Source: EURLEX
Language: en
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**?** **I**

**COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES**

Brussels, 24.07.1996

COM(%) 359 final

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION

TO THE COUNCIL **AND** THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

**ON "STANDARDIZATION AND THE GLOBAL INFORMATION SOCIETY**

**THE EUROPEAN APPROACH"**

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION

TO THE COUNCIL AND THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

ON "STANDARDIZATION AND THE GLOBAL INFORMATION SOCIETY :

THE EUROPEAN APPROACH"

Introduction.

I. T H E ROLE OF STANDARDIZATION IN THE ICT MARKET

II. STANDARDS IN A COMPETITIVE ENVIRONMENT

1. The leading role of market players
2. A changing role for formal standardization

III. EUROPEAN STANDARDIZATION POLICY FOR BUILDING THE GLOBAL

INFORMATION SOCIETY

1. Improving global competitiveness
2. Promoting new technical solutions
3. Protecting the public interest
4. Reinforcing international cooperation

IV. T H E ACCEPTANCE AND USE OF PUBLICLY AVAILABLE SPECIFICATIONS IN

COMMUNITY LAW

1. Technical specifications and the New Approach
2. Enhancing specification for public procurement
3. Interoperability and applications for use by authorities

Conclusions

Annex A Research and Technological Development and Demonstration

Annex B Glossary of Abbreviations

**INTRODUCTION**

Standards are not only a technical question. They determine the technology that will
implement the Information Society, and consequently the way in which industry, users,
consumers and administrations will benefit from it. They play an important role in cooperation and competition between companies, are a key element for the effectiveness of
the Single Market and are essential for the competitiveness of European industry.

It is evident that the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) market is
dominated by specifications from the USA. However, most of these specifications are
open in nature, and there is no restriction on their use by European enterprises.
Nonetheless, proximity to those who set standards [1] gives enterprises a competitive
advantage, since they are able to bring their products earlier to market. It is therefore
important that European enterprises become world-class, either in order to become
leaders in the market and to set the standards themselves, or at any rate to cooperate with
them. In this sense, standards cannot compensate for weaknesses in market positions.

Nevertheless, there are some areas in which it is observable that standards have
contributed to European competitiveness in the market place. One example is provided
by the World Wide Web (WWW), which is a European invention, originally by CERN,
but whose further development is now market-driven, and economically widely used in
Internet; and the GSM mobile telephony standard which has led to European leadership
in many parts of the world. One may conclude from this that standards are necessary but
by no means sufficient for competitiveness. The development of appropriate world level
standards will depend on the participation by European industry in international
specification-writing organisations. Thus standards form a vital part of European
industrial competitiveness policy.

The aim of this Communication is to examine how, in the light of the characteristics of
the ICT market and the ICT standards process, the best possible conditions can be created
for the drawing up of standards needed for the implementation of the Information
Society, and to indicate by what means the Community intends to promote those aspects
for which it has a particular responsibility.

**THE** **ROLE OF STANDARDIZATION IN THE ICT MARKET**

Information technology has evolved from stand-alone or closed user systems to a
mass-market product. This has highlighted issues such as the emergence of
networks and the need for components to work together. The ability of products
from different manufacturers to work one with another ("interoperability") is

In customary usage in the information and communications technology field, the term "standard"
is used loosely to denote any technical specification. In the usage of international, European and
national standards bodies, and also in certain Community legislative instruments, the term
"standard" has, by contrast, a specific, defined meaning; it generally indicates the documents
drawn up by a consensus process involving all interested parties, for voluntary application and
whose issue is by a recognised standardization organisation, (liven the defined legal definition of
standards in Community law and the link between Community law and "formal" standards, in this
document, the term "standard" should be understood as the standard adopted by a formal
standards institute Other standards will lie referred to as "technical specifications" or "de facto

standards".

I <v

important in the use of many ICT products and services. Standardization is a
voluntary process and retlects the dynamics of the market. For products with
short life cycles and immediate economic profits the market will tend to adopt
technical specifications in the framework of consortia or use _de facto_ standards; in
other cases, the market will prefer to adopt formal standards, for instance in the
case of large-scale investment, or with a view to adopting international standards.

Standards have to follow the life-cycles of products or services, but since ICT
product cycle times are short and becoming shorter, standards adopted following
traditional procedures often prove inappropriate because of the lengthy
procedures involved in their elaboration. In some areas, however, such as the
development of basic telecommunications infrastructures, technical specifications
need to have long-term stability and will constitute a guarantee that will allow
users confidently to make the large investments that are needed. In
telecommunications, the market tends to be fragmented because of national
telecommunications monopolies, residual or continued national regulation, and
different national implementations of similar technical specifications. For the user
to benefit from this new situation, the interconnection of networks of different

operators is critical.

2. ICT markets are likely to show a standardizing process in which a minimal
specification will emerge, followed by the development of a number of competing
technical specifications as the technology becomes more widely used. This
implies that several common technical specifications may emerge in parallel,
followed by a shakeout in which one or possibly two common technical
specifications representing the technology that is dominant in the market are all
that survive. Whilst the ideal standardization process consists of an open
consensus of all those with a market interest in the product being standardized,
followed by the issue of a formal standard, in the ICT area, because of the rapidity
of technological advance, and the advantage to be gained from the control of
dominant specifications, it is not unusual for dominant market players to attempt
to reinforce, by means of technical specifications, their dominant position in the
market place.

3. The role of formal standardization has changed. Because of the time necessary for
its procedures, and the constraints of consensus, formal standardization has not
always been able to deliver standards in due time for their wide acceptance in
innovative technology and in such a way as to prevent the emergence of dominant
proprietary specifications. Both the scope and procedures of formal

standardization therefore need to be considered. As a reaction to the limitations of

formal standardization, fora and consortia have emerged that are drawing up
specifications for common use by their participants. Such documents can rapidly
achieve widespread market acceptance. Where established in the market place
they are sometimes known as de facto standards. When made publicly available,
they are sometimes known as publicly available specifications (PAS). Such
documents can make technical contributions that already incorporate a significant

level of consensus to the relevant standards bodies.

Major questions that have therefore to be addressed are:

      - Will the necessary and sufficient standards be available? Will they cause
fragmentation or help convergence in markets? Will they be used to
confirm or create dominant positions, or _de facto_ monopolies in ICT? Will
they enable users to take full advantage of the telecommunications
liberalization that will take place in 1998?

      - What changes are necessary to the scope and procedures of formal

standardization?

      - How is it possible through standardization to enable European citizens and
enterprises to take full advantage of the possibilities offered by the Global
Information Society?

**II.** **STANDARDS IN** A **COMPETITIVE ENVIRONMENT.**

**1.** **The leading** **role** **of market** **players.**

5. European industry and services providers need to seek proximity to world leaders;
without participation in the global strategic process they cannot achieve worldclass status. Therefore, they should be encouraged to participate in the
international fora that define strategies for ICT standardization at the world level.
European companies should be at the forefront of the strategic process in order to
reap the full benefits from the ICT market.

If the European economy as a whole is to benefit from the elaboration of publicly
available specifications, a high degree of transparency will be needed and the
incoherence that might arise from the emergence of a large number of groups, not
to mention the waste of resources involved in duplication, should be avoided. The
Commission therefore, welcomes the formation of a High-Level Strategy Group,
representing various sectors of industry and European industrial organisations,
intended "to oversee standardization at a strategic level and to determine the key
requirements for standards in a business context" [2] .

6. Standardization is a commercial activity, and must be regarded as such. In the
ICT sector, specifications are an expression of market power, and breadth of
consensus is of less importance. With respect to Community competition law, i.e.,
Articles 85 - 86 of the Treaty _de facto_ standards or PAS must be considered as
cooperation between companies and have to be assessed for this reason. In all
cases competition must remain possible.

On the basis of the general principles contained in the 1968 Communication on
agreements, decisions and concerted practices concerning co-operation between
enterprises [3], cooperation between companies in consortia should meet a number
of criteria. The parties concerned must respect the open membership/constitution
character of consortia (fora), that is, the possibility for any interested company to
participate. This implies that the existence of the consortia must be made public.

"Europe towards the Global Information Society: new directions arising from the Gcnval
Workshop", OPOCE, Luxembourg, 1995
OJLC N° C75 of 29.07.1968, p.3

3

Further, within such entities decision-making processes must be transparent. Such
mechanisms must be careful to permit genuine participation in the work by less
favoured partners who wish to take part: a certain equality and balance between
the partners, even though limited by practicalities, must characterise the
functioning of these fora. The specifications issued by such consortia must be
drawn up in such a manner as to allow competition within the framework of the
envisaged technical solutions. This is also desirable to reduce the possibility of
conflict with intellectual property rights (IPRs). Any lack of transparency
regarding the existence of patents in the chosen technologies, or any possibility of
discriminatory conduct in the issuing of licences, would demonstrate the
existence of ulterior motives incompatible with a technical co-operation

agreement.

**2.** **A changing role for formal standardization**

7. It is for commercial reasons that the role of formal standardization in the ICT

sector has declined, at least where standards are required in the short term. Formal
standards should be directed to those areas that need a broad consensus, where the

market sees it as necessary, for example, where specifications should form a
lasting basis, or should become established as international standards.

8. Formal standards organisations in Europe, recognised by law at European level
(Directive 83/189/EEC), are CEN, CENELEC and ETSI. These three European
organisations develop formal standards through agreed, open and transparent
procedures, based on a consensus of all interested parties. Even though detailed
procedures differ based on the characteristics of membership (in CEN and
CENELEC the work is organised largely around national delegations, whereas in
ETSI economic players can join directly as members) this consensus is sought
and expressed through a public enquiry and a vote organized at national level.
Formal standards, therefore, present a particular legitimacy which distinguishes
them from de facto standards and from FAS, and which allow national and

Community law to have recourse to them.

Although market operators are responsible for the output and quality of
standardization, the European standards organizations have a role of maintaining
a "cohesive system of 1 European standards" [4] . This covers two different aspects:
that of conferring - if all the necessary requirements are met - the status of
standards on market developed documents, and, secondly, ensuring greater
coherence between technical specifications.

9. Technical specifications elaborated by consortia may be based on a consensus of
all interested parties, but in the view of those parties the disadvantages of the
standardization process, i.e., lengthy and costly procedures without direct
participation, may outweigh the advantages granted by the ultimate status of the

document as a formal standard. In such cases standards bodies should examine

how, through specific procedures or arrangements, such documents can still be
brought within the ambit of European standardization by conferring upon them

Council Resolution of I <S o ! 992 on the role of standardization in the European economy (OJEC
No. ('173 of 9.7 1992. p. I )

4

the status of standards. Given that the European standards organizations already
have a number of "fast track" procedures, part of their task may be to provide
better information and to promote their services more actively.

Conferring the status of standards upon publicly available specifications is not
appropriate where technical specifications do not have a consensus of all
interested parties; where documents, whether or not yet based on consensus of all
interested parties, concern a technology that is so rapidly evolving that existing
standardization procedures are unable to follow its evolution; where the status of
standard does not add value to technical specifications used by industry or where
the position regarding IPRs is not yet settled.

10. It is the view of the European Commission that the European standards
organizations should assess the extent of their role. They should strengthen their
cooperation with other organisations that write specifications in ICT related areas.
Close links will enable organisations of users in particular technical sectors to
offer particular standardization requirements, and the technical infrastructure of
the European standards organisations could support the work of user
organisations.

European standards organizations have to examine whether their present range of
deliverables still meets market requirements. In particular, the European
organizations have the necessary infrastructure and experience to elaborate
common technical specifications which do not have the status of standards, but
which are still capable of catering for a large sectoral consensus and geographical
coverage. In appropriate circumstances, such documents could also serve as a
European input to the international standardization process. In this context, it may
be useful to mention that ETSI, and EWOS, the European Workshop on Open
Systems have embarked on this route.

Where a technical sector stands in need of common specifications, but does not
need to confer the status of standards upon them, the European standardization
organizations should examine the possibility of offering their infrastructure for the
elaboration of such common specifications on the basis of open workshops. They
should also examine the possibility of their acting as an official depository for
Publicly Available Specifications. They might also offer technical assistance,
contribute to increased transparency and provide a structure for distribution.

11. The issue of FAS raises the question of the extent to which the {European
standards organisations can promote "competing" documents, even where they
are presented with different status, such as a European Standard (EN) in parallel
with a FAS. In this respect it is necessary to bear the voluntary nature of
standardization in mind, and also that standardization should never constitute a
formal impediment to the introduction to the market of new products or new
technologies. Competing products and technologies should not be excluded from
standardization. 1 lowever, the difference between competing standards and the
standardization _oi'_ competing technologies may in reality sometimes be difficult
to discern. The following points should be noted:

     - the nature of standardization, and of the standstill obligations upon the
member bodies of the European standards organisations, make it obligatory
that no conflicting solutions be offered in _standards_ for the same product or
technology;

     - European standards organisations bear a significant responsibility for
coordinating and drafting standards in such a way that competing
technologies are not in practice excluded from the market;

     - the possibility open to a European standards organization to make available,
as PAS, documents containing other technologies, should not be considered
as an "appeal" procedure if another technology has been selected in a
European standard by consensus of all interested parties;

     - where public interests are at stake, and if the need therefore arises, the public
authorities should, by way of mandates adopted in conformity with Directive
83/189, give the necessary guidance to European standards organizations, in
particular for conferring the status of standards upon PAS.

12. In the field of formal standardization there also remains a need for coordination.

The Commission, therefore, welcomes the setting up of the ICT Standards Board
by CEN, CENELEC and ETSI with the participation of other specificationwriting bodies. Its task is to coordinate and supervise standardization activities
that fall within its scope, defined by the governing bodies of CEN, CENELEC
and ETSI, broadly covering the ICT field. The Commission however, invites the
standards bodies to implement a workshop structure in order to achieve the best
possible level of coordination between themselves and with the market operators,
who remain responsible for the establishment of a coherent structure.

13. In formal standardization, the search for consensus is organised through national
representation. The Commission considers, however, that alongside national
representation there is an urgent need to increase direct user participation in
strategy planning and standardization activities. In particular, there should be a
discussion of how users' representation could be further improved in the

CEN/CENELEC/ETSI ICT Standards Board.

III. EUROPEAN STANDARDIZATION POLICY FOR BUILDING THE GLOBAL

INFORMATION SOCIETY.

1. Improving global competitiveness

14. If the Information Society is to prove effective, a clear political commitment by
the Member Stales to openness to its implementation is necessary. The
persistence of regulatory barriers to trade will continue to impede European
access to the advantages offered by the Information Society. Consequently, the

Commission will need to ensure that such obstacles are identified and where

necessary removed, further harmonization of national provisions concerning
telecommunications networks and terminal equipment will already open the
market substantially. Action needs to be maintained to ensure that no new barriers
of this type are erected. Statistics on telecommunications-related notifications
made under the framework of Directive XVIXWEC suggests that Member States
still have a high regulatory activity: for example, in the three years from 1992 to

_()_

1994 telecommunications was the largest sector in which draft national measures
were notified, comprising in all nearly one third of all notifications. New
measures may need to be adopted to ensure that actions by the Member States that
are liable to create barriers to the implementation of the Information Society can
be made the subject of prior scrutiny.

15. While in principle standards or PAS promote market-based competition, the
drawing up of technical specifications can sometimes have discriminatory effects.
For example: companies proposing a certain specification could in certain
circumstances gain an unjustified headway or know-how advantage compared to
their competitors; and the process of choosing between competing specifications
could in certain cases be unduly influenced by particular private interests.
Therefore, public authorities have a role in ensuring that standardization respects
competition rules. In this context, it should be borne in mind that standardization
bodies are also subject to Articles 85 and 86 of the EU Treaty.

16. As users of information technology, within a relatively homogenous application
area, public authorities are an important market player. Furthermore, public
procurement is a large factor in the European economy and public authorities are
significant purchasers of ICT technology [5] . The market's perception of its interest
will be influenced by the fact that governments and other public procurement
entities are themselves major economic players. The use of specifications by
public procurement entities will establish them to a great extent in the market.
Public Procurement Directives, whilst establishing a hierarchy in specifications to
be referred to in calls for tender, allow a derogation for projects of a genuinely
innovative nature for which the use of existing formal European specifications is
obsolete. This possibility is a major tool for the introduction of new technologies
in the Public Procurement market. It allows public authorities to promote the use
of pre-standardized technologies and products resulting from RTD.

17. The development and uptake of electronic commerce is conditioned by
standardization and de facto standards. Interoperability extending across
organisations and enterprises has an impact on enterprises and on complete
industries or service sectors and their global competitiveness. Achieving this
implies addressing standardization in the global context in coherence with
technological developments. The current speed _o(_ technological developments,
the high stakes in the uptake of electronic commerce, and the efforts of Europe's
competitors to try lo establish market dominance make a more coordinated and
targeted approach to standardization in electronic commerce a matter of urgency.
The Commission is therefore currently analysing the position of standards and
specifications in electronic commerce, and is preparing initiatives, in
collaboration with all relevant market operators, for the development, application
and promotion of specifications and standards for electronic commerce in Europe

and world-wide.

Various initiatives have been developed in this context, (examples are the European Procurement
Handbook tor Open Systems-(EPHOS) project, the Interchange of Data between Administrations
(IDA) programme, and the "STEPS" (solutions for telematics in European public services)
Handbook developed by the Telematics tor Administrations sector within the Telematics
Applications Programme A review process for the EPHOS and IDA programmes has been
launched.

7

18. The transmission of sound and pictures by cable and/or satellite is moving
towards full digitization with significant quality improvements and added
flexibility, but the techniques which are needed to multiplex, compress and
encrypt the signals require the reverse process to be embodied in decoders (often
referred to as set top boxes). Without agreement on such systems and their
common implementation, the compatibility may be jeopardized and markets
segmented. On the other side the market could determine the best solution
amongst competing specifications. The work done by ETSI and CENELEC,
following detailed input from the European Digital Video Broadcasting Group
(DVB) and with the cooperation of an industrial consortium known as DAVIC,
has led to the preparation of standards which are expected to provide a suitable
technical base to support the digital distribution of audiovisual programmes all
over Europe, with a reasonable hope for world-wide compatibility. It remains to
be seen if the common implementation of such standards in set top boxes can be
quickly achieved with the help of all economic actors. The importance of the
stake explains the interest of the Community to ensure equality of access and
interoperation of systems.

19. The role of demonstration and trial projects, which are significant in areas outside
Community funded RED, or which are a more market-oriented complement to it,
is to verify that new specifications lead to working equipment, to minimise risks
by sharing the experience to be gained by testing prototypes, and to help remove
barriers to the acceptance of information technology products in business. It is not
the aim of demonstration projects to replace market dynamics or to favour
specific solutions. Without creating unjustified expectations, they nonetheless
have a role in promoting standardization and the use of new products in certain
niche markets, in sectors reflecting social needs and in areas where there may be

lack of economic interest.

So far, pilot projects have been launched aimed at identifying user and supplier
needs for standardization. Feedback from these projects has already provided
valuable pointers for future lines of action in ICT standardization [6] . In view of the
encouraging results, it is planned to continue and extend this activity. An open
call for proposals is planned for publication in the third quarter of 1996 for a
follow-up phase of initiatives. This will address the domains of multimedia
systems, electronic commerce, teleworking, and health-care networks.

20. The public authorities in Europe can act to improve the situation by promoting
activities to develop awareness of standardized ICT products and services.
Suitable means are communication and demonstration actions such as workshops.
Action should be directed towards other (that is, non-ICT) sectors of industry and
to associations of individual users, consumers, workers and those with special
needs. Experience shows that action is necessary to bring to the attention of
industrial management - preferably at board level - the role and importance of
ICT technical specifications and specifications as instruments for the
improvement of competitiveness. Of particular importance are measures in favour
of small and medium sized enterprises.

Examples of projects are given in Annex A, part 3.

8

**2.** **Promoting** **new technical** **solutions.**

21. Standardization needs to be based on sound applied science and research results
can find a practical implementation in the market by technical specifications. This
is in particular true for ICT. Policy should therefore be directed towards more
closely associating standardization with the process of research and development
and _vice versa._ To wait until research programmes have reached their conclusion
before considering standardization or examination of existing technical
specifications may result in long delays and additional costs. Experience shows
that standards emerging from co-operative research have a higher rate of success
in international consensus building. Furthermore, RTD projects can help to
overcome a possible barrier to proper standardization. The potential commercial
gains for a limited number of companies to undertake standardization are often
not large enough to be justifiable from their own individual perspective, even if
for the market as a whole such a development would be beneficial.

In addition, RTD projects in ICT can contribute to the competitiveness of
Fluropean industries on a global scale if the need for standardization is recognised
at an early stage. This contributes to the likelihood that the defined technical
specifications will be developed faster and will get leverage on the global market
and in world-wide fora. However, it is essential that the technical specifications
can be shown to work and are acceptable to the market, and that European
industry is well represented in the international fora [7] .

**3.** **Protecting the public interest**

22. Market instruments are not always sufficient on their own to extend the benefits
of the Information Society to all the elements that make up society. Many groups
of citizens or companies are likely to benefit from participation in it, but their
specific interests, e.g. privacy, or special needs of groups of citizens like the
disabled and elderly, may not be sufficiently taken into consideration in a process
based exclusively on commercial considerations.
In order to safeguard the public interest, such as the interoperability of decoders,
or to meet their own requirements, such as the exchange of information and the
security of messages, the Community has to monitor developments in
standardization and to encourage research projects to include standardization
development wherever appropriate. If there is a need, they can use their influence
as customers or promote standardization by organising trial or demonstration
projects, or by drawing up mandates addressed to the European standards
organisations. Where public interests are at stake, the ultimate solution, in cases
where no satisfactory consensus exists, consists of regulatory measures, adopted
in conformity with the common regulatory principles promoted under the WTO.

23. The Commission has the possibility of promoting standards in areas where the
European Union wishes to see their development, by the medium of mandates
addressed to the European standards organizations. Mandates are an instrument

Examples of Community funded R I'D projects (Fourth Framework Programme) related to ICT
are given in Annex A, part 1. Examples ol demonstration projects are given in Annex A, part 2.

**9**

that should be handled with care as a means of promoting the public interest.
Provided that they identify the incentives for the market to deal with the request
they constitute a valuable tool for the development of standards for the
Information Society and formal indication to the standards organizations of the
Community's and Member States' standardization priorities. Mandates may also
be given as an instrument to call for the involvement of appropriate groups, such
as consortia and professional and end-user groups, in the standardizing process.

**4.** **Reinforcing international cooperation.**

24. The information and communications technologies market is a global one, and
international cooperation will serve to assist a co-operative development of an
integrated world market which will be in accordance with the principles of the
WTO. European suppliers and manufacturers must have an opportunity to
participate fully in the commercial opportunities offered by the Information
Society at the world level. Implementation of a policy based on the principles
adopted by the G7 meeting in Brussels in 1995 on this subject is important to
establish the global dimension of the Information Society, and to keep Europe
integrated into the rest of the world.

25. In view of this global dimension, the Commission has proposed the organisation
of a world-wide Conference that will follow up the conclusions of the G7 meeting
in Brussels in February 1995 on the Global Information Society. This conference,
to be held in 1997, will bring together users, standardizes and public authorities.
It will review progress made so far, identify needs for further work and build
consensus on future actions. Together with the G7 partners, the Commission will
take steps to stimulate world-wide cooperation to develop a global architecture,
global interoperability rules and compatibility properties for the different parts of
the Global Information Interface. For this, the G7 pilot project themes [8 ]

established in February 1995 are an important tool.

26. As regards international openness, the Community is fully committed to the WTO
agreements. It is endeavouring to bring negotiations on the overall basic

telecommunications service sector to a successful conclusion. These conclusions

provide a unique opportunity to obtain a progressive liberalisation of worldwide
telecommunications markets with a correlative improvement of access to third

countries.

27. In relation to the Central and Eastern European countries (CEEC), the European
Commission will continue to provide advice in relation to regulatory and
standardization aspects of telecommunications, in order to facilitate the process of
liberalisation and harmonization in the sector. Through the steering committee of
the PHARE, multi-country telecommunications programmes, it will urge all
CEECs to participate in the relevant PHARE projects planned, such as the ones
on cost based tariff tools, on regulatory authorities, type approval and licensings.

Theme I: (ilobal Inventory; II: Global Interoperability for Broad-Band Networks; ill: Cross
cultural education and training; IV: Electronic Libraries (Bibliotheca Universalis); V: Electronic
Museums and Galleries; V!: Environment and Natural Resources Management; VII: Global
Emergency Management; VIII. Global Healthcare Applications; IX. Government Online; X:
(ilobal Marketplace forSMEs; XI: Maritime information Systems.

**10**

At the same time, CEEC governments will need to take, as soon as practicable,
the measures necessary for the adaptation of telecommunications regulations in
particular in the field of conformity assessment procedures for equipment and
mutual recognition of their conformity, as well as licensing regimes. Furthermore,
in view of their pre-accession strategies, the CEEC will need to establish the
independence of their standardization organisations and to support their
integration into the European standardization system.

28. European industry and standards organisations have a good record in participating
in the ICT work of the international standards organisations and in transposing the
results. The Commission encourages a stronger participation of European industry
in global consortia developing standards and expects that Europe's trading
partners will also match its commitment to international work and in particular
will contribute to and adopt international standards in ICT.

IV. **THE** POSITION OF PUBLIC :LY AVAILABLE SPECIFICATIONS IN COMMUNITY LAW

**1.** **Technical specifications and the New Approach**

29. Technical specifications elaborated by consortia do not have the status of
standards, as defined by Community law, and in particular Directive 83/189. The
question has, however, been raised of whether technical specifications which can
be qualified as publicly available, can be assimilated to standards, and whether
they can therefore fulfill a role in Community policies, where reference is made to
standards. At the same time, the question arises of the position that should be
adopted if the formal standardization mechanisms cannot present the appropriate
technical specifications at the right time. Finally, there is the problem of whether
notifications of new draft technical regulations under the terms of Directive
83/189/EEC can be challenged on the basis of the existence of a PAS . Since
different legal and policy instruments issued by the European Union refer to
standards in different ways and with different implications, it is appropriate to
deal with them case by case.

30. The New Approach Directives concern requirements of public interest, such as
health and safety or other public interests such as interoperability. Harmonized
standards provide a legally binding presumption of conformity with the
requirements of the relevant Directives. Other means of demonstrating
compliance with the requirements are available to economic operators on their
own initiative. Therefore, the Commission considers that the consensus basis

presented by European standardization, expressed through votes organized by the
national standards institutes, is indispensable. Given the advantages conferred
upon the use of standards, the New Approach contains an incentive for the market
to elaborate and use formal European standards. For these reasons, in the New
Approach, it is not appropriate to foresee a specific role for PAS similar to that of

**<>** All of what follows is intended, in the present Communication, to refer exclusively to policies for
the development of the Information Society. However, much of its conclusions can to a certain
extent be extended to cover the general case, and it is expected that the question of the acceptance
of publicly available specifications in Community policy will be raised in a broader context.

**V\**

standards with the same conditions of application. Among the New Approach
Directives, only the Telecommunications Terminal Equipment Directive has
major significance for the Information Society. In its present version, this
Directive refers to common technical regulations (CTRs), providing the necessary
harmonization of a binding nature. In the near future, a new proposal to amend
this Directive will foresee a wider role for formal European standards and
envisages the selection of technologies - perhaps specified in PAS - by the public

authorities.

2. **Enhancing technical specifications for public procurement.**

31. In Public Procurement, Community directives aim in the first place at achieving
transparency in calls for tender on technical specifications and at avoiding the
discrimination that might occur if only national or custom specifications were
used. They introduce a hierarchy of documents to which authorities are obliged to
refer in calls for tender, i.e., European standards, then international standards,
then national standards. Unlike the New Approach, the legal framework does not
contain an incentive to elaborate standards. Only where the market itself
perceives an interest in opening-up markets will real progress be made.

32. Provided that some form of recognition by the public authorities can be defined,
of normative resources or simply of documents, in particular by declaring - for the
purposes of public procurement - specific documents to be equivalent to
standards, the scope of technical specifications to which reference has to be made
by procurement entities could be enlarged. A procedure to this end might be
embedded in Directive 83/189, involving the Commission and the Member
States. In such conditions, publicly available specifications may be the
appropriate instrument, provided that their originators meet as a minimum the
conditions outlined in point 4.

**3.** **Interoperability and applications for use by authorities**

33. In most cases, the market and its standardizing mechanisms for information and
communication technology, products and services function well. In some cases,
however, one can observe failures of the standardization process, such as inability
to deliver the appropriate standards in due lime, or market failures, in which the
appropriate products are not available to the customer or where customers are
locked into proprietary specifications.
The public authorities have a responsibility with respect to public interests, such
as ensuring sufficient interoperability between systems; in other cases they need
common specifications in order to meet their own specific requirements, e.g., for
cooperation between administrations. If formal standardization is not capable of
providing the appropriate solutions to meet such needs, even with the support of
the measures outlined above, then the European Union will be obliged to take
administrative action. To this end, a procedure should be created which allows a
call for technology, contained in documents other than standards. This procedure
might be based on a new instrument to be created within the context of Directive
83/189, or within the context of specific Directives, in the latter case limited to
their respective fields of application. This procedure would involve the Member

States.

12

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

Standards determine the technology that will implement the Information Society, and
consequently the way economic players, users and administrations will benefit from it.

This Communication examines how, in the light of the characteristics of the Information
and Communications Technology (ICT) market and of standardization in ICT, the best
possible conditions can be created for the drawing up of standards needed for the
implementation of the Global Information Society, and to indicate by what means the
Community intends to promote those aspects for which it has a particular responsibility.

Standardization in ICT shows particular features that arise from the nature of the ICT
market. Standards have to follow the life-cycles of products or services, but since ICT
product cycle times are short and becoming shorter, standards adopted following
traditional procedures often prove inappropriate because of the lengthy procedures
involved in their elaboration. Therefore, there has been a tendency to develop de facto
standards as a complement to formal standards, formal standards should be directed to
those areas that need a broad consensus, where the market sees it as necessary, for
example, where specifications should form a lasting basis, or should become established

as international standards.

European policy for the Global Information Society is aimed at improving global
competitiveness, through the identification and the removal of regulatory obstacles,
through their own intervention in the market, through research and demonstration
actions, and through the promotion of new technical solutions. Since the Information
Society is global, European authorities are committed to the promotion of the global
integration of ICT standardization, and to promotion of its benefits to the rest of Europe.
In addition, the Community has a specific role in protecting the public interest, for
example, the needs of the elderly and disabled.

Against this background:

The Information Society is market driven. The main role in the development of
specifications and standards in this domain is therefore for market operators.

The Commission will investigate the existence of standards-related obstacles to
the creation of new ICT-based services, in particular electronic commerce.
Where necessary, it will take steps to eliminate them.

The Member States should refrain from adopting new regulations that will
generate new technical barriers stemming from the development of divergent
technical specifications and standards in the area oflhc Information Society.

The European standards organisations are invited to promote the possibilities of
the adoption of specifications that originate outside their formal structures. They
should examine the possibility of adopting PAS.

Co-operation in standardization between the regional and international standards
organisations is encouraged.

13

The Commission underlines the importance of the forthcoming World-wide
Conference on Standardization and the Global Information Society, which will
follow up the conclusions of the G7 meeting in February 1995 and which will
review progress and identify needs for further work in standardization for the
Global Information Society.

The Commission will protect competition and will encourage open and nondiscriminatory specifications and standards for new services and ICT
applications.

The Commission stresses the importance of RTD and demonstration to the
development and implementation of technical specifications and standards, at the
European and international levels.

The Commission will bring forward proposals for the use, where appropriate, of
PAS or de facto standards in Community law, such as public procurement and
interoperability.

**14**

**A N N E X A**

**Research and Technological** **Development** **and Demonstration**

**Part 1:** **Examples of** **ICT-related** **actions under the Fourth Framework**
**Programme**

The Fourth Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development (RTD)
comprises a series of specific programmes of major importance for European
competitiveness and the Information Society.

As regards Information Technology, the Information Technologies Programme (ESPRIT)
is designed to help Europe's industries gain competitive advantage by focusing on the
needs of users. Particular attention is given to fostering collaboration between users and
suppliers. To this end, ESPRIT supports a broad-based RTD environment, in which RTD
is complemented by measures to raise awareness, and to facilitate access to technologies.
Where necessary, ESPRIT contributes to, and stimulates standardization initiatives.

Examples of such current initiatives are:

An action undertaken to secure global interoperability and European
competitiveness in the Global Information Society is the pilot project
WEBCORE, addressing the development of the World-Wide Web (WWW) based
on the cross-platform HTML standard. The WWW allows users access from
different sources to information in a uniform way via networks. In WEBCORE
standards in particular on text transfer (HTTP), security and the generation and
access of documents are developed. The WWW Consortium (W3C) established in
this project comprises European, US and Japanese organisations, enabling a
continuing European contribution to a technology originally developed in Europe.
The closely related accompanying measure W3UserNet aims to include users, in
particular SMEs into the development of the WWW and its standards.

IMPRIMATUR (Intellectual Multimedia Property Rights Model and terminology
for Universal Reference) and the related project, COPEARMS (Co-ordinating
Project for Electronic Authors Right Management Systems) have the objective of
developing technology and consensus building at the global level for securing
Intellectual Property Rights and the development of related payment systems in
the Information Society in a "privacy-friendly" way, in cooperation with partners
from the US and Japan who are involved in order to ensure that a globally
interoperable system is developed.

The aim of the P (Intelligent Information Interfaces) initiative is to make
interaction with information an effortless task for the broad population of nonspecialist users. It is a response to the rapidly growing amounts of information
being made available in our information society, for which access and
management is still difficult and time consuming. The initiative centres around

research to create intelligent information interfaces that can be used naturally and
intuitively, flexibly spanning across different devices, applications and media.

The objective of the Open Microprocessor Initiative (OMI) is to identify and take
account of technological advantages and trends in the market such as the move to
greater on-chip systems integration, the need for simpler architectures, the wish to
avoid redesign through portability and the need for easy upgrading. OMI aims to
converge with accepted technology and technical specifications rather than
compete with them, and to help Europe build critical mass by recognising and
consolidating its strength.

The STEP (Standard for the Exchange of Product Data) has the objective of
improving the efficiency and effectiveness of information exchange in all kind of
manufacturing processes. It is a highly successful global technical specifications
resulting from work initiated in former RTD Framework Programmes.

The CAFE (Conditional Access For Europe) project has the objective of
designing and demonstrating an electronic means of payment; an "electronic
wallet". The CAFE specification is a new European technical specifications for
electronic payment systems; the terminals are compatible with all wallets and
clearing systems designed to meet the specification. The terminals are operated by
the customer inserting a smart card, containing the electronic cash. Also remote
operation is possible. This high security system is protected by tamper-proof
devices and sophisticated security algorithms. Presently the concept is being
tested on premises of the European Commission.

Linking biological databases is a project that proposed the development of a pilot
experience aiming to test the applicability of the Common Object Broker
Architecture (COBA) to the Biomedical field. COBA is an emerging technical
specifications providing a coherent framework in which distributed applications
can interoperate. Future development in cancer and AIDS research, vaccine
development and agronomical improvement of farm animals, to cite only a few
examples, will greatly depend on the ability to integrate vast amounts of diverse
biological information sources. COBA is a major step in this direction.

As regards telecommunications technology, the Advanced Communications
Technologies and Services (ACTS) Programme under the Fourth Framework Programme
covers the broad spectrum of convergent communications from advanced
telecommunications networking to multi-media and digital audio-visual communications.
Its approach enables standardization cycles to be accelerated, by having projects validate
their concepts and technical specifications in field trials involving users.

Through concertation mechanisms, participants in ACTS projects collaborate whereverappropriate on common trials or common specifications. The specifications that emerge
from this process are then supported in the standardization bodies by the organisations
involved in the ACTS projects.

ACTS projects are designed to develop common models describing the roles and
interfaces of each category of operator, service provider and user. Guidelines in the
context of advanced communications are being devised at the level of technology,

**li**

services/applications, and business/practices. All the ACTS projects are expected to

contribute to some extent to formal standardization or to _ad hoc_ fora. Some ACTS

projects have been recognised by a world-wide initiative called Telecommunications
Information Networking Architecture .Consortium (TIN AC).

**Part 2:** **Examples of** **ICT-related** **demonstration actions under the Fourth**
**Framework Programme**

Demonstration of technologies that result from RTD is an important element under the
Fourth Framework Programme. The Telematics Applications Programme covers, _inter_
_alia,_ the following areas:

The "Telematics Applications for Health Care" sector was intended to contribute
during its AIM (Advanced Informatics in Medicine) exploratory action phase to
the establishment of European standardization on health informatics standards.
The "Directory of the Iiuropean Standardisation Requirements and Programme
for the Development of Standards" is a comprehensive and detailed action plan,
including research projects previously undertaken under the AIM initiative and its
successor, i.e. Telematics Applications for Health Care:

      - The aim _o\'_ the BEAM (Biomedical Technology Assessment and
Management) was to develop information and coding related to medical
technology. It led to a final pre-standard framework document that is
intended for use by organisations involved in the development and
maintenance of nomenclatures and coding systems for medical devices,
and by designers of databases or information systems including medical

devices.

      - The objective of the OEDIPE (Open European Data Interchange and
Processing for Computerised Electrocardiography) project on open data
interchange and processing of ECG data is to demonstrate and promote
the SCP-ECG (Standards Communication Protocol for ECG) by setting up
demonstrators for cart-to-host and host-to-host data interchange and by
developing an experimental European network of distributed cooperative
databases for the follow-up of selected heart diseased populations.

The "Telematics Applications for Transport" sector contributed during its DRIVE
phase to validation and demonstration of RDS-TMC (Radio Data Systems-Traffic
Message Channel) traffic information. In cooperation with CEN which shares the
Transport Telematics standardization activities with ISO, standards have been
elaborated _on_ location referencing rules (RDS-TMC), A_LERT-C event list
(Advice problem Location for European Road Traffic) and ALERT-C protocol
for message coding and management. Other examples include Road Traffic Data
elaboration, storage and distribution. Advanced traffic information services are
now part of the priorities for Trans-European Networks for transport, and most
European countries will introduce RDS-TMC by 1998.

The "Telematics Applications for Disabled and Elderly" sector - previously the
Technology Initiative for the Disabled and Elderly (TIDE) - has launched also a

iii

number of significant actions and projects in relation to pre-standardization work
in assistive and rehabilitation technologies. Preliminary studies undertaken under
TIDE (e.g. the HEART project) resulted in planning European standardization

activities in this area.

ADLIB (Advanced Database Linkages in Biotechnology) has brought together the
major European scientific publishers, biological information provides and users to
test the technical feasibility of linking scientific literature database and factual
databands (DNA, genomes, molecules). This requires the implementation of the
CCDB data model, which is the result of a previous project, as well **as** the SRS
protocol, developed under a "BIOMED" project, allowing different databases to
link information. ADLIB is a perfect example of how previous research efforts
with different origins (academy, industry) crystallizes in a product oriented, close
to market project.

**Part 3:** **Examples of** **demonstration** **and trial projects complementary to the**
**Fourth Framework Programme**

As examples of Community action in demonstration and trial projects complementary to
the Fourth Framework Programme, the following can be mentioned:

A programme to provide multimedia information services to citizens by city
administrations in partnership with local industry, on the basis of a common
platform employing a mixture of existing and novel technical specifications.
(EUKIOSK)

The development of requirements for the architecture of a universal set-top unit
(the device which forms the bridge between data streams from broadcast, cable, or
telecom sources and the screen in the home). The European Broadcasting Union.
(UNITEL)

A project that aims at the development of visualisation suites for images produced
by the most recent medical imaging techniques; it will develop standard
techniques for fusing and processing images from multiple sources and presenting
3-D models to the specialist. (EUROMED)

Under the policy of 'Trans-European Networks for transport, the Community
supports standardization work in Euroconlrol, together with studies on
architecture and data modelling as well as demonstration projects for improving
air traffic management system capacity.

finally, education and training establishments have a contribution to make to the
Information Society, and actions such as the Communities Socrates and Leonardo
Programmes can help to validate ICT technical specifications associated with
distance learning

**IV**

**A N N E X B**

**Glossary of Abbreviations**

**Note: This glossary includes all abbreviations regularly used in the text of this**
**Communication. Titles of Individual Research and** **Demonstrations**

**Programmes, which, where they are known by acronyms rather than titles,**
**are explained in the text, and are not included in the list.**

CEEC

CEN

CENELEC

CTRs

**ED!**

EN

EPHOS

ETSI

EWOS

ICT

IDA

**I** **EC**

IPR

ISO

JTC1

PAS

PHARE

RTD

SME

WTO

Central and Eastern European Countries

European Committee for Standardization
European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization
Common Technical Regulations

Electronic Data Interchange
European Standard
European Procurement Handbook for Open Systems
European Telecommunications Standards Institute
European Workshop on Open Systems
Information and Communications Technology
Interchange of Data between Administrations
International Electrotechnical Commission

Intellectual Property Rights
International Organisation for Standardization
ISO-IEC Joint Technical Committee N°l

Publicly Available Specification
Poland and Hungary: Aid for Economic Restructuring
Research and Technological Development
Small and Medium Sized Enterprises
World Trade Organisation

#### **ISSN 0254-1475**

## **COM(96) 359 final**

# **DOCUMENTS**

### **EN 16 15** **Catalogue number : CB-CO-96-410-EN-C** **ISBN 92-78-07810-7**

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