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# 52011SC1600

**COMMISSION STAFF WORKING PAPER The Environmental Technology Verification (ETV) initiativeHelping Eco-Innovations to reach the Market /\* SEC/2011/1600 final - \*/**

  

Disclaimer: This document is a European
Commission staff working document and is for information only. It is not a
statement of the Commission's current or future official position on the
subject it addresses.

Commission Staff Working Paper
The Environmental Technology Verification (ETV) initiative
Helping Eco-Innovations to reach the Market

Europe faces a range of environmental challenges that will impact
on its future prosperity. These include resource depletion, increasing water
scarcity, air pollution, climate change and biodiversity loss. Europe leads on innovation and innovative environmental technologies can provide solutions while
also increasing EU competitiveness. Breaking into the market with innovations
can be a significant problem, because innovations by definition cannot show a
successful track-record. Without credible information about innovative
technologies, potential buyers are unsure whether or not to trust the claims
made about their performance.

Environmental Technology
Verification (ETV) addresses that problem. It is an initiative that provides
for third-party verification of the performance claims made by
technology manufacturers in business-to-business relations. By issuing a Statement
of Verification, which is the product of a successful ETV process, ETV
provides credible information on the new technology. Market access for
innovative environmental technologies is significantly enhanced and the
technological risk for technology purchasers (whether private or public)
reduced. The information contained in the Statement of Verification
summarises the actual performance of the verified technology as well as the
results of the tests performed. With proof of performance credibly assured,
along with information about the design of the tests, innovations can expect a
larger market share.

European Commission services, together with seven Member
States[1], intend
to launch a pilot ETV programme covering three technology fields: (1) water
treatment and monitoring, (2) energy technologies, (3) materials, waste and
resources. The ETV pilot programme is to be implemented by Verification Bodies specifically
accredited for this purpose by national accreditation bodies in the Member
States concerned.  Verification Bodies act, effectively, as a one-stop-shop for
companies using ETV.

Although supported by some EU-funded 'seed money' to set the
system going, the medium- to long-term expectation is for any eventual EU ETV
scheme to be completely self-standing, with little or no Commission
involvement. The Verification Bodies – which are at the heart of the ETV pilot
initiative – will initially be supported by the EU budget, with an annual
amount of €1 million programmed from 2011 to 2013. This funding will be used to
set-up the structures and activities necessary to implement ETV; and as a
preliminary market support action, to facilitate the ETV access for Small and
Medium-sized Enterprises.

In parallel to the ETV pre-programme, the Commission has
commissioned a study to assess in detail the market potential of, and demand
for, an EU ETV system. The study looks at the market potential of ETV in
different technology areas (not only the three areas where the pilot programme
is implemented) and in various EU markets. It examines a series of technology
applications where ETV could be expected to have a significant added value and
estimates the potential demand for ETV as well as the readiness of relevant
actors to contribute financially.

Despite strong suggestions of the added value of an ETV
scheme coming from the wide consultation and involvement of stakeholders so
far, no commitment to an EU ETV scheme is implied at this stage. Results from the
ETV pilot programme and the market assessment study will need to be analysed
before the Commission can consider the way forward and make proposals, if
appropriate, on environmental technology verification in the EU.

1.
What is Environmental Technology Verification (ETV)?

The
aim of ETV is to provide reliable information on the performance of new eco-technologies,
to make market penetration and market awareness of the product easier.  Purchasers
and investors should be credibly informed about the performance of the
innovation.  ETV would reduce the risk that potentially very useful
environmental innovations, which offer significant benefits in terms of EU environmental
performance, will otherwise never reach the market.

Environmental
technologies cover many areas. They include technologies to prevent or deal
with pollution, to enable energy and resources to be used more efficiently, to
provide more environmentally-friendly goods and services. The performance of
these technologies is understood as the results obtained in relation to their
objective – e.g. the rate at which a new water treatment technology purifies
water. Their impact on the environment and health – for example, the lower emission
of pollutants from a new production process – would also be assessed under ETV.

ETV would
verify, through qualified third-parties and transparent procedures, that
performance claims are based on complete, fair and reliable test data. This would
benefit all parties:

· The technology developer
can show reliable data proving the value of the innovative technology,

· Technology buyers and
investors have reliable information on which to base their purchasing decisions
and to better manage technological risk,

· Other stakeholders, public
policy-makers or regulators have clear indications of the performance
achievable by new technologies.

The ETV process would not
entail repeating the tests already carried out: test data of good quality may
be taken into account and help save time and cost. Key aspects under ETV are
that performance parameters are completely and correctly defined and that test
data are reliably established. For example, the Verification Body would ensure
that operational conditions are clear, that no important impact has been
missed, that parameters are verifiable and that the tests are performed under
good quality systems.

The added value of ETV
lies in the quality, credibility and comparability of the 'Statement of
Verification', which is the result of a successful verification process.
The complete verification report and the 'Statement of Verification' are
intended for use in business-to-business relations. This is not a product certificate
in the sense that there is no control that a series of products conform to
given specifications. ETV is not a label either: each Statement is specific to
one technology; there are no pre-defined labelling criteria.

ETV Statements of
Verification would be registered and published on a public website,
allowing stakeholders to check references relating to ETV verifications and to access
a reliable source of comparable data on environmental technologies. The
publication of the complete verification reports would be encouraged, but the
decision whether or not to publish would be left to technology manufacturers (e.g.
to protect intellectual property).

Verifying the performance
of a technology under ETV is just one step in a process leading from research and
development to market penetration and diffusion. It is therefore essential that
ETV is undertaken at the right moment in this process.

To
be ready for ETV, the technology should be ready for the market, i.e. once all major
developments affecting the performance have been concluded. When there is a
demonstration project or test campaign planned, verification under ETV would
normally add only a marginal cost in exchange for a significant benefit in
terms of added credibility.

ETV is particularly
advisable where there is no technical standard or certification system
available to prove the performance of the technology concerned, or where the
innovative features are not adequately reflected by the existing standards.

2.
Why an EU ETV pilot programme?

ETV
programmes have been implemented for one and half decades in North America (US
and Canada) and for half a decade in East Asia (Japan, Korea, the Philippines). In Europe, several research and pilot projects have been funded by the EU
Framework-Programme for Research and Technological Development, by the Nordic
Innovation Council and by several Member States (Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands)[2]. The EU pilot programme builds on these
different programmes and projects.

The
EU pilot programme would enable a large-scale experiment of ETV in near-real
conditions. The main elements of a voluntary EU ETV scheme are to be tested
through the pilot programme, although the pilot programme would not be on the
full scale, either geographically and regarding the technological scope, that
would be expected under the definitive scheme. The aspects of the pilot
programme which will be evaluated in particular are the following:

· Practicality and
robustness of procedures: accreditation of Verification Bodies, co-ordination
through technical working groups, solution of disputes between proposers and
operators;

· Value added of the pilot
programme:
response to the potential demand for ETV, value added for technology developers
and users, response to policy objectives;

· Cost-benefit of the pilot
programme, accessibility for SMEs: capacity of the pilot programme to become
self-sustainable, capacity of interested SMEs to meet the costs or to find
appropriate support to use ETV.

Verification
Bodies will be requested to collect the basic information necessary to enable
the evaluation of the pilot programme, as part of the funding agreements to be
concluded with the Commission.

Indirect
benefits may also be expected from ETV in the medium- to long-term, such as the
facilitation of international technology exchanges through the international
recognition of ETV verifications and the progressive emerging of an
eco-innovation market place, promoting competition based on performance and
facilitating the greening of public procurement.

3.
Scope of the pilot programme
3.1.
Initial scope

The
ETV pilot programme is open to all market-ready technologies that demonstrate a
potential for innovation and are of benefit to the environment. The scope of
the technology areas to be covered by the ETV pilot programme is initially
limited to the following three areas:

(1)
Water
treatment and monitoring (monitoring of water quality, treatment of drinking water
and of waste water)

(2)
Materials,
waste and resources (separation and sorting of solid waste, recycling of
materials, end-of-life products and chemicals, products from biomass)

(3)
Energy
technologies (renewable sources of energy, energy from waste, energy efficiency
technologies)

3.2.
Scope for further development

The scope may be extended
to cover further technology areas in the future, depending on demand,
availability of testing organisations and protocols, and administrative
capacity of the pilot programme itself. In addition to the three technology
areas above, the following areas are to be considered for possible inclusion.
For that reason, they are included within the scope of the market assessment
study run in parallel to the ETV pilot programme.

(4)
Soil
and groundwater monitoring and remediation (monitoring of soil pollution, of
groundwater, remediation in-situ, depollution of sediments and sludge)

(5)
Clean
production and processes (savings in material resources, energy efficiency in
industry and buildings, prevention and reduction of industrial pollution and
waste)

(6)
Environmental
technologies in agriculture (abatement of air and water pollution, including odours,
re-use or recycling of nutrients and organic waste, reduction of pesticide use)

(7)
Air
pollution monitoring and abatement (air emissions monitoring, abatement of pollution carried
out within stationary installations)

If
successful, the ETV approach could also be applied to other technological
fields, within or beyond the field of environmental technologies, possibly
integrating other aspects than environment, for example in the health and
social fields. As long as these aspects can be quantified and verified through
testing, they could be verified following the same approach. This would lead to
new types of technical information, alongside technical standards and
labelling, for the benefit of technology developers, purchasers and policy-makers. 
Better-informed choices will be more cost-beneficial. Any wider application of
ETV would however need to be specifically assessed.

4.
ETV Procedure for individual verifications

Environmental
technologies submitted to the ETV pilot programme for verification would
undergo the following process, which is performed by a Verification Body accredited
for this purpose and competent for specific groups of technologies. When
further tests are needed – e.g. when the Verification Body finds that the test
data in support of the claims are not sufficiently robust – a testing body
is designated by the technology manufacturer to carry out further tests.

The
organisation of the ETV pilot programme is further detailed in Annex II.

5.
ETV position among other EU policies

The
Environmental Technology Verification initiative was prepared under the Environmental
Technologies Action Plan[3] (ETAP)
and fulfils a commitment taken under the Action Plan on Sustainable
Consumption and Production and Sustainable Industrial Policy (SCP-SIP)[4]. The latter sought to promote initiatives
aimed at increasing the uptake of resource-efficient and eco-innovative
production.

The
ETV initiative is fully in line with the approach of the EU 2020 strategy
for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth, in particular with the
objectives of

· Developing an EU economy
based on knowledge and innovation,

· Promoting a more resource
efficient, greener and more competitive economy.

The
ETV initiative also complements (and may facilitate or support the
implementation of) several voluntary schemes and legislation at EU level:

– ETV is concerned with
industrial products and processes and should provide information for use in business-to-business
relations; this is complementary to eco-labels, which relate to
consumer products and aim to identify greener products based on agreed
criteria;

– ETV is not about
defining minimum requirements, but about ensuring the credibility of
performance claims put forward by a producer, going beyond minimum requirements
where they exist; in particular, the Eco-Design Directive on Energy-using
Products and the Energy Labelling Directive define mandatory
criteria on the design of products and on the information to be provided by the
producer; ETV will not overlap with the information collected under these
Directives;

– Statements of
Verification issued under ETV  are specific to the verified technologies;
they might however be used to facilitate the definition and verification of
participants' commitments under environmental management systems such as the EU
Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS), which have by nature a larger
scope than ETV;

– The EU Industrial
Emissions Directive (IED, former IPPC) relates to permitting procedures
under which Member States define the obligations of some production plants in
terms of emission limits. The Best Available Techniques defined in this
context refer largely to technologies already in use, for which a track record
on environmental performance already exists. By addressing innovative
technologies arriving on the market, ETV is complementary to this process and could
add value, as verified technologies could more easily be taken into account.

6.
Cost of verification and the funding of the ETV pilot
programme
6.1.
Cost of verification

The costs
of verification under ETV can vary considerably depending on the technology concerned
and the quality of existing data. The DANETV verification centre has been
active in 5 technology areas since 2009 and uses procedures close to the EU
pre-programme. Based on 21 verifications finalised in 2009-2010, the average
cost for the testing and verification of technologies was €53,000[5], of which €28,000 was attributable to the
verification procedures per se.

Feedback
from public consultations and stakeholder workshops indicated that these costs
may be an obstacle to participation, particularly in the case of small and
medium-sized technology companies. In order to facilitate their access, the
fixed costs of the pilot programme are to be indirectly supported by the EU
budget, the aim being to limit the average total contribution by participating
Small and Medium-size Enterprises to no more than around €20 000. This
issue of SME participation will be looked at when the results of the pilot
programme are evaluated.

Companies
can reduce verification costs by integrating ETV early in their technology development
process. Technology manufacturers typically have a full-scale demonstration or
prototype roll-out undertaken before the marketing of new technologies. By organising
at the same time the third-party testing of the technologies, they can collect test
data in advance of the ETV procedure. To fulfil the quality requirements of
ETV, a complete verification procedure under ETV could be discussed at this
stage with a Verification Body. Any additional cost due to the ETV requirements
on data and data quality are then likely to be minimal, and the cost of additional
verification tests during the ETV process might then be avoided.

6.2.
Funding of the ETV pilot programme

The
costs related to the co-ordination of the pre-programme (meetings of the ETV
Steering Group and technical groups, studies and external expertise, general information
on the pre-programme) are to be covered by the EU budget (administrative budget
and operational expenditure under LIFE+) following usual annual budget
procedures.

In
addition, to facilitate the launch of the ETV pilot programme, a call for
proposals will be launched in 2011 under the EU Competitiveness and Innovation
Programme (CIP) with a budget of €1 million[6].
Amounts of €1 million are also programmed under CIP for ETV in 2012 and 2013,
subject to the approval procedure of annual work programmes for these years. The
2011 call should be open to Verification Bodies already accredited under ETV
and it should select proposals for new activities enabling Verification Bodies
to:

Ø
Participate
actively in the setting-up of the ETV pre-programme by implementing ETV
procedures within their technical area, including by participating in relevant
technical groups;

Ø
Facilitate
access to verification procedures under ETV for Small and Medium-sized
Enterprises by providing specific technical assistance during ETV processes.

In addition, Verification Bodies are asked to set up
and maintain a Quality Management System, ensuring a high level of quality and
reliability for ETV procedures and products, and to report on the
implementation of ETV, providing indicators that will help the evaluation of
the ETV pilot programme. Only the extra costs necessary to implement
verifications under the ETV pilot programme can be eligible for support in the
context of this call. Furthermore, grants cannot be the source of profits for
verification bodies for the duration of the grant agreement.

After
evaluation of the responses to the call for proposals, Partnership Framework
Agreements should be concluded with successful applicants for a duration of
three years, with grant agreements being concluded on an annual basis in order
for the Commission to retain the option of tailoring the level of grants to the
actual conditions of implementation. The level of grants will take into account
the technology scope covered by Verification Bodies, the estimated number of
technologies to be verified and the number of SMEs to benefit from their
assistance.

By
off-setting partially the 'fixed costs' of the system, it is expected that the
grant agreements with Verification Bodies will indirectly reduce the final cost
for technology developers.

6.3.
Possibilities of direct support

Several
of the participating Member States have funds available for the promotion of
innovation, having recognised the importance of supporting technologies that
can help generate employment and economic growth.

Direct
support to technology manufacturers, in particular SMEs, for verifications
under ETV could therefore be sought through larger funding programmes, at EU
and Member State level:

–  Verification
under ETV could be included as part of the final stage in projects supported by
research funding aimed at developing environmental technologies to the point
where they are ready for the market;

–  Under
EU programmes such as LIFE+ and CIP  eco-innovation, ETV procedures could be
integrated into larger projects including, for example, industrial investments,
industry-research partnerships or prototypes;

–  A
number of SME-support schemes in Member States include support to product
certification, authorisation procedures or marketing of new products and
services. A study commissioned by the Commission in 2009 concluded that many of
these schemes could cover support to individual verifications under ETV with
little or no modification to their policies.

In
the selection process of projects integrating ETV activities, under EU
programmes, particular attention will be given to the risk of double-funding.

Where
Member States wish to compensate manufacturers for part of the verification
costs with subsidies which may constitute state aid within the meaning of
Article 107(1) of the EC Treaty, they are reminded of the obligation to comply
with State aid rules. In particular the provisions of the General Block
Exemption Regulation (GBER) or of the de minimis rule may be applicable
for such aid.

7.
Conclusion

By
enhancing the quality and reliability of information on the performance of new
environmental technologies arriving on the market, ETV should increasingly
contribute to the deployment of eco-efficient innovation, generating further
investment in environment-related technologies and industries within the EU and
enhancing competitive advantage. Together with the other policy measures
planned in the context of eco-innovation, this should ultimately improve the
cost-effectiveness of environment protection measures and generate more jobs.

ETV programmes have been in place in the US and Canada for more than a decade and are expanding elsewhere, e.g. in Asia. The Commission
services participate in an informal International Working Group (IWG-ETV) aimed
at preparing the ground for the harmonisation and mutual recognition of ETV
programmes globally[7]. The
feasibility of an ISO or ISO-CEN standard on ETV is being explored by the
IWG-ETV. The experience gathered under the EU ETV pilot programme should further
influence any harmonised approach on ETV.

The results of the ETV pilot programme will be
evaluated by the Commission services after two to three years of actual
operations. On the basis of this evaluation and the study on the market
potential of ETV, the Commission will draw conclusions on the potential of ETV in
Europe and on the best way to mobilise it.

 Annex
I
Preparatory actions

The
ETV initiative is based on several studies, pilot projects and research which
explored the problems encountered by new eco-technologies, as a preliminary to
refining the concept of environmental technology verification. Verification
protocols in specific technology fields served to test ETV in real cases. In
total, some 35 technologies have been verified during this initial phase of the
ETV initiative. The scene is now set to further validate and implement the
concept of ETV in a wider context under fully realistic conditions, as a
stepping-stone towards a potential EU-wide scheme.

Supporting
projects and studies

In
2007, the Commission's Joint Research Centre Institute for Prospective
Technological Studies ('IPTS') published a report analysing various aspects
of existing ETV systems outside the EU – notably the USA and Canada. The report also looked at the feasibility of establishing ETV in Europe and it provided a
basis for the preparation of a Commission ETV initiative. In 2008, another IPTS
report on the costs of ETV systems, and a separate study looking at EU Member
States' funding schemes for technology verification in the context of
development of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises, provided input on costing
and funding aspects of ETV.

Between
2004 and 2009, four EU-funded research projects[8]
developed generic testing protocols for specific technology areas: water
treatment, soil and ground-water protection and rehabilitation, air emissions
abatement technologies, clean production and environmental monitoring.

In
addition, the pilot project TRITECH – funded under the LIFE[9] instrument in 2006-2009 – tested an operational
procedure for technology verification in real conditions for 15 cases in three
technology areas: water, soil and energy.

One
further research project was selected under the 7th Framework
Programme and began in 2009. It supports the ETV initiative by facilitating the
integration of earlier research project results into the ETV pilot programme.
The specific aim is to promote international harmonisation and mutual
recognition between various countries' ETV systems.

Some
EU Member States also implemented pilot projects on ETV: the project of the
Nordic Innovation Council on Water Technology Verification Centres (NOWATECH)[10], the DanETV center on 5 different
technology areas[11] and
the VERA project on Verification of environmental technologies for agricultural
production[12]. Some
private initiatives also inspired ETV, such as the programmes of instruments
evaluation run by associations of industrial users[13].

Public
consultations

Two
internet-based consultations (between November 2007 and March 2008), attracting
470 responses in total[14], and
several expert workshops also contributed to the preparation of the ETV
initiative. The main lessons drawn from the consultations were the following:

·
Clear
need for ETV: 83% of respondents to the general consultation and 64% of respondents
to the EBTP consultation considered that there was a 'clear' or 'important'
need to promote and organise third-party verification of technology
performance. The first objective of the system should be to 'help technology
purchasers (public or private) base their purchase decision on reliable
information' (31% of respondents);

·
There
is overall support for having a scheme organised by EU institutions
(51% of respondents), based on performance claims, on a voluntary basis and
using test data provided by technology developers, with additional tests if
needed (71% of respondents considered this 'appropriate' or 'very
appropriate');

·
The technology
areas envisaged in the consultations for the beginning of the scheme
(monitoring techniques, water, energy, air and clean technologies) were
considered appropriate by 67% of respondents to the general consultation;

·
Among
the key characteristics of the scheme, two were considered very
important by stakeholders: credibility and scientific soundness (78% of respondents),
and the recognition of verification results in Europe (64%);

·
Stakeholders
were more hesitant about costing issues: 51% of respondents considered
that the estimates given in the consultation paper (€20,000) could probably not
be met by SMEs without external support, while 42% of respondents to the
general consultation and 20% of respondents to the EBTP consultation considered
that they could be met, if justified by the added value offered by the scheme.

Annex
II
Organisation of the pilot programme

The
ETV 'General Verification Protocol'

Verification
Bodies, testing bodies and analytical laboratories follow the provisions laid
out in the ETV General Verification Protocol ('GVP'), which is in fact a
set of general instructions for the verification of individual technologies. This
includes the qualification of organisations implementing ETV procedures and the
requirements regarding the quality of test data acceptable under ETV. The GVP
ensures that the procedures followed and the outcomes from the pilot programme
are of adequate quality and are both credible and reliable.

The GVP used under the ETV pilot programme has been
elaborated by experts and stakeholders in the framework of the EU research
project AdvanceETV and reviewed by the EU Member States participating in
the pilot programme, represented in an ETV Steering Group.

The
GVP should be the main technical reference for the implementation of ETV
procedures and co-ordination at the European level. Where appropriate, it
refers to relevant existing standards. It is used by the existing national
accreditation bodies, in addition to the standard for inspection bodies
ISO/IEC 17020, for the accreditation of Verification Bodies under the
co-ordination of the over-arching body, European co-operation for
Accreditation. The organisation of accreditation under ETV follows the same
patterns as the "New Legal Framework" for the certification of products
in the internal market[15].

The
GVP includes provisions on the quality management systems that all
organisations involved in verification under ETV should have in place, thus
further ensuring the robustness of ETV procedures. In addition, analytical
laboratory[16]
should be accredited against the standard for laboratories ISO 17025.

Provisions
on specific verification protocols refer to key environmental factors, to be
identified in a life-cycle perspective and taken into account when defining the
verification parameters. This ensures that crucial environmental aspects are
not missed in individual procedures (for example energy aspects when verifying
a water treatment technology).

The characteristics of the ETV pilot programme – both
its organisation and quality requirements – have been designed to ensure a
satisfactory balance between:

·
credibility,
quality and robustness of ETV procedures,

· flexibility, with maximum
choice left to the proposer, notably as to the choice of test body, bearing in
mind variation in test costs and the possibility of selecting a test body
located close to the proposer, for practical and/or linguistic reasons.

Technical
groups

Verification bodies are represented in technical
groups, which are co-ordinated at EU level and are responsible for
harmonising the specific procedures followed for each technology area, ensuring
coherence and comparability of results within the ETV system overall. The
technical groups issue guidance to Verification Bodies for this purpose. They have
a role in refining the technology scope of ETV within their technology area (i.e.
the range of actual technologies to be covered). Technical groups will need to take
account of the opinion of technology users and other stakeholders with regard
to ETV procedures, and they can give an opinion in case of conflict between a
Verification Body and a proposer.

Annex
III
Indicative implementation calendar

Starting from the release of this Staff Working Paper, the
following steps are planned for the implementation of the ETV initiative:

·
In
the first month: diffusion of technical documents underpinning the ETV pilot programme
(General Verification Protocol), beginning of accreditation of Verification
Bodies under ETV;

·
In
the second or third month: publication of a call for proposals for Verification
Bodies, under the Competitiveness and Innovation Programme, to support the
launch of the ETV pre-programme;

·
In
the first six months: setting-up of thematic technical groups;

·
In
the first year: conclusion of Framework Partnership Agreements with Verification
Bodies, ETV pre-programme becoming operational;

·
After
2 to 3 years of operations: evaluation of the results of the ETV pre-programme and
decision on the way forward, preparation of related proposals if appropriate,
including ex-ante impact assessment.

[1]       As of October 2010, participating Member States are: Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Poland and the United Kingdom.

[2] See Annex I for more details.

[3]       Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European
Parliament on 'Stimulating Technologies for Sustainable Development: An
Environmental Technologies Action Plan for the European Union', COM(2004) 38
final, 28.1.2004

[4]       Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament,
the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of
the Regions on the Sustainable Consumption and Production and Sustainable
Industrial Policy Action Plan, COM(2008) 397/3, 16.7.2008

[5] Costs for testing and verification ranged between €22,000 and
€94,000.

[6]       2011 Work Programme for CIP – Entrepreneurship and Innovation
sub-Programme – adopted on 18 January 2011 by Commission Decision C(2011) 91.

[7] The Statement of Intent setting up the International Working Group
on ETV, its objectives and modes of operation, was approved by the Commission
by written procedure PE/2008/2354 on 23 May 2008. The members of the IWG are
currently the Canadian, EU, Philippine and US programmes.

[8]    Under the 6th Framework-Programme for Research and
Technological Development (FP6). The results of all ETV related projects are
accessible through the common website: http://www.eu-etv-strategy.eu/

[9]       L'Instrument Financier pour l'Environnement – the
environmental funding facility managed by DG Environment.

[10] See http://www.nordicinnovation.net/

[11] See http://www.etv-denmark.com/danetv/

[12] See http://www.ecoinnovation.dk/English/Topics/Verification\_of\_ecoefficient\_agro\_technologies/

[13] See http://www.exera.com/, http://www.evaluation-international.com/
and http://www.wib.nl/

[14]     The first public consultation, using the Interactive
Policy-Making tool, attracted 139 responses. The second one used the European
Business Test Panel (EBTP), which is a tool allowing the European Commission to
obtain direct feedback from businesses on Commission legislative proposals or
initiatives likely to have an impact on businesses. The EBTP is composed of
around 3 600 companies of different sizes and sectors located in all EU
Member States. The EBTP consultation on ETV attracted 371 replies, of which 331
complete responses.

[15]     See Decision 768/2008/EC of the European Parliament and of the
Council of 9 July 2008 on a common framework for the marketing of products and
Regulation (EC) 765/2008 setting out the requirements for accreditation and
market surveillance relating to the marketing of products. In particular, the
requirements of the ETV General Verification Protocol on the qualifications of
Verification Bodies build on the requirements relating to notified bodies under
Decision 768/2008/EC, Article R17.

[16]     Analytical laboratories are distinguished from other test
bodies when they implement analytical work, for example to measure chemical
compounds in water or air samples, because such activities follows highly
standardised and quality-controlled procedures, independent from the products
or processes at the origin of the analysed samples, whereas technology tests
are by nature dependent on the technologies tested.

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