multi-analytical methods, followed by 
methods for single substances. Methods for 
oligomer migration are being considered as 
well, but these may need further development 
before being ready for standardisation.  

Consultation between the Commission and the 
stakeholders on the technical and operational 
details 

4. A Deeper and 
Fairer Internal 
Market with a 
Strengthened 
Industrial Base 

 
 
 
 
 
 
Reference in the 2016 
AUWP SWD(2015)301 
accompanying the 
COM(2015)686 
30.     

31.     

32.     

Objective 

State of play 

Directive 2008/50/EC requires Member States to establish 
Air Quality Plans when the level of pollution is above the 
limit value(s). One part of the above Plans consists of 
identification of the factors contributing to the pollution. 
The Commission expects to send a mandate to ESO to 
develop a harmonised methodology for source 
identification and quantification (source apportionment). 
Develop standards for products and aspects covered by the 
GAR, with updating and extension of existing standards 
and/or new standards when necessary to cover the new 
requirements of the GAR, as well as for new/innovative 
product standards 
Update the standardisation work performed under the 
Directive 95/16/EC to the requirements of Directive 
2014/33/EU 

Consultation between the Commission and the 
stakeholders on the technical and operational 
details 

Consultation between the Commission and the 
stakeholders on the technical and operational 
details 

  Commission implementing Decision 
C(2016)5884 (M/549) of 21/09/2016  

Commission's 
priorities 

4. A Deeper and 
Fairer Internal 
Market with a 
Strengthened 
Industrial Base 

4. A Deeper and 
Fairer Internal 
Market with a 
Strengthened 
Industrial Base 
4. A Deeper and 
Fairer Internal 
Market with a 
Strengthened 
Industrial Base 

40 

 
 
 
 
 
3. 

State-of-play of the standardisation requests 
addressed to the ESOs and number of standards 
produced and registered in work programme of the 
ESOs (from the transmission of a specific 
standardisation request to the ESOs until the 
delivery of the requested standards) 

Mandate 
number 

Implementing act Title 

Implementi
ng act Nr 

Issued 

State of play 

COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING 
DECISION on a standardisation request 
to the European Committee for 
Standardisation and to the European 
Committee for Electrotechnical 
Standardisation as regards use of 
flammable refrigerants in 
refrigeration, air conditioning and heat 
pump equipment 

COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING 
DECISION on a standardisation request 
to the European standardisation 
organisations in support of Directive 
(EU) 2016/2102 of the European 
Parliament and of the Council on the 
accessibility of the websites and 
mobile applications of public sector 
bodies 

M/555 

M/554 

C(2017)7284 

14/11/2017 

Expected decision of 
CEN and CENELEC on 
the mandate 

C(2017)2585 

27/04/2017 

Expected decision of 
the ESOs on the 
mandate 

41 

 
 
 
COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING 
DECISION on a standardisation request 
to the European standardisation 
organisations as regards advanced 
garments and ensembles of garments 
that provide protection against heat 
and flame, with integrated smart 
textiles and non-textile elements for 
enhanced health, safety and survival 
capabilities, in support of Regulations 
(EU) No 1007/2011 and (EU) 2016/425 
of the European Parliament and of the 
Council  
COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING 
DECISION on a standardisation request 
to the European Committee for 
Standardisation, to the European 
Committee for Electrotechnical 
Standardisation and to the European 
Telecommunications Standards 
Institute as regards harmonised 
standards in support of Directive 
2014/30/EU of the European 
Parliament and of the Council of 26 
February 2014 on the harmonisation 
of the laws of the Member States 
relating to electromagnetic 
compatibility  

COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING 
DECISION on a standardisation request 
to the European standardisation 
organisations as regards energy 
labelling of solid fuel boilers and 
packages of a solid fuel boiler, 
supplementary heaters, temperature 
controls and solar devices in support 
of Commission Delegated Regulation 
(EU) 2015/1187 and as regards 
ecodesign requirements for solid fuel 
boilers in support of Commission 
Regulation (EU) 2015/1189  

M/553 

M/552 

M/551 

42 

C(2016)8901 

06/01/2017 

C(2016)7641 

30/11/2016 

There is no planning 
available. 
Cenelec has published 
eight EN standards 
associated with this 
mandate – the first on 
23/09/2016. Fifty-nine 
draft standardisation 
deliverables are under 
development while 
three more projects are 
in the planning.  ETSI 
has published two 
standardisation 
deliverables and two 
more are under 
development.  

C(2016)7764 

30/11/2016 

There is no planning 
available. 

 
 
COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING 
DECISION on a standardisation request 
to the European standardisation 
organisations as regards energy 
labelling of local space heaters in 
support of Commission Delegated 
Regulation (EU) 2015/1186 and as 
regards ecodesign requirements for 
local space heaters and solid fuel local 
space heaters in support of 
Commission Regulation (EU) 
2015/1188 and Commission 
Regulation (EU) 2015/1185 
COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING 
DECISION on a standardisation request 
to the European standardisation 
organisations as regards energy 
labelling of local space heaters in 
support of Commission Delegated 
Regulation (EU) 2015/1186 and as 
regards ecodesign requirements for 
local space heaters and solid fuel local 
space heaters in support of 
Commission Regulation (EU) 
2015/1188 and Commission 
Regulation (EU) 2015/1185 

COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING 
DECISION on a standardisation request 
to the European Committee of 
Standardisation as regards postal 
services and the improvement of 
quality of service in support of 
Directive 97/67/EC of the European 
Parliament and of the Council of 15 
December 1997  

M/550 

M/549 

M/548 

Despite that CEN 
rejected the request in 
December 2016 (letter 
received on 8/12/2016), 
there are three draft 
standardisation 
deliverables under 
development by CEN 
and two by CENELEC 

The work is on-going; 
there are seventeen 
draft standardisation 
deliverables under 
development while 
three of them is 
expected to be 
published by end of 
2017. 

C(2016)7772 

30/11/2016 

C(2016)5884 

21/09/2016 

C(2016)4876 

01/08/2016 

There are three projects 
for standardisation 
deliverables in the 
actual planning. 

43 

 
 
COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING 
DECISION on a standardisation request 
to the European Committee for 
Standardisation as regards algae and 
algae-based products or intermediates 
in support of the implementation of 
Directive 2009/28/EC of the European 
Parliament and of the Council of 23 
April 2009 on the promotion of the 
use of energy from renewable sources 
and the Communication from the 
Commission to the European 
Parliament, the Council, the European 
Economic and Social Committee and 
the Committee of the regions of 13 
February 2012 on "Innovating for 
Sustainable Growth: A Bioeconomy for 
Europe 
COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING 
DECISION on a standardisation request 
to the European standardisation 
organisations as regards Intelligent 
Transport Systems (ITS) in urban areas 
in support of Directive 2010/40/EU of 
the European Parliament and of the 
Council of 7 July 2010 on the 
framework for the deployment of 
Intelligent Transport Systems in the 
field of road transport and for 
interfaces with other modes of 
transport  

COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING 
DECISION on a standardisation request 
to the European standardisation 
organisations as regards computers 
and computer servers, in support of 
the implementation of Commission 
Regulation (EU) No 617/2013 of 26 
June 2013, implementing Directive 
2009/125/EC of the European 
Parliament and of the Council with 
regard to ecodesign requirements for 
computers and computer servers  

44 

M/547 

M/546 

M/545 

C(2016)1582 

23/03/2016 

There is no planning 
available. 

ETSI has finalised four 
standardisation 
deliverables while 
eleven others are under 
development. CENELEC 
is expected by the end 
of 2017 to publish one 
standard.  There is one 
more project in its 
actual planning.   

C(2016)808 

12/02/2016 

 It is expected by the 
end of 2017 the 
publication of one 
standard.  There are no 
more projects in the 
actual planning.   

C(2015)9354 

06/01/2016 

 
 
 ETSI, on 24/04/2017, 
delivered for 
publication to the OJEU 
one standard. Cenelec is 
developing one 
standardisation 
deliverable, expected 
for end of 2017-
beginning 2018. There 
are no more projects in 
the actual planning.   
ETSI has published one 
standardisation 
deliverable on 
11/01/2017 while one 
more is under 
development. In 
CENELEC the work is on-
going; there are six 
draft standardisation 
deliverables under 
development 

The work is on-going; 
there are three draft 
standardisation 
deliverables under 
development. Cenelec 
rejected the request in 
January 2016 (letter 
received on 8/1/2016). 

One EN standard, 
associated with thios 
mandate, have been 
published  on 
10/02/2017. The work 
is on-going; there are 
two draft 
standardisation 
deliverables under 
development. 

C(2015)9468 

05/01/2016 

C(2015)9096 

17/12/2015 

C(2015)8756 

11/12/2015 

C(2015)8753 

11/12/2015 

COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING 
DECISION on a standardisation request 
to the European standardisation 
organisations as regards ecodesign 
requirements for networked standby 
in support of Regulation (EC) No 
1275/2008 and Regulation (EC) No 
642/2009  

COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING 
DECISION on a standardisation request 
to the European standardisation 
organisations as regards ecodesign 
requirements on material efficiency 
aspects for energy-related products in 
support of the implementation of 
Directive 2009/125/EC of the 
European Parliament and of the 
Council  
COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING 
DECISION on a standardisation request 
to the European Committee for 
Standardisation as regards non-
household washing machines, dryers 
and dishwashers, in support of the 
implementation of Directives 
2009/125/EC and 2010/30/EU of the 
European Parliament and of the 
Council  
COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING 
DECISION on a standardisation request 
to the European standardisation 
organisations in support of 
Commission Delegated Regulation 
(EU) No 665/2013 of 3 May 2013 
supplementing Directive 2010/30/EU 
of the European Parliament and of the 
Council with regard to energy labelling 
of vacuum cleaners and Commission 
Regulation (EU) No 666/2013 of 8 July 
2013 implementing Directive 
2009/125/EC of the European 
Parliament and of the Council with 
regard to ecodesign requirements for 
vacuum cleaners  

45 

M/544 

M/543 

M/539 

M/540 

 
 
COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING 
DECISION on a standardisation request 
to the European Committee for 
Standardisation and the European 
Committee for Electro-technical 
Standardisation as regards 
recreational craft and personal 
watercraft in support of Directive 
2013/53/EU of the European 
Parliament and of the Council of 20 
November 2013 on recreational craft 
and personal watercraft and repealing 
Directive 94/25/EC  

C(2015)8736 

15/12/2015 

COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING 
DECISION on a standardisation request 
to the European Committee for 
Standardisation, to the European 
Committee for Electrotechnical 
Standardisation and to the European 
Telecommunications Standards 
Institute pursuant to Regulation (EU) 
No 1025/2012 of the European 
Parliament and of the Council as 
regards certain measuring instruments   C(2015)8558 

15/12/2015 

COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING 
DECISION on a standardisation request 
to the European Committee for 
Standardisation as regards ventilation 
units in support of Regulation (EU) 
No 1253/2014 and Delegated 
Regulation (EU) No 1254/2014  

COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING 
DECISION on a standardisation request 
to the European Committee for 
Standardisation as regards alcohol-
powered flueless fireplaces  

C(2015)8325 

27/11/2015 

C(2015)8011 

24/11/2015 

Twenty EN standards, 
associated with thios 
mandate, have been 
published –the first on 
09/03/2016. The work 
is on-going; there are 
fourty-nine draft 
standardisation 
deliverables under 
development. 
Ten EN standards, 
associated with thios 
mandate, have been 
published –the first on 
11/03/2015. One more 
standard, published in 
2006 has been 
associated with this 
mandate. The work is 
on-going; there are 
sixteen draft 
standardisation 
deliverables under 
development. 

Four EN standards, 
associated with thios 
mandate, have been 
published  on 
14/12/2016. The work 
is on-going; there are 
three draft 
standardisation 
deliverables under 
development. 

One standardisation 
deliverable under 
development. 

M/542 

M/541 

M/537 

M/538 

46 

 
 
 
As it concerns Cenelec: 
Six EN standards, 
associated with thios 
mandate, have been 
published – the first on 
23/09/2016. The work 
is on-going;  there are 
fifty-seven draft 
standardisation 
deliverables under 
development and two 
more project is in the 
planning. As it concerns 
ETSI: Two hundred-two 
standardisation 
deliverables have been 
published while one 
hundred thirty-two are 
being developed and 
two more projects are 
in planning. 

C(2015)5376 

04/08/2015 

Fifteen EN standards, 
associated with thios 
mandate, have been 
published – the first on 
17/12/2014. The work 
is on-going; there are 
twelve draft 
standardisation 
deliverables under 
development. 

C(2015)2626 

27/04/2015 

COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING 
DECISION on a standardisation request 
to the European Committee for 
Electrotechnical Standardisation and 
to the European Telecommunications 
Standards Institute as regards radio 
equipment in support of Directive 
2014/53/EU of the European 
Parliament and of the Council  

 to the European standardisation 
organisations pursuant to Article 10(1) 
of Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012 of 
the European Parliament and of the 
Council in support of implementation 
of Commission Regulation (EU) No 
813/2013 of 2 August 2013 
implementing Directive 2009/125/EC 
of the European Parliament and of the 
Council with regard to ecodesign 
requirements for space heaters and 
combination heaters and Commission 
Delegated Regulation (EU) No 
811/2013 of 18 February 2013 
supplementing Directive 2010/30/EU 
of the European Parliament and of the 
Council with regard to the energy 
labelling of space heaters, 
combination heaters, packages of 
space heaters, temperature control 
and solar device and packages of 
combination heater, temperature 
control and solar device  

M/536 

M/535 

47 

 
 
COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING 
DECISION on a standardisation request 
to the European standardisation 
organisations pursuant to Article 10(1) 
of Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012 of 
the European Parliament and of the 
Council in support of implementation 
of Commission Regulation (EU) No 
814/2013 of 2 August 2013 
implementing Directive 2009/125/EC 
of the European Parliament and of the 
Council with regard to ecodesign 
requirements for water heaters and 
hot water storage tanks and 
Commission Delegated Regulation 
(EU) No 812/2013 of 18 February 2013 
supplementing Directive 2010/30/EU 
of the European Parliament and of the 
Council with regard to the energy 
labelling of water heaters, hot water 
storage tanks and packages of water 
heater and solar device  

M/534 

Fourteen EN standards, 
associated with thios 
mandate, have been 
published – the first on 
13/05/2015. The work 
is on-going;  there are 
eleven draft 
standardisation 
deliverables under 
development and one 
more project is in the 
planning. 

C(2015)2625 

27/04/2015 

48 

 
 
COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING 
DECISION on a standardisation request 
addressed to the European 
standardisation organisations, in 
accordance with Regulation (EU) No 
1025/2012 of the European 
Parliament and of the Council, to draft 
European standards for alternative 
fuels infrastructure 
COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING 
DECISION on a standardisation request 
to the European Committee for 
Standardisation as regards methods 
for quantitative analysis of textile 
products composed of certain binary 
and ternary textile fibre mixtures 
pursuant to Regulation (EU) No 
1025/2012 of the European 
Parliament and of the Council 

M/533 

M/532 

C(2015)1330 

12/03/2015 

C(2015)1385 

05/03/2015 

Five EN standards have 
been published – the 
first on 02/11/2016. 
The work is on-going; 
there are twenty-four 
draft standardisation 
deliverables under 
development while 
three more projects are 
in planning. 

One standardisation 
deliverable was 
published on 
01/06/2016. There are 
no more projects in the 
actual planning.   

49 

 
 
COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING 
DECISION on a standardisation request 
to the European Committee for 
Electrotechnical Standardisation 
concerning consumer laser products 
pursuant to Regulation (EU) No 
1025/2012 of the European 
Parliament and of the Council and 
Directive 2001/95/EC of the European 
Parliament and of the Council  

COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING 
DECISION on a standardisation request 
to the European standardisation 
organisations as regards European 
standards and European 
standardisation deliverables for 
privacy and personal data protection 
management pursuant to Article 10(1) 
of Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012 of 
the European Parliament and of the 
Council in support of Directive 
95/46/EC of the European Parliament 
and of the Council and in support of 
Union’s security industrial policy  
COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING 
DECISION on a standardisation request 
to the European standardisation 
organisations pursuant to Article 10(1) 
of Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012 of 
the European Parliament and of the 
Council in support of the 
implementation of Directive 
2009/125/EC of the European 
Parliament and of the Council with 
regard to ecodesign requirements on 
material efficiency aspects 
(recyclability, recoverability and 
reusability indexes, durability, 
reversible disassembly and end of life 
extraction time) 

M/531 

M/530 

M/529 

One standardisation 
deliverable under 
development. There are 
no more projects in the 
actual planning.   

C(2015)557 

05/02/2015 

The work is on-going. 
Seven standardisation 
deliverables have been 
published, four are 
being developed and 
three more projects for  
standardisation 
deliverables have been 
scheduled  

C(2015)102 

20/01/2015 

The request is not valid 
due to CEN and Cenelec 
rejection dated on 
17.1.2015 and due to 
non-response from 
ETSI. M/543 is the 
active one   

C(2014)1023
8 

07/01/2015 

50 

 
 
COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING 
DECISION on a standardisation request 
to the European standardisation 
organisations as regards a European 
standard on electronic invoicing and a 
set of ancillary standardisation 
deliverables pursuant to Regulation 
(EU) No 1025/2012 of the European 
Parliament and of the Council  
COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING 
DECISION on a standardisation request 
to the European standardisation 
organisations to draft European 
standards for certain seats for children 
in support of Directive 2001/95/EC of 
the European Parliament and of the 
Council  

M/528 

M/527 

C(2014)7912 

10/12/2014 

C(2014)5058 

22/07/2014 

COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING 
DECISION on deciding to make a 
standardisation request to the 
European standardisation 
organisations pursuant to Article 10 
(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012 of 
the European Parliament and of the 
Council in support of implementation 
of the EU Strategy on Adaptation to 
Climate Change [COM(2013) 216 final]   C(2014)3451 

M/526 

28/05/2014 

The work is on-going. 
One EN standard 
(published on 
28/06/2017) and four 
standardisation 
deliverables have been 
published.  Five 
standardisation 
deliverables are being 
developed.  
Three standards have 
been published and one 
more is being 
developed. Latest 
report received on 23rd 
November.  The first 
standard was published 
by CEN  on 21/12/2016 
The requested CEN-
CENELEC Guide 32 
"Guide for addressing 
climate change 
adaptation in 
standards" was 
published on 6.4.2016.  
Phase 1 of the request 
was completed end of 
2016 and 
CEN/Cenelec   . It is 
expected the work 
programme for 
development of 
standards. No standard 
is under development. 

51 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
4. 

Actions promoting innovation 

Air Quality 

In the area of air quality, pre-normative research has led to the development of methodologies to 
measure organic and inorganic gaseous air pollutants, particulate matter and constituents of particulate 
matter, such as metals, carbonaceous content and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which are 
included in the Air Quality Directives 2004/107/EC, 2008/50/EC and CD 2015/1480. Moreover, pre-
normative research for the validation and development of new protocols and methods for air quality 
modelling, source apportionment and the use of sensing technologies has led to the provision of data 
quality objectives and technical specifications currently Consultation between the Commission and 
the stakeholders on the technical and operational details and to be considered in future applications 
and procedures.   

Photovoltaics 

In the area of Photovoltaic Solar Electricity the JRC has used its pre-normative research to develop 
international standards to support new energy materials in the field of innovative multi-junction solar 
devices. Photovoltaic energy generation has become a significant source of low carbon energy around 
the world and is continuing to expand. The drive to reduce costs and improve efficiencies has led to 
the development of new photoactive materials structures, which include multi-junction devices. The 
JRC  has  used  its  pre-normative  research  into  the  characterisation  of  these  multi-junction  devices  to 
lead the project team within IEC in the writing of two standards which will enable these devices to be 
characterised. Both standards have reached the final voting stage (Final Draft International Standard, 
FDIS) and been adopted and published in May. These new standards (IEC 60904-1-1 and IEC 60904-
8-1)  support  innovation  by  increasing  the  confidence  of  investors  and  developers  in  these  new 
technologies. 

Pre-normative JRC research on material efficiency and preparation/response of EC mandates3 

Pre-normative research has been led by JRC to demonstrate the relevance and feasibility of potential 
requirements on material efficiency of products in the context of the Ecodesign Directive 
(2009/125/EC). This work was based on the application of an original JRC method to specific product 
groups. However, requirements on material efficiency (e.g. on recyclability, durability, reparability) 
had so far a limited adoption in implementing Regulations, mainly due to the lack of appropriate 
standards. Hence, JRC supported other Commission services for the preparation of the standardisation 
mandate M/543 to European Standardization Organizations (ESOs) on “ecodesign requirements on 
material efficiency aspects for energy-related products”. This mandate was included in the action plan 
of the Circular Economy package (issued in December 2015), and it was accepted by ESOs in January 
2016. Standardization deliverables are now under development by CEN/CENELEC, taking into 

3   Research  based  on  work  carried  out  in  institutional  work-programme  and  Administrative  Arrangements 
(AAs):  Environmental  Footprint  and  Material  Efficiency  (AA  33046,  2012-2016);  Technical  support 
for Environmental Footprinting, Material Efficiency in the Product Policies and the European Platform 
on LCA’ (AA 33446, 2013-2017)) 

52 

 
 
                                                            
account in particular the results of pre-normative research by JRC. Preparatory work of the 
standardisation mandate has been analysed by JRC in a recent scientific paper4. 

Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems (C-ITS) 

improve 

intended 

The  pre-normative  research  has  contributed  to  the  definition  of  the  security  elements  of 
Cooperative  Intelligent  Transport  Systems  (C-ITS),  embracing  a  wide  variety  of 
travel  safety,  minimise 
communications-related  applications 
environmental 
the  benefits  of 
impact, 
transportation to both commercial users and the general public.  The work will contribute to 
the drafting of a future EC mandate and legislation for the deployment of C-ITS in Europe. In 
the  area  of  cybersecurity  and  digital  privacy  pre-normative  research  is  contributing  to  the 
implementation of standards and specific legislation for the definition of an EU wide security 
certification  scheme  and  seamless  trustworthy  authentication  across  objects,  devices  and 
natural and legal persons based on comparable trust models. 

traffic  management  and  maximise 

increase 

to 

Animal testing 

Pre-normative  research  in  the  area  of  non-animal  methods  for  skin  sensation  has  led  to  the 
development  of  validated  methods  for  the  global  implementation  of  standards  at  industry 
level  for  screening  purposes  and  for  complying  with  regional  regulations  on  the  safety 
assessment of chemicals. The work led to changes of the requirements for skin sensitisation 
within  the  REACH  regulation,  prompted  revision  of  the  ECHA  guidance  to  industry  and 
resulted into the publication of two OECD guidance documents on the harmonised reporting 
of  approaches  for  chemical  safety  assessment  based  on  the  integration  of  non-animal  data. 
Likewise,  pre-normative  research  in  the  area  of  animal  feed  and  feeding  stuffs  for  the 
development of a method to determine two banned growth promotors in feed, carbadox and 
olaquindox,  has  resulted  in  the  development  of  an  EN  standard  to  be  applied  by  Member 
States'  official  control  laboratories  to  check  for  compliance  of  feed  samples  with  legal 
provisions. 

Transport 

In  the  area  of  vehicle  emissions,  pre-normative  research  has  led  to  the  development  of  a 
methodology  to  measure  the  number  of  particles  emitted  by  diesel  engines,  which  was 
included  in  the  Euro5/6  legislation  (Reg.  715/2007  and  692/2008),  making  de-facto 
mandatory  the  use  of  wall  flow  particulate  filters  that  have  reduced  particulate  matter 
emissions  from  diesel  engines  in  more  than  30  million  vehicles.  Moreover,  pre-normative 
research  for  the  validation  and  development  of  a  new  real  driving  emissions  (RDE)  test 
procedure based on the use of particle emission measurement systems (PEMS) has led to the 
provision of data and definition of the technical specifications of the equipment to be used for 

4 P. Tecchio, C. McAlister, F. Mathieux, and F. Ardente, “In search of standards to support circularity in product 
policies:  a  systematic  approach,”  Journal  of  Cleaner  Production  168  (2017)  1533-1546,  2017. 
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.05.198  

53 

 
 
                                                            
regulatory purposes in the definition by the European Commission of the third RDE package 
expected to be approved by the end of 2016. 

Measurements and metrology 

Standardisation linked to measurements and metrology is essential to drive innovation.  This 
is  particularly  true  for  new  technologies  and  applications.    The  Commission  is  funding 
research  to  directly  support  standardisation,  i.e.  pre-/co-normative  research,  under  Art.  185 
TFEU  initiative  on  metrology  EMPIR.    In  addition,  a  working  group  between  EMPIR  and 
CEN/CENELEC called the STAIR-EMPIR working group was formed to facilitate the link 
between the research projects and the standardisation bodies. 

Security 

In  the  area  of  security,  the  European  Agenda  on  Security  is  supported  by  European 
standardisation activities as well as ongoing pre-normative research under Horizon 2020.  

Innovative  technology  tools  are  needed  to  protect  us  from  terrorist  threats  and  include 
requirements for detection equipment as well as data quality and the interoperability of data 
systems recording crime statistics. 

Several mandates are addressing standardisation aspects for security (M/487, M/512, M/530). 
For instance, Mandate 487 concerns the analysis of the current security standards landscape 
in  Europe  taking  account  of  the  legislative  background  and  the  drawing  of  a  security 
standardisation map. 

Ongoing security research in several domains is also contributing to harmonised certification 
schemes of security products and systems. 

LIST OF RESEARCH PROJECTS DIRECTLY LINKED WITH STANDARDISATION 

Projects 

Start date  

End date  

Technical/scientific  Support 
EED and EPBD 

to 

the 

08/12/2014 

07/12/2017 

Validation 
construction materials 

of 

standards 

for 

11/03/2016 

10/03/2018 

Support to policies and standards for 
sustainable construction 

Environmental  Footprint  and  Material 
Efficiency 

Eco-design and other product policies 
for Circular Economy 

01/01/2016 

31/12/2016 

11/12/2013 

30/11/2017 

01/01/2016 

31/12/2018 

54 

 
 
Actions to be carried out with the JRC 
under  the  annual  work  programme 
2014 of CIPS 
ERNCIP 
support to mandate M/487 

(FP7  &  Horizon  2020) 

Water reuse for Irrigation and aquifer 
REcharge 

23/04/2015 

22/08/2016 

01/01/2016 

31/05/2019 

04/05/2016 

03/02/2018 

Air Quality Assessment 

15/12/2013 

14/06/2016 

Air Quality Assessment and Planning 

01/01/2016 

31/12/2018 

CRISP (FP7) 

HECTOS (FP7) 

ResiSTAND (Horizon 2020) 

01/04/2014 

31/03/2017 

01/09/2014 

31/01/2018 

01/05/2016 

30/04/2018 

Raw Materials 

01/12/2015 

30/04/2019 

55 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
5. 

Contribution of the Annex III organisations (SBS, 
ANEC, ECOS and ETUC) representing respectively 
SMEs, consumers, workers and environmental 
interests in standardisation) to the production 
processes of standards (inclusiveness) 

The Regulation 1025/20125 acknowledges the important role SMEs and societal stakeholders play in 
standardisation. European standards are seen as to be of vital interest for the competitiveness of 
SMEs and standards can also have broad impact on society. Therefore, the Regulation ensures that 
the role and the input of SMEs and societal stakeholders in the development of standards are 
strengthened.    

Since the entry into force of Regulation 1025/2012, great effort has been made to allow SMEs and 
societal stakeholders to effectively take part in the standardisation activities. The Commission have 
engaged in partnership agreements and financial agreements with four organisations respectively 
representing consumer, environmental and social interests as well as the interest of SMEs in 
standardisation at European level. The interests these organisations represent are recognised in the 
Regulation 1025/2012 and in the Annex III of the Regulation and the four organisations are the 
following: 

  European Association for the Coordination of Consumer Representation in Standardisation 

(ANEC) 

  Small Business Standards (SBS) 
  European Environmental Citizens Organisation for Standardisation (ECOS) 
  Confédération Européenne des Syndcats (ETUC) 

The organisations sometimes together go under the name Annex III-organisations.    

Table 1. Summary of activity of the Annex III organisations 2016 

Annex 
III 

ANEC 

Number of 
technical 
bodies 
128 (115 in 
2015) 

ECOS 

188 (65 in 
2015) 

Number of experts 

 Areas covered 

51 (49 in 2015) 

37 (24 supported by 
DG GROW grant , 30 in 
2015 , 20 supported 
by DG GROW grant) 

Child safety, Accessibility, Domestic 
Appliances, Digital Society including 
Innovation, Services, Sustainability, 
Traffic&mobility 
Climate change & sustainable energy, 
Ecodesign & energy labelling, Resource 
efficiency & waste, and Environmental health.  

5 Regulation  (EU)  No  1025/2012  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  25  October  2012  on 
European  Standardisation,  amending  Council  Directives  89/686/EEC  and  93/15/EEC  and  Directives 
94/9/EC,  94/25/EC,  95/16/EC,  97/23/EC,  98/34/EC,  2004/22/EC,  2007/23/EC,  2009/23/EC  and 
2009/105/EC  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  and  repealing  Council  Decision 
87/95/ECC and Decision No 1673/2006/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council.  

56 

 
 
                                                            
ETUC 

10 (4 in 
2015) 

7 (4 in 2015) 

SBS 

145 (51 in 
2015) 

50 paid, 7 unpaid (37, 
paid and 11 unpaid in 
2015) 

Total 

471(234 in 
2015) 

145 paid, 7 unpaid 
(114 paid and 11 
unpaid in 2015)  

Internet of things, Bio-based products, 
Intelligent transport system, Maintenance,  
Facility management, Horizontal service 
standards, Quality of care of elderly people, 
Patient involvement in person-cantered care 
Cosmetics, lifts, ICT, transport systems and 
navigation, wood, furniture, construction, 
machinery, textiles and footwear, road 
vehicles, doors and windows, insulation 
material, cultural property, electrical 
installations, occupational health and safety, 
welding, tourism and pyrotechnic. 

Table 2. Summary of awarded operating grants to the Annex III organisations 2015 and 2016 

Annex III  Operating 
grant 2015 
1 256 563 
400 000 
199 630 
1 198 366 
3 054 559 

ANEC 
ECOS 
ETUC 
SBS 
Total 

Percentage of total 
eligible cost 2015 
95 % 
75 % 
88 % 
85% 
87,5 % 

Operating 
grant 2016 
1 329 656 
500 000 
204 372 
1 410 819 
3 444 847 

Percentage of total 
eligible cost 2016 
95 % 
56 % 
90 % 
85 % 
83 % 

The 4 organisations 

ANEC 

In 1995, ANEC was established as a non-profit international association. The objective of the 
association is to promote, defend and represent the interests of consumers with regard to the 
work of the European Standardisation Organisations and any other similar type of 
organisation involved with standards that affect consumers.  

Only one representative natural person per Member State of the EU and the EFTA may be a 
full member of ANEC and this person represents the national consumer organisation in 
his/her country. Currently, 33 countries are represented in ANEC.  

57 

 
 
 
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The operational grant ANEC received for 2016 activities was 1 329 656 euro and this 
covered 95 % of the association's eligible costs. For 2015, the awarded grant was 1 256 563 
euro, representing 95 % of the costs.  

SBS 

Small Business Standards is a European non-profit association which was established in 
October 2013. Membership is open to SME associations and crafts associations of the EU 
Member States and EFTA countries. Currently, it has 21 members covering 32 countries. Its 
mission is to: 

 
 

facilitate the access of SMEs to the standardisation process;  
train craft and SME organisations and their members about the benefits of 
standardisation 
improve SME participation in standardisation bodies 

 
  develop and provide information and awareness of SME instruments 
  support the work of national and regional SME organisations 
  carry out awareness raising initiatives and 
  negotiate any measures to facilitate the adoption of SMEs to the introduction and use 

of standards  

The SBS receives yearly funding from the European Commission and the EFTA to cover 
costs for activities envisaged in an annual Work Programme. For 2016 activities, the total 
amount of the operating grant was 1 410 819 euro, which covers 85 % of the association's 
eligible costs. For 2015, the funding was 1 198 366 euro, covering 85 % of the eligible costs. 

ECOS 

ECOS was established in Brussels 2001 as a non-profit association. Today, ECOS represents 
42 members, including 9 pan-European organisations and 33 national organisations from 22 
European countries.   

The association promotes and defends environmental interests in the development of 
standards in the area of climate change, waste, energy and resource efficiency, and 
environmental health, as well as product ecological policies related to eco-design and energy 
labelling.   

ECOS receives yearly funding from the European Commission and the EFTA to cover costs 
for activities envisaged in an annual Work Programme. For 2016 activities, the total amount 
of the operating grant was 500 000 euro, which covers 56 % of the association's eligible costs. 
For 2015, the operating grant was set to 400 000 euro, representing 75 % of the costs. 

. 

58 

 
 
 
ETUC 

The European Trade Union Confederation was established in Brussels in 1973, but its 
involvement in standardisation started in 2015. It consists of 10 European trade union 
federations as well as 89 national affiliate organisations from 39 countries. ETUC recognises 
the role of standardisation as a key tool in industry policy, in driving innovation and product 
policy and in ensuring the quality of the internal market and of working conditions, including 
a high level of public and occupational health and safety across Europe. It is focusing on two 
standardisation areas, namely industrial advancement and services.  

ETUC receives yearly funding from the European Commission and the EFTA to cover costs 
for activities envisaged in an annual Work Programme. For 2016 activities, the total amount 
of the operating grant was 204 372 euro, which covers 90 % of the association's eligible costs. 
For 2015, the awarded operating grant was set at 199 630 euro, representing 88 % of the cost. 

59 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
6. 

EU financial contribution to the ESOs under the 
Regulation 

In 2016 the Commission concluded 20 grant agreements with the ESOs for a total amount of                
16 395 163 euro: 

ESOs 

CEN 

Cenelec 

ETSI 

Total  

Type of 
grants 
Operating 
Action 

Nr of 
grants  

Amounts in 
€ 

Nr of 
grants  

Amounts 
in € 

Nr of 
grants  

Amounts 
in € 

Nr of 
grants  

Amounts in 
€ 

1 
11 
12 

2.657.150 
8.092.997 
10.750.147 

1 
1 
2 

568.100 
1.073.156 
1.641.256 

1 
5 
6 

2.327.722 
1.676.038 
4.003.760 

3 
17 
20 

5.552.972 
10.842.191 
16.395.163 

It should be noted that the requested amount for grants in support of actions in the ICT domain 
went beyond the earmarked budget. 

60 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
7. 

State of play of ICT Standardisation Priorities for the 
Digital Single Market 

Eighteen months after the publication of the Commission priorities, the actions proposed for 
the priority domains 5G communication networks, Internet of Things (IoT), cloud computing, 
cyber security  and (big) data technologies  as  well as  those outlined in  specific  sectors  like, 
eHealth, intelligent transport systems and connected & automated vehicles, smart energy  and 
advanced  manufacturing  are  progressing  at  a  different  pace.  Depending  on  the  domain,  the 
actions  proposed  can  vary  from  further  standard  setting  to  coordination  or  leveraging  of 
current  work  within  the  respective  policies.  Focus  may  lay  more  on  aspects  like  reference 
architectures,  reference  platforms  and  use  cases  to  support  digital  transformation  or  other 
standardisation deliverables to support vertical innovation in the domain. 

Cloud – Horizon 2020 EU funded projects are contributing to the development of standards 
allowing  service  level  agreements  and  interoperability/portability  across  the  cloud.  The 
Commission  has  organised  two  workshops  and  is  working  with  standardisation  and  open 
source  communities  towards  the  alignment  of  open  source  and  standards  within  the  cloud 
context,  which  can  speed-up  development  processes  and  up-take  of  ICT  technical 
specifications, and reduce public procurement costs. 

IoT – The new Alliance of Internet of Things Innovation (AIOTI) Association6 was set up in 
November  2017  replacing  the  AIOTI  initiative.  The  Association  can  now  act  as  a  formal 
representative for stakeholders and extend the cooperation with other IoT global players - as 
one  strong  united  European  voice  for  IoT.  AIOTI  fosters  consensus  building  on  reference 
architectures,  supports  standardisation  to  fill  any  identified  gaps,  and  is  assessing  possible 
IoT  identifiers.  The  global  partnership  project  to  develop  IoT  technical  specifications 
(OneM2M),  has  reached  an  important  milestone  by  adopting  a  common  service  platform 
standard.  In  addition  to  this,  The  Commission,  in  cooperation  within  the  European  Cyber 
Security Organization (ECSO)7 and AIOTI, had organised in 2016 a series of workshops to 
create an environment where  consumers are aware  of the degree  of security and  privacy  of 
IoT devices in the context of possible certification and trusted labelling for IoT.  

5G  -  The  availability  of  the  initial  global  5G  standards  by  the  end  of  2019  is  among  the 
actions of the 5G Action Plan[3]. Furthermore, Member States, in the Ministerial Declaration 
of Tallinn (ref below) identify the objective of preserving 5G global interoperability as key in 
order to make 5G a success for Europe. Standards are of paramount importance to ensure the 
competitiveness  and  interoperability  of  global  telecommunication  networks.  Therefore 
Member States endorse a "comprehensive and inclusive approach to 5G standardisation as a 
priority for the Digital Single Market". Member States promote "cross-industry partnerships 
to support the timely definition of standards backed by industrial user experiments, including 
through  the  leveraging  of  international  cooperation  partnerships,  in  particular  for  the 
digitisation  of  industry.  Encouraging  innovation  and  development  of  products  and  services 
making use of 5G networks across the EU should be a priority". 
The Commission supported the set-up of the 5G Public-Private Partnership (PPP)[4], which 
ensures  integration  of  requirements  from  all  sectors.  The  3rd  Global  Partnership  Project 

6 https://aioti.eu/ 
7 https://www.ecs-org.eu/ 

61 

 
 
 
 
                                                            
responsible for 5G standards (3G PP)[5] is working towards 5G standards. The Commission 
has increased its participation to 3G PP in order to support politically the contributions by the 
5G-PPP,  and  is  taking  steps  to  support  the  organisation  of  3G  PP  meetings  in  Europe, 
enabling  the  active  participation  of  a  broad  range  European  delegates,  from  key  industrial 
players, but also SMEs, academia and research institutions. The EU is working, through the 
European Conference of Postal and Telecommunication Administrations (CEPT), to agree on 
a strong EU position on spectrum in the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).. To 
meet  objectives  on  global  interoperability  on  5G  (spectrum,  standards  and  research)  the 
Commission signed a joint declaration with its counterparts in Brazil, China, Japan and South 
Korea and cooperates closely with the USA and India. 
Ref:  Ministerial  Declaration  "Making  5G  a  success  for  Europe"  signed  during  the  informal 
meeting  of  competitiveness  and  telecommunications  ministers  on  18  July  in  Tallinn,  see: 
https://www.eu2017.ee/sites/default/files/inlinefiles/Ministerial%20declaration%205G_final_
0.pdf 

Cybersecurity - The Commission is working closely with Member States and the European 
Union  Agency  for  Network  and  Information  Security  (ENISA)  in  the  Network  and 
Information Security (NIS) Directive Cooperation Group to identify best practice and sector-
specific  guidance  for  cybersecurity  risk  management  based  on  European  and  international 
standards.  Furthermore,  in  September  2017  the  Commission  put  forward  a  proposal  for  a 
Regulation  on  "ENISA,  the  "EU  Cybersecurity  Agency",  and  repealing  Regulation  (EU) 
526/2013,  and  on  Information  and  Communication  Technology  cybersecurity  certification 
(''Cybersecurity Act'')".  A dedicated Working Group on Standards and Certification has been 
set up in the Cybersecurity contractual Public-Private Partnership (ECSO). 

Data  -  Interoperability  and  standards  is  part  of  building  a  European  data  economy,  which 
aims at fostering the best possible use of the potential of digital data to benefit the economy 
and society8. The Commission established the Big Data Value Association (BDVA) PPP and 
funds research and innovation projects through Horizon 20209 to develop a roadmap towards 
a  big  data  reference  architecture  and  the  production  of  ICT  standards  for  better 
interoperability of data to support cross-sectorial integration. The proposal for a Regulation 
on Privacy and Electronic Communications10 calls for standardised icons in order to give an 
easily visible and intelligible overview of  the collection of information  emitted by terminal 
equipment, its purpose, the person responsible for it and of any measure the end-user of the 
terminal equipment can take to minimise the collection.  

New  standardisation  domains  are  being  assessed,  e.g. 
blockchain/distributed ledger technologies.  

financial 

(FinTech)  and 

Regarding  Intelligent  Transport  Systems,  pre-normative  research  has  contributed  to  the 
definition  of  the  Cooperative  Intelligent  Transport  Systems  (C-ITS)  and  communication 
protocols, including the security elements of, embracing a wide variety of communications-
related  applications  intended  to  increase  travel  safety,  minimise  environmental  impact, 
improve traffic management and maximise the benefits of transportation to both commercial 

8 COM(2017)9 
9 https://ec.europa.eu/programmes/horizon2020/ 
10 COM(2017)10 

62 

 
 
                                                            
users and the general public.  The work will contribute to the drafting of a future EC mandate 
and legislation for the deployment of C-ITS in Europe.  

As regards the second pillar, The Commission regularly met stakeholders, and in particular 
the  ESOs,  to  discuss  the  implementation  of  the  various  actions  proposed.  Member  States, 
European  and  international  standardisation  organisations,  fora  and  consortia,  organisations 
representing industry and small and medium-size enterprises and societal representatives are 
all members of the Multi-stakeholders Platform on ICT Standardisation11, who follows up the 
implementation  of  the  actions  of  the  Communication  at  each  meeting.  Moreover,  the 
Commission has kept a regular dialogue with the other European institutions who have issued 
conclusions,  opinions  and  reports  on  the  Communication 12 .  In  addition  to  this,  The 
Commission  is  working  with  ESOs  and  other  SDOs,  fora  and  consortia  and  relevant 
stakeholders  on  possible  measures  to  improve  the  ICT  standardisation  ecosystem  including 
promotion  of  interaction  between  open  source  and  standardisation  communities  and  the 
definition  of  a  clear,  balanced,  sustainable  and  efficient  Standard  Essential  Patents  (SEP) 
framework.  The  Commission  published  a  Communication  on  the  latter  in  November 
2017 13 .Regarding  the  international  outreach  of  European  Standardization  Horizon  2020 
cooperation and support actions will contribute to a reinforced presence on the international 
ICT standardization scene through setting up an observatory and a funding facility to support 
participation  of  European  experts  on  international  ICT  standardisation.  The  Commission  is 
also using the Foreign Policy Instrument actions to foster international outreach of European 
ICT standardization. 

Finally,  The  Commission  is  widely  using  Horizon  2020  to  fund  research  and  innovation 
projects contributing to standardisation and is working with the ESOs on actions to bridge the 
gap  between  research,  innovation  and  standardisation.  Furthermore  Horizon  2020  Public-
Private  Partnerships  are  essential  for  developing  key  digital  technology  building  blocks. 
Large  scale  pilot  projects  prepare  broad  deployment  through  test  beds,  experimentation 
facilities  and  pilot  lines,  leading  to  standardisation 14.  Based  on  preliminary  inputs  from 
Member  States  and  industry,  industrial  platform  initiatives  have  been  identified  for 
‘connected  smart  factory’,  ‘health  and  care’,  ‘smart  agriculture’,  'connected  and  automated 
mobility',  "smart  energy',  as  well  as  for  cross-cutting  industrial  data  and  Internet  of  Things 
platforms. 

11 Expert  group  set  up  by  the  Commission  in  2011  that  meets  four  times  a  year  to  provide  advice  to  the 

Commission on any matter related to ICT Standardisation. 

12 Council conclusions on the "Digital Single Market Technologies and Public Services Modernisation" package 
of  17  May  2016;  Opinion  of  the  Committee  of  the  Regions  on  the  Communications  on  "European 
Cloud  Initiative  –  Building  a  competitive  data  and  knowledge  economy  in  Europe"  and  "ICT 
Standardisation  Priorities  for  the  Digital  Single  Market"  of  October  2016;  Opinion  of  the  European 
Economic and Social Committee Communication on the ICT Standardisation Priorities for the Digital 
Single Market of 21 September 2016.  

13 COM(2017) 712 final. 
14 Examples include the ECSEL Lighthouse projects and a dedicated Focus Area in the R&I Work Programme 
2018-2020  on  “Digitising  and  transforming  European  industry  and  services”,  which  combines  49 
budgets across PPPs. 

63 

 
 
                                                            
8. 

Action plan to decrease the stock of non-cited 
harmonised standards 

ACTION PLAN  
Structural solutions to decrease the stock of non-cited harmonised standards 

Over  the  past  three  decades  European  standardisation  has  successfully  contributed  to  the 
implementation of EU policies and legislation in a wide range of areas.  

In particular, European standardisation has been extremely successful and one of the driving 
factors of the creation of the internal market for goods, in particular due to the New Approach 
legislative technique15.  

The  Union  harmonisation  legislation  under  the  New  Approach  promotes  harmonised 
standards  as  a  tool  offering  a  guaranteed  level  of  protection.  Products  manufactured  in 
compliance  with  harmonised  standards  benefit  from  a  presumption  of  conformity  with  the 
corresponding essential requirements of the applicable Union harmonisation legislation.  

In  recent  years,  certain  issues  appeared  with  the  publication  of  references  to  harmonised 
standards  in  the  OJEU  which  resulted  in  an  increased  number  of  non-cited  references.  The 
current  stock  of  non-cited  references  to  harmonised  standards  is  relatively  high  and  joint 
efforts of all participants are needed to address the situation effectively.  

In  order  to  address  the  current  stock  of  non-cited  harmonised  standards  and  to  make  the 
process  more  transparent  and  accountable  leading  to  a  seamless  citation,  the  following  two 
short-term and two mid-term joint actions are considered of particular importance by both the 
Commission and the European Standardisation Organisations (ESOs): 

Short-term (Q3/2017) 

1.  Proceeding with currently non-cited harmonised standards 

In  order  to  enable  the  citation  of  as  many  as  possible  currently  non-cited  harmonised 
standards,  the  ESOs  and  the  Commission  will  together  draw  up  a  prioritised  list  of 
harmonised  standards  in  the  most  relevant  sectors  (  tentatively  agreed  sectors  are:  medical 
devices, construction, EMC, RED, LVD, Railways ):  

• with those harmonised standards which comply with the requirements in the corresponding 
Union legislation and display only minor (mainly formal) shortcomings, in exchange for the 
ESOs' commitment16 to deliver revised versions within a defined period. 

•  with  harmonised  standards  which  can  be  addressed  in  the  framework  of  short  term  pilot 
projects, with the participation of technical experts and management on both sides, leading to 

15 Resolution  of  the  Council  of  Ministers  of  7  May  1985  on  a  new  approach  to  technical  harmonisation  and 

standards, OJ C 136, 4.6.1985, p. 1. 

16  Subject  to  approval  by  the  CEN  and/or  CENELEC  Technical  Boards  or  the  relevant  ETSI  Technical 

Committee . 

64 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
their  possible  conditional  approval  in  view  of  their  speedy  referencing.  A  plan  with  pilot 
projects should be agreed between the EC and the ESOs.  

The ESOs will clearly identify the re-submissions of previously rejected standards including 
the modifications made.  

The re-valuation will be made within a timeframe to be agreed and in case of acceptance the 
standard will be cited in the OJEU without delay. 

2. Improving the support from  the New Approach Consultants 

The  main  role  of  the  New  Approach  Consultants  (NAC)  is  to  check  the  compliance  of  the 
harmonised  standards  with  the  standardisation  request  and  the  requirements  of  the 
corresponding Union legislation, during the development process.  

In principle, the activity of the New Approach Consultants is covered by a specific agreement 
that the Commission has concluded with CEN and CENELEC until the end of 2017. 

In  this  system,  the  potential  of  New  Approach  Consultants  is  not  fully  utilised.  There  is  a 
room for improvement in several areas, in particular when it comes to communication of the 
New  Approach  Consultants  with  the  Commission  and  technical  bodies  of  the  ESOs. 
Experience shows that it is important that Technical Committees of the ESOs have a correct 
understanding of the content of the standardisation request and its legal objectives from the 
earliest  stage  of  drafting  harmonised  standards.  An  early  and  effective  communication 
between Technical Committees and the NAC is a central element supporting  the process of 
joint  assessment  (Article  10(5)  of  the  Standardisation  Regulation  1025/2012)  of  the 
compliance of the documents drafted by the European standardisation organisations with the 
standardisation request. 

The Commission will thus propose a new framework for the activity of the New Approach 
Consultants,  with  the  aim  to  relieve  the  European  standardisation  organisations  of  the 
administrative  burden  related  to  their  management,  as  well  as  to  improve  the  overall 
involvement of the New Approach consultants in the process of the drafting of harmonised 
standards. 

CEN,  CENELEC  and  ETSI  are  prepared  to  engage  with  the  revamped  system  of  NAC 
representing the Commission in the process of harmonised standards development.  The NAC 
are intended to facilitate transparency of the process by providing guidance and clarification 
within the confines of the standardisation request adopted in consultation with the ESOs and 
the Member States.  

Taking  into  account  that  the  current  specific  agreement  to  cover  the  support  from  New 
Approach  Consultants  will  conclude  in  December  2017,  and  that  the  role  of  the  NAC  has 
been  identified  as  an  essential  element  in  the  joint  assessment  process,  it  is  important  to 
ensure the continuity of their services.  

The  European  Commission  will  conclude  the  contractual  arrangements  for  the  continuation 
of  the  NACs  ideally  before  end  of  2017.  In  the  case  that  this  new  framework  cannot  be 

65 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
finalised timely and the activity of the consultants could be disrupted as a result, the current 
specific agreement managed by CEN and CENELEC might be extended. 

Medium-term (2018) 

3.  Developing  a  common  understanding  of  the  process  for  joint  assessment  and  citation  of 
harmonised standards 

The Standardisation Regulation, Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012, provides for a cooperative 
model for a joint assessment of draft harmonised standards by the Commission and the ESOs, 
prior to the publication of references to harmonised standards in the OJEU . However, neither 
the  way  how  this  cooperative  model  should  function  in  detail,  nor  the  process  of  the 
publication in the OJEU, have yet been formalised. The new improved system of NACs (see 
point  2)  will  be  the  basis  to  implement  the  cooperative  model  for  joint  assessment  of 
harmonised standards. 

In addition, the Commission and the ESOs have agreed on a mechanism for the verification 
and  publication  process for  harmonized  European  Standards  (hEN)  with  a  clear  division  of 
roles  and  responsibilities  and  strict  deadlines.  The  main  elements  of  the  agreed  process  are 
outlined in some detail in the Annex. 

4. Modernisation of the Harmonised standards database 

The  Harmonised  standards  database  (HAS  database),  hosted  by  the  EC,  aims  at  facilitating 
the  delivery  of  ESO’s  data  required  to  allow  the  publication  of  the  titles  of  harmonised 
standards in the OJEU in all official languages of the EU.  

The HAS database is used to generate the lists of harmonised standards to be published in the 
OJEU  in  the  format  of  Commission  communications.  It  is  also  used  to  generate/update 
content about harmonised standards on the EC European standards website. 

The  Commission  and  the  European  standardisation  organisations  consider  it  necessary  to 
agree upon steps improving the functionality of the HAS database to better serve its purpose, 
in  particular  to  facilitate  the  verification  of  references  and  related  data  (e.g.  date  of 
withdrawal) of harmonised standards and to provide an accurate overview of the outcome of 
the verification, as well as the follow-up steps.  

With respect to the above, the following action plan is jointly proposed by the Commission 
and the ESOs: 

Task 
To agree on a list of 
harmonised standards to 
be cited or re-valuated  

To agree on plan for pilot 
meetings on the 
harmonised standards to 

Who 
EC, ESO 

Timetable 
Q3 2017 

EC, ESO 

Q3/2017 

66 

 
 
 
 
 
be re-valuated 

Organise pilot meetings on 
specific agreed standards  

EC, ESO 

Q4/2017 Q1-Q2/2018  

To streamline the process 
for joint assessment and 
publication of harmonised 
standards 
To set up a new framework 
for the activity of the New 
Approach consultants 
To improve the 
functionality of the HAS 
database and the interface 
with the ESOs 

EC, ESOs 

End of 2017/early 2018 

EC 

2017 

EC with the input  of the 
ESO 

2017/2018 

ANNEX: The verification and publication processes for hENs  

1. 

 ESO:  

a.  Submits at pre-agreed dates following the conclusion of the joint assessment (article 
10(5)) a formal note to the EC  annexing  lists of references  to new,  amended  or 
resubmitted hENs per sector,  with full reference of data available in HAS database. 

b.  Provides  

i)  the  text  of  the  harmonised  standards  (including,  where  relevant,  the  adopted 
international standard, including access to texts of its relevant normative references) 
through electronic format   
ii) the date of  the formal note for each reference to new, amended or resubmitted 
hENs as a part of the HAS upload together with any additional information possibly 
needed for the OJ publication and as agreed with the EC services. 

2.  EC (GROW  B 3):  

a.  Acknowledges the receipt  of the note (and registers in ARES) within 15 working days 
b.  Sets 4-6 weeks deadline for operational units  to verify each new hEN (through ARES) 

3.  EC (sector  unit):  

a.  Verifies each new hEN on the basis of consultants assessment reports and/or other 
available  evidence  criteria  (such  as  the  essential  requirements,  mandate,  work 
programme) 

b.  Records the results (positive/negative) in HAS database within the given timeframe 

c. 

(up to 6 weeks)  
Informs  (ARES)  GROW  B3  on  the  results  of  the  verification.  For  hENs  rejected  for 
citation provides in-depth explanation of the reasons, clearly identifying the relevant 
parts of the standard after its entire assessment 

67 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
d.  Where  additional  time  is  needed  to  complete  the  verification,  informs  the  ESO 

accordingly within the given timeframe 

4.  EC (GROW B 3): 

a.  Submits a formal note to ESO (ARES) informing on the results of the assessment. For 
rejected hENs, provides in-depth reasons and asks for information within 15 working 
days on remedial actions within a timeframe to be mutually agreed   

b.  Finalises  the  "publication  decision"  to  be  signed  by  the  corresponding  Director 

General, and the lists (per sector) of new hENs accepted for citation in the OJ.  

5.  EC (Director General of DG GROW or the corresponding DG) 

a.  Signs the decision 

6.  EC (GROW  B3): 

a.  Produces    consolidated  lists  (Communications)  from  HAS  database  and  sends  to 
SecGen  together  with  the  publication  decision  for  submission  to  the  Publication 
Office 

7.  ESO 

a.  Revises the standard on the basis of a negative assessment (point 4.a) provided by 
the  Commission  and  re-submits  within  a  timeframe  to  be  mutually  agreed.    The 
timeframe will normally be agreed within 15 working days after the notification.  
In case of a resubmission of a rejected standard, indicates clearly changes made to 
the standard on the basis of reasons provided by the Commission (point 4.a) 

b. 

8.  EC  

a.  Establishes a publication decision when the revised standard satisfies the outcome 

of the original assessment.   

68