All for industry, nothing for consumers? Standards in Digital Single Market

12 May 2015
by anec -- last modified 12 May 2015

Digital Technologies have a considerable impact on the lives of consumers, ranging from on-line shopping to e-government & e-voting. Although ANEC welcomes the focus on interoperability in the EC's initiative on the Digital Single Market (DSM) adopted on 6 May, we regret its integrated standards plan will not seek increased consumer protection across borders.

ANEC Secretary-General, Stephen Russell, said, "In our view, if the DSM is to bring added value for consumers, there is need for standards that address issues such as safety, data protection & security, interoperability and – above all - accessibility for all. It is equally vital that standards elaborated for ICT products and services take the consumer view into account".

ANEC asks the EC to ensure consumers will be able to make effective contributions to the drafting of standards for the DSM where these standards will affect consumers.

"We have to avoid the proprietary technical solutions that allow companies to dictate preconditions which leave consumers tied to a particular system, either financially or materially" added Mr Russell.

"We shall therefore assess the will of the EC to find a balanced approach on patents and standards. We doubt enhanced interoperability of ICT products and services for all consumers can be achieved through use of narrow-consensus standards from informal standards developers."

 

ANEC is the European consumer voice in standardisation, defending consumer interests in the processes of technical standardisation and conformity assessment, as well as related legislation and public policies.

European association for the coordination of consumer representation in standardisation (ANEC)