COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS An EU Strategy on Standardisation Setting global standards in support of a resilient, green and digital EU single market
Date: 2022-02-02
Institutions: Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, European Commission
Subjects: EU strategy, European standard, European standardisation body, digital single market, digital transformation, harmonisation of standards, innovation, international standard, technical specification, technical standard

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 2.2.2022  COM(2022) 31 final  COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS An EU Strategy on Standardisation     Setting global standards in support of a resilient, green and digital EU single market  
 
 
An EU Strategy on Standardisation  

Setting global standards in support of a resilient, green and digital EU single market  

I. 

Introduction – Standards to foster EU values, policy objectives and regulatory 
implementation 

Standards  are  at  the  core  of  the  EU  single  market.  Over  the  last  30  years,  the  European 
Standardisation  System  has  delivered  more  than  3600  harmonised  standards  allowing  companies  to 
demonstrate  compliance  with  EU  law,  plus  many  more  European  standards  and  technical 
specifications  to  promote  inter-operability,  the  safety  of  EU  citizens  and  protection  of  the 
environment.  European  standards  have  delivered  great  benefits  for  companies  and  consumers, 
creating a level-playing field in the single market for businesses and increasing consumer confidence. 

European  standardisation  operates  within  an  increasingly  competitive  global  context.  Many  third 
countries  are  taking  an  assertive  stance  to  standardisation,  providing  their  industries  with  a 
competitive edge in terms of market access and technology roll-out.  

Europe’s competitiveness, technological sovereignty, ability to reduce dependencies and protection of 
EU  values,  including  our  social  and  environmental  ambitions,  will  depend  on  how  successful 
European  actors  are  in  standardisation  at  international  level.  This  not  only  involves  strong 
standardisation  skills  across  industry  and  academia,  but  also  requires  European  standardisation  to 
become more agile, flexible and focused to anticipate the standardisation needs. 

At the same time, European standardisation must respond to an increasingly rapid innovation pace and 
needs to  deliver standards fast, while preserving high-quality outputs. Other, often private and non-
European industry-led consortia are leaner and faster in developing standards. In particular in new and 
emerging technologies, the European standardisation system often fails to deliver in a timely manner 
and hence loses the important ‘first mover’ advantage through standardisation.  

While  European  standardisation  has  been  a  success  story  for  the  establishment  of  the  EU’s  single 
market,  the  strategic importance  of standards  has  not been  adequately  recognised  at  the  cost  of  EU 
leadership in standards-setting. This must change. Taking into account the feedback received on the 
roadmap1, this strategy proposes a set of actions to put standards back at the core of a resilient, green 
and digital EU single market and to strengthen the global role of the European standardisation system. 

II. 

Leveraging the European standardisation system – to deliver on the twin green and 
digital transition and support the resilience of the single market 

The digital and  green transition  of  EU  industries  and  a  well-functioning  and  resilient  single  market 
rely  on  a  standardisation  system  that  adequately  reflects  EU  policy  priorities.  The  EU’s  ambitions 
towards  a  climate  neutral,  resilient  and  circular  economy  cannot  be  delivered  without  European 
standards on testing methods, management systems or interoperability solutions. In the global race for 
digital  leadership,  the  ability  to  shape  international  standards  for  digital  products,  processes  and 
services  as  global  benchmarks  is  essential  for  the  EU’s  competitiveness.  In  short,  the  EU’s  policy 
ambitions on a resilient, green and digital economy will fall short if the accompanying standards are 
defined by other regions in the world.  

Therefore, on top of the ongoing standardisation work across the industrial ecosystems, the European 
Union  faces  today  critical  ‘standardisation  urgencies’,  areas  in  which  standards  are  needed  in  the 

1 https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/13099-Standardisation-
strategy/feedback_en?p_id=25976796 

1 

 
 
                                                           
coming years in order to avoid strategic dependencies and to manifest the EU’s global leadership in 
green and digital technologies. Stemming from the analysis of strategic dependencies in the updated 
Industrial Strategy2 as well as stakeholder input through the industrial alliances, an urgent need for the 
development of standards has been identified in the following strategic areas: standards to overcome 
current obstacles in COVID-19 vaccine and medicine production; standards to support the recycling 
of critical raw materials (CRM); standards to support the roll-out of the clean hydrogen value chain; 
standards  supporting  low-carbon  cement  given  the  significant  emissions-saving  potential;  standards 
for  the  certification  of  chips  in  terms  of  security,  authenticity  and  reliability;  and  data  standards 
enhancing  data  interoperability,  data  sharing  and  data  re-use  in  support  of  the  Common  European 
Data Spaces.  

In order to address these standardisation urgencies and better identify and anticipate future urgencies 
and needs, the Commission will put forward a range of measures.  

First, the Commission will imminently act on the standardisation urgencies listed above, as reflected 
in  the  2022  Annual  Union  Work  Programme  on  standardisation.  The  Commission  will  launch 
standardisation requests, engage with the respective stakeholder communities in a timely manner and 
back  up  the  work  also  with  financing.  The  Commission  calls  upon  the  European  Standardisation 
Organisations (ESOs) to prioritise the delivery of this work without delay.  

Second,  a  new  High-Level  Forum  will  bring  together  representatives  of  Member  States,  European 
Standardisation  Organisations  and  National  Standardisation  Bodies,  industry,  civil  society3  and 
academia  to  help  set  priorities,  advise  on  future  standardisation  needs,  coordinate  effective 
representation of European interests in (international) standardisation fora and ensure that European 
standardisation  activities  meet  the  needs  to  make  the  EU  economy  more  green,  digital,  fair  and 
resilient.  In  addition,  the  Forum  will  work  to  strengthen  technical  expertise  and  skills  in  standards. 
Dedicated sub-groups  will drive  the  work  forward  at  operational  level. The  High-Level  Forum  will 
work  in  close  collaboration  with  existing  expert  groups  like  the  Industrial  Forum,  Data  Innovation 
board, industrial alliances as well as the European Forum on Security Research4. This will allow the 
standardisation  community  to  react  faster  and  more  in  tune  with the needs  of innovators and  users. 
The involvement of the European Parliament and Council in the discussion on the priorities for EU 
standardisation is key to ensure political concertation and will be facilitated by an  annual high-level 
event.  

Third,  together  with  the  High-Level  Forum,  the  Commission  will  launch  a  process  of  reviewing 
existing  standards,  to  identify  needs  for  revisions  or  development  of  new  standards  to  meet  the 
objectives of the European Green Deal and Europe’s Digital Decade and support the resilience of the 
single market.  

Fourth,  on  a  technical  level,  the  Commission  will  establish  an  EU  excellence  hub  on  standards  to 
better coordinate and leverage the existing standardisation expertise scattered within the Commission, 
EU agencies and Joint Undertakings. In close collaboration with Member States, the hub will work on 
the anticipation of future standardisation needs, support the work in priority standardisation areas, and 
monitor  international  standardisation  activities.  The  hub  will  make  it  possible  to  better  respond  to 
public  sector  requests  for  the  development  of  guidelines  and  specifications  in  areas  like  eID, 
eGovernment  or  the  European  Blockchain  Service  Infrastructure.  The  Commission  will  create  the 
function of a Chief Standardisation Officer to steer the work of the excellence hub and ensure overall 
oversight and coordination of the various standardisation activities across the Commission. 

2 COM(2021) 350 final 
3 Including consumer organisations and environmental and social stakeholders 
4 The Forum enables national authorities to exchange views and experiences on how to remove the main barriers 
to security research uptake and aims to support a consistent and strategic approach to policymaking on security 
research in the EU. 

2 

 
 
                                                           
Fifth, in partnership with the ESOs, the Commission will work on solutions and set clear targets  to 
accelerate  every  step  of  the  development  of  standards  that  underpin  the  implementation  of  EU 
legislation. This requires enhanced efforts from all sides. It involves improving consistency of newly 
developed standards with EU law in order to facilitate their timely adoption. Furthermore, it requires 
ESOs  to  reduce  the  time  between  adoption  of  a  harmonised  standard  and  its  formal  delivery  to  the 
Commission.5  While  the  time  between  delivery  and  publication  of  the  reference  in  the  Official 
Journal of the European Union has decreased in 2020 and 2021, the Commission will also continue to 
work  on  faster  publication  of  standards,  while  fulfilling  its  responsibility  in  verifying  whether  they 
satisfy the requirements of EU law.  

On  business  services,  progress  in  the  past  was  relatively  slow  and  services  standards  still  represent 
merely  a  2%  of  all  European  standards.  The  Commission  has  advanced  with  its  assessment  of  the 
most pertinent areas where harmonised standards could  improve competitiveness and reduce market 
barriers, including service standards for advanced manufacturing and construction. The Commission 
is engaging with stakeholders to bring this work on business services forward.  

Public  procurement  as  a  tool  to  promote  the  uptake  of  standards  for  innovative,  green  and  digital 
products is another area that the Commission will assess together with stakeholders. 

The Commission will:  
  Work  with  the  ESOs,  stakeholders  and  other  partners  to  immediately  address  the  identified 
standardisation  urgencies,  as  regards  COVID-19  vaccine  and  medicine  production,  critical  raw 
materials  recycling,  the  clean  hydrogen  value  chain,  low-carbon  cement,  chips  certification  and 
data standards. 

  Set  up  a  High-Level  Forum  to  assist  the  Commission  in  anticipating  upcoming  standardisation 
priorities and engage with the European Parliament and Council to ensure political concertation 
on these priorities. 

  Reflect  the  standardisation  priorities  in  the  Annual  Union  Work  Programme  on  Standardisation 

from 2022 onwards. 

  Review  existing  standards  to  identify  needs  for  revisions  or  development  of  new  standards  to 
meet  the  objectives  of  the  European  Green  Deal  and  Europe’s  Digital  Decade  and  support  the 
resilience of the EU single market. 

  Set  up  an  EU  excellence  hub  on  standards  to  bring  together  the  standardisation  expertise,  and 
nominate  a  Chief  Standardisation  Officer,  who  will  steer  this  network  and  ensure  Commission 
oversight  on  the  alignment  of  standardisation  activities  with  EU  policy  objectives  and  strategic 
interests. 

  Work with the ESOs on concrete solutions and targets to accelerate the development and adoption 
of standards, implementing concrete solutions to achieve higher consistency of standards offered 
for publication by reference in the Official Journal of the European Union. 

III.  Upholding the integrity, inclusiveness and accessibility of the European standardisation 

system – putting good governance principles in place 

Within  the  European  standardisation  system,  the  European  Standardisation  Organisations  (ESOs) 
European  Committee  for  Standardisation  (CEN),  European  Committee  for  Electrotechnical 
Standardisation  CENELEC)  and  European  Telecommunications  Standards  Institute  (ETSI)  have  a 
privileged  and  prominent  role:  they  are  the  only  organisations  that  are  eligible  to  work  on 
standardisation  requests  issued  by  the  Commission.  This  role  derives  from  the  choice  of  the  EU 
legislator to request these organisations, which are governed by private law, to develop standards and 

5 Report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on the implementation of Regulation 
(EU) No 1025/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2012 on European 
standardisation, SWD(2022) xxx 

3 

 
 
                                                           
standardisation  deliverables  as  per  Article  10  of  Regulation  (EU)  No.  1025/2012  on  European 
standardisation. 

The  special  status  of  the  European  standardisation  organisations  comes  with  responsibilities.  More 
than ever, standards do not only have to deal with technical components, but also incorporate core EU 
democratic  values  and  interests,  as  well  as  green  and  social  principles.  For  example,  standards  for 
cybersecurity or the resilience of critical infrastructure carry a strategic dimension. This is particularly 
important as regards harmonised standards, adopted on the basis of EU harmonisation legislation and 
whose references have been published in the Official Journal of the European Union, which the Court 
of  Justice  considered  as  part  of  EU  law  for  the  purposes  of  interpretation  of  those  standards6.  To 
ensure that the European standardisation system delivers in this respect, measures should be taken to 
ensure that it promotes EU interests and values. 

The  Commission  is  concerned  that  today’s  decision-making  processes  within  the  European 
standardisation organisations, in particular in ETSI, allow an uneven voting power to certain corporate 
interests:  some  multinationals  have  acquired  more  votes  than  the  bodies  that  represent  the  entire 
stakeholder  community.  This  is  why  the  Commission  believes  that  administrative  and  good 
governance  principles  need  to  be  put  in  place  when  the  European  standardisation  organisations  act 
upon  European  standardisation  requests  and  develop  standards  used  to  show  compliance  with  rules 
imposed in the interest of EU citizens.  

Therefore, the Commission presents today a proposal for a Regulation amending Regulation (EU) No 
1025/2012. This prescribes that to be eligible for standardisation requests from the Commission,  the 
delegates  of  the  national  standardisation  bodies  of  the  EU  and  the  EEA  must  be  the  ones  with  the 
decision-making power in each stage of the development of a standard requested by the Commission. 
Through  a  balanced  representation  that  includes  societal  stakeholders  in  national  standardisation 
bodies, this will enhance the openness, transparency and inclusiveness of the process.  

SMEs are important drivers of innovation and users of standards. However, their access to standard 
development  processes  and  to  standards  needs  to  be  improved.  Article  6  of  Regulation  (EU)  No 
1025/2012  foresees  more  SME-friendly  conditions  (free  access  to  draft  standards,  access  to  the 
activities of national standardisation bodies, applying special rates to standards, etc.).  

With this in mind, to complement the amendment of Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012, the Commission 
calls on the ESOs to make proposals by the end of 2022 to modernise their governance. This should 
include  addressing uneven  and intransparent  representation of industrial interests and increasing the 
involvement of SMEs, civil society and users. The ESOs should also consider free access to standards 
and  other  deliverables.  The  Commission  stands  ready  to  engage  with  the  ESOs  in  a  constructive 
dialogue using the existing fora to assist them in achieving this objective. If insufficient progress is 
made,  the  Commission  will  consider  proposing  a  revision  of  Regulation  (EU)  No  1025/2012,  as 
necessary. The Commission will launch an evaluation of Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012 in Q2 2022. 

More  can  be  done  at  national  level  to  improve  the  access  to  standardisation  development  and 
standards  themselves.  Therefore,  the  Commission  will  launch  a  peer  review  process  between  EU 
Member States and national standardisation bodies to exchange good practices and foster new ideas 
on how to facilitate SME-friendly conditions and the involvement of civil society and users across the 
Union. In addition, the Commission will leverage existing networks – including the Enterprise Europe 
Network (EEN), to reach a broader SMEs audience and organise trainings, information sessions and 
guiding material. 

6 Judgement of the Court of 27 October 2016, C-613/14, ECLI:EU:C:2016:821. .  

4 

 
                                                           
Recent legislation7 and Commission proposals8 provide for a Commission power to adopt technical or 
common  specifications  via  implementing  acts  in  specific  cases.  Given  the  role  of  harmonised 
standards in EU harmonisation legislation, this option has been integrated as a fallback solution, so as 
to ensure that the public interest is served where harmonised standards are absent and insufficient. To 
avoid  a  fragmentation  of  sectoral  approaches,  the  Commission  will  work  towards  a  horizontal 
approach  in  terms  of  criteria  and  processes  for  when  and  under  which  conditions  the  Commission 
could be empowered to develop common specifications via implementing acts, in those cases where 
the relevant legislation provides for this. This could, for example, be the case when standards are late 
or  the  process  is  blocked  due  to  a  lack  of  consensus  between  stakeholders.  The  newly  created  EU 
excellence  hub  announced  in  this  strategy  will  provide  the  necessary  technical  expertise  to  develop 
those common specifications. 

The Commission:  
  Presents  a  legislative  proposal  amending  Regulation  (EU)  No  1025/2012,  in  which  it  proposes 
basic criteria that must be adhered to when handling European standardisation requests under Art. 
10 of Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012.  

  Calls  on  the  European  standardisation  organisations  to  make  proposals  by  the  end  of  2022  to 
modernise  their  governance  to  fully  represent  the  public  interest  and  interests  of  SMEs,  civil 
society and users and to facilitate access to standards. 

  Will  launch  the  evaluation  of  Regulation  (EU)  1025/2012  to  assess  whether  it  is  still  fit  for 

purpose. 

  Will launch a peer review process amongst Member States and national standardisation bodies by 
the  end  of  2022  to  achieve  better inclusiveness,  including  of  civil  society  and  users,  and  SME-
friendly conditions for standardisation. 

  Will  develop  a  horizontal  approach  to  the  development  of  technical  or  common  specifications 

through implementing acts under sectoral legislation 

IV.  Global standards-setting: supporting the EU’s leading position as a forerunner in key 

technologies and promoting EU core values 

Traditionally,  the  European  Union  has  had  a  strong  global  footprint  in  international  standardisation 
activities and a good track record in translating international standards to European standards. Today, 
European  experts  and  national standardisation  bodies  remain  important  players,  but  the  geopolitical 
landscape  has  significantly  shifted  in  recent  years:  other  actors  follow  a  much  more  assertive 
approach  to  international  standardisation  than  the  EU  and  have  gained  influence  in  international 
standardisation  committees.  The  EU’s  objective  is  to  shape  international  standards  in  line  with  its 
values and interests, but it is in strong competition to do so.9 

The  EU  and  its  Member  States  must  promote  a  more  strategic  approach  to  international 
standardisation  activities,  namely  in  the  International  Telecommunication  Union  (ITU),  the 
International  Organisation  for  Standardisation  (ISO)  and 
the  International  Electrotechnical 
Commission  (IEC),  but  also  in  other  relevant  global  partnerships,  fora  and  consortia10,  in  order  to 

7 Regulation (EU) 2019/1009 on fertilising products, Regulation (EU) 2017/745 on medical devices, Regulation 
(EU) 2017/746 of the European Parliament  and of the Council of 5 April 2017 on in vitro diagnostic medical 
devices, Directive (EU) 2016/2102 of the European Parliament and of the  Council of 26 October 2016 on the 
accessibility  of  the  websites  and  mobile  applications  of  public  sector  bodies,  and  Regulation  (EU)  2019/881, 
Cybersecurity Act.  
8  Artificial  Intelligence  (COM/2021/206),  Batteries  (COM/2020/798),  Machinery  Products  (COM(2021)202), 
Hydrogen and Gas Market (COM(2021) 804). 
9 See also the analysis in the Commission’s Strategic Foresight Report (2021).  
10 E.g., 3GPP, OneM2M, IETF, IEEE, W3C, OASIS, ECMA International, UN/CEFACT. 

5 

 
 
                                                           
ensure the EU’s global competitiveness, security and open strategic autonomy, as well as the ability of 
the EU to promote its values.  

EU  Member  States,  EU  standardisation  bodies  and  EU  industries  do  not  effectively  coordinate  and 
share resources in support of international standardisation processes and principles of the World Trade 
Organization  (WTO),  such  as  openness,  transparency  and  consensus.  This  has  led  to  a  situation 
whereby  in  sensitive  areas,  like  lithium  batteries,  facial  recognition  or  the  digital  twin,  other  world 
regions  are  taking  the  lead  in  international  technical  committees  promoting  their  technological 
solutions, which are often incompatible with the EU’s values, policies and regulatory framework.  

Coordination between EU Member States, national standardisation bodies and EU stakeholders must 
be  improved  to  strengthen  the  EU’s  voice  in  global  standardisation.  The  EU  excellence  hub  on 
standards  will  monitor  relevant  international  standardisation  activities  and  coordination  will  be 
promoted at a political level through the High-Level Forum as announced in this strategy. 

A  particular  critical  situation  relates  to  internet  standardisation  to  promote  a  free,  open,  accessible, 
inclusive and secure global internet. In recent years, international standardisation on internet protocols 
has become increasingly politicised, at the risk of  limiting the evolution of the global open internet 
and hampering the digitisation process across the world. The Commission will actively address this 
issue: in close coordination with like-minded partners, linking to the work in the G711 and the EU-US 
Technology and Trade Council (TTC), it will work towards increased European presence in relevant 
international fora. The newly established EU excellence hub on standards announced in this strategy 
will support this  work. The  Commission  will  monitor  the  deployment  of  internationally  agreed  key 
internet standards and make this data and related good practices available on an EU internet standards 
monitoring  website.  The  Commission  will  also  propose  possible  policy  measures  to  foster  the 
deployment of key internet standards such as IPv6.12  

The  introduction  of  sustainability  requirements  under  Ecodesign  and  the  forthcoming  Sustainable 
Products Initiative will require the development of standards for the European market. The EU should 
work to promote global adoption of these standards in order to ensure a wider international pursuit of 
the underlying policy goals and secure a competitive advantage for first-mover industries. 

The  Commission  also  monitors  international  standardisation  on  space  traffic  management  and  is 
developing an EU approach, given its direct impact on the safe and sustainable use of outer space and 
the role of space technologies for EU efforts towards technological sovereignty. As part of its Action 
Plan on synergies between civil, defence and space industries13, the Commission, in close cooperation 
with  other  key  stakeholders,  will  present  a  plan  to  promote  the  use  of  existing  hybrid  civil/defence 
standards and take leadership in the development of new standards at international level.  

The  Commission  encourages  EU  Member  States  to  support  the  participation  of  civil  society,  SME 
experts,  trade  unions  and  consumer  representatives  in  international  standardisation  activities.  As 
standards  do not only regulate  the  technical aspect of a product, but can have an impact on people, 
workers and the environment, an inclusive and multi-stakeholder approach can bring important check 
and balances to standards-making.  

The EU’s social, environmental and ethical values are shared with many like-minded global partners. 
In trade agreements concluded by the EU, chapters on technical barriers to trade and good regulatory 
practices  already  play  a  role  in  promoting  EU  standardisation  objectives,  notably  by  fostering  the 
adoption  of  international  standards  by  trading  partners  and  through  cooperation  between  the 
respective standardising bodies. However, there is scope for a more strategic approach in leveraging 

11 Ministerial Declaration G7 Digital and Technology Ministers’ Meeting (28 April 2021) 
12 JOIN(2020) 18 
13 COM(2021) 70 final 

6 

 
                                                           
trade  agreements  and  partnerships  to  support  shared  interests  in  international  standards-setting  with 
key  partners.  Ongoing  discussions  with  the  United  States  on  more  cooperation  and  collaborative 
action  within  the  scope  of  the  Trade  and  Technology  Council  (TTC)  or  future  discussions  on 
standards  in  the  planned  Digital  Partnerships  with  Japan,  the  Republic  of  Korea  and  Singapore  are 
good examples of EU standardisation cooperation with international partners.  

The Commission will continue its dialogue with other countries such as China and explore possible 
areas of cooperation, for example in support of the European Green Deal. To strengthen the economic 
relationship  of  the  Union  with  neighbourhood  countries  and  other  important  partner  regions  like 
Africa or Latin America and the Caribbean, it is necessary to promote and facilitate the adoption of 
European  and  international  standards  by  these  countries,  as  well  as  their  participation  in  standard-
setting.  For  this  purpose,  the  Commission  will  develop  initiatives,  including  building  on  existing 
partnerships  and  cooperation  projects  between  the  European  Standardisation  Organisations  and 
standardisation bodies in third countries. It will also leverage the Global Gateway strategy to promote 
these standards through its infrastructure financing activities14. The role of international research and 
innovation cooperation is equally important to promote the EU’s leading role as a global standards-
setter. 

The Commission will:  
  Set up a mechanism with EU Member States and national standardisation bodies to monitor, share 
information,  coordinate  and  strengthen  the  European  approach  to  international  standardisation 
(ISO,  IEC,  ITU  and  other  relevant  international  fora),  supported  by  the  EU  Excellence  Hub  on 
Standards.;  

  Foster the development and deployment of international standards for a free, open, accessible and 

secure global internet and establish an EU internet standards monitoring website.  

  Monitor  the  effective  implementation  of  existing  commitments  on  standardisation  in  EU  trade 
agreements  and  use  such  trade  agreements,  as  well  as  regulatory  dialogues  and  digital 
partnerships,  to  cooperate  on  standardisation  with  like-minded  partners  in  strategic  areas  and 
coordinate positions in international standardisation bodies.  

  Promote international cooperation on standardisation and EU standards with the Neighbourhood, 
Development  and  International  Cooperation  Instrument  –  Global  Europe  (NDICI-GE)  and 
Horizon  Europe,  also  with  a  view  to  support  stakeholder  participation  in  international 
standardisation (SMEs, civil society, academics). 

  Fund standardisation projects in selected African countries as part of its development cooperation 
policy and the Global Gateway. The EU will promote key European standards in partner countries 
with accession perspectives/closer integration with the EU’s internal market, starting in the EU’s 
Neighbourhoods. 

V.  Cutting-edge innovation that fosters timely standards 

EU  standardisation  leadership  depends  on  the  innovation  capacity  of  its  industrial  ecosystems.  EU 
research, development and innovation (R&D&I) projects allow new technologies to enter into a more 
mature  phase,  favouring  their  applicability  on  a  larger  scale  and  promoting  their  market  uptake. 
Therefore, Europe’s R&I base, including via Horizon Europe and its predecessor programmes, needs 
to be exploited more in identifying and transferring relevant research for new standards. 

There is untapped potential in EU-funded pre-normative research in support of standardisation needs. 
Proper  resource  allocation  to  pre-normative  research  can  help  ensure  that  Europe  takes  the  lead  in 
international  standardisation  processes.  The  Commission’s  annual  ‘foresight  on  standardisation’ 
action under the Putting (more) Science into Standards (PSIS) initiative, in cooperation with CEN and 
CENELEC, is an important exercise to identify future standardisation opportunities early on and build 
important bridges between the research, innovator and standardiser communities. 

14 JOIN(2021) 30. 

7 

 
 
                                                           
Horizon Europe  and the Euratom Research and Training  (Euratom R&T)  programme, including via 
their direct actions and partnerships, such as Joint Undertakings and the Digital Europe Programme, 
as well as the ERA common industrial technology roadmaps, play an important role. They anticipate 
standardisation  needs  and  link  strategic  priorities  with  pre-normative  research.  This  is  why  the 
evaluation and review process of EU funded R&D&I projects already considers standardisation needs, 
for example as part of Key Performance Indicators and reporting obligations.  

The  Commission  will  assess  how  to  better  support  researchers  and  innovators  participating  in  EU 
funded  R&D&I  projects  to  take  part  in  relevant  standardisation  activities.  It  will  launch  the 
‘Standardisation Booster’, a platform to help beneficiaries, whose Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe 
research results are likely to lead to the revision or creation of a standard, to test the relevance of their 
results  for  standardisation.  Engaging  the  research  and  innovation  community  early  on  in  standards 
development  also  provides  an  opportunity  to  build  expertise  and  skills  in  standardisation.  Today, 
researchers,  spin-offs  and  start-ups  often  do  not  consider  standardisation  as  a  priority:  they  are  not 
always  aware  of  the  benefits  of  standardisation,  they  do  not  have  the  necessary  resources  or  they 
consider  that  time  spent  on  standardisation  activities  is  not  sufficiently  rewarded.  A  consistent 
approach to  facilitate  standardisation  activities  and raise  strategic  awareness among  researchers  and 
innovators  will  be  promoted  by  a  dedicated  European  Code  of  Practice  for  researchers  on 
standardisation. 

Beyond R&D&I, successful uptake of standards directly depends on how quickly lead markets can be 
established  across  the  Union.  Building  critical  mass  for  early  deployment  of  technologies  like 
connected  cars,  intelligent  factories,  digital  healthcare  systems  creates  European  momentum  that 
supports EU leadership in these areas. In that context, deployment programmes like  the Connecting 
Europe  Facility  (CEF)  and  Digital  Europe  Programme  (DEP)  are  critical  for  industrial  capacity 
building around global standards in Europe, and their role should be reinforced in the future.  

The  standards  of  the  future  should  move  from  texts  to  machine-readable  formats,  which  are  more 
user-friendly, in particular for SMEs. The Commission will support this transition. In addition, it will 
call  upon  European  standardisation  organisations  to  integrate  open  source  solutions  into  their 
activities,  which  can  provide  SMEs  with  quick  inter-operability  solutions  in  the  uptake  of 
technological solutions. 

The Commission will:  
  Launch  the  ‘Standardisation  Booster’  to  support  researchers  under  Horizon  2020  and  Horizon 

Europe to test the relevance of their results for standardisation. 

  Develop  a  Code  of  Practice  for  researchers  on  standardisation  to  strengthen  the  link  between 
standardisation  and  research/innovation  through  the  European  Research  Area  (ERA),  by  mid-
2022. 

VI. 

Ensuring future standardisation expertise – the need for education and skills 

The use of standards is growing, the importance of standardisation for the competitiveness and public 
good  is  undisputed,  but  the  general  awareness  and  training  on  standardisation  is  comparably  small. 
There  is  no  formal  education  nor  vocational  training  on  standardisation.  Many  EU  companies  – 
whether  large  or  small  –  lack  a  structured  and  strategic  approach  to  standardisation  capturing  its 
relevance for various economic operations, whether it is legal compliance, market access or general 
business strategy.  

This  is  worrying  and  reflected  in  the  overall  difficulty  to  recruit  technical  experts  for  the 
standardisation  development  work.  The  success  of  the  European  standardisation  system  rests  on  a 
plethora of experts from industry, public administrations, civil society, research or academia to deliver 
on  all  the  critical  aspects  of  standards  development.  It  is  largely  thanks  to  the  investment  of 
companies,  universities,  research  institutions  and  public  administrations  that  the  European 

8 

 
 
standardisation  system  has  been  successful.  Europe  needs  the  best  standardisation  experts  to 
successfully pursue its global ambitions and support a digital, green and resilient single market. 

The problem is aggravated by an upcoming generation change. Many of the experts, who worked on 
standardisation  in  the  last  decades,  will  retire.  At  the  same  time,  the  standardisation  landscape 
becomes  more  complex:  new  technology  challenges  and  horizontal  considerations  –  like  artificial 
intelligence,  data  protection  or  cybersecurity  –  will  require  new  skills  in  the  development  of 
standards. The standardisation activities are layered across different levels, with initiatives in national, 
European and international organisations informing standardisation trends and uptake.  

In education, the development of  dedicated standardisation modules  in business, law or engineering 
degrees  can  be  an  important  impetus  to  broaden  standardisation  awareness  and  knowledge.  The 
Commission will promote the organisation of Standardisation University Days for awareness among 
academics  and  students.  Platforms  between  academics  active 
the 
Commission’s  EU  Academy15,  can  provide  a  forum  of  exchange  and  stimulation  for  developing 
teaching modules.  

in  standardisation, 

like 

More  outreach  within  regions  and  clusters  can  be  effective  levers  to  promote  standardisation 
knowledge  and  encourage  the  development  of  standardisation  expertise  through  vocational  and 
education  training  (VET).  There  is  potential  in  pre-normative  activities  within  EU  funding 
programmes,  where  researchers  gain  important  knowledge  that  could  contribute  to  standard 
development. So far, there have been no initiatives to valorise such expertise amongst researchers and 
the Commission will start by exploring a dedicated research network on standards in the scope of the 
Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) actions. 

The Commission will:  
  Organise  Standardisation  University  Days  to  promote  standardisation  awareness  among 

academics and students. 

  Deploy  initiatives  for  young  researchers  and  networks  from  Horizon  Europe  and  the  Euratom 
Research  and  Training  programme,  including  the  COST  Association,  for  the  valorisation  of 
research and innovation through standardisation and pre-normative research. 

  Use the Commission’s EU Academy platform for the dissemination of standardisation e-learning 
training  material;  promote  the  development  and  dissemination  of  standardisation  academic 
teaching  modules  within  the  High-Level  Forum  to  attract  and  train  young  professional  in 
standardisation and promote re-skilling opportunities.  

VII. 

The way ahead – future of the European standardisation system  

Standards  are  not  a  purpose  in  itself.  They  are  embedded  in  policy  objectives  geared  towards 
industrial  competitiveness,  free  movement  of  goods and  services  in  the internal  market,  innovation, 
safety,  consumer,  worker  and  environmental  protection  as  well  as  open  strategic  autonomy  and  a 
climate-neutral, resilient and circular economy. It is therefore of paramount importance to ensure the 
usability, effectiveness and usefulness of standards along industrial value chains, including SMEs and 
societal actors. 

The  EU  has  the  potential  to  be  the  first-mover  vanguard  and  lead  international  standards-setting, 
leveraging its cooperation with other like-minded international partners, in particular with regard to 
future technology areas of strategic interest. Therefore, the Commission is committed to making the 
European standardisation system more functional and agile, to deliver on the standards that make our 
industries more competitive, serve the EU’s public interest, promote sustainability, and preserve and 
reinforce democratic values.  

15 https://academy.europa.eu/ 

9 

 
 
                                                           
Transparency  in  the  standards  making  process  will  contribute  to  removing  bottlenecks  in  the 
standards-development  process  and  making  the  European  standardisation  system  more  efficient. 
Transparency will also allow public and private actors to have a better grasp of the current gaps and 
future needs of standards.  

The  engagement  and  regular  contribution  of  all  relevant  actors  –  including  the  inter-institutional 
partners,  European  standardisation  organisations,  civil  society,  industry  and  academia  –  and  the 
effectiveness of checks and balances  will be critical for the success of the European standardisation 
system. 

With  this  strategy,  the  Commission  underpins  the  EU’s  role  as  a  global  frontrunner  in  the 
development of standards, supporting EU values and providing industries with a competitive edge. 

The Commission will:  

  Publish along with the Annual Union Work Programme and the ICT Standardisation Rolling 
Plan on European standardisation an annual dashboard on the planned, current and completed 
standardisation activities for more transparency in the European standardisation system. 

10