EU aspires to global leadership on standards

Thierry Breton – Photo © European Union 2022

(BRUSSELS) – The EU Commission presented a new standardisation strategy Thursday to set global standards which protect EU values and counter external dependencies and threats from artificial intelligence and hacking.

The Commission says the new strategy aims ‘to strengthen the EU’s global competitiveness, to enable a resilient, green and digital economy and to enshrine democratic values in technology applications’.

It is accompanied by a proposal for an amendment to the Regulation on standardisation, a report on its implementation, and the 2022 annual Union work programme for European standardisation.

“Technical standards are of strategic importance,” said Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton: “Europe’s technological sovereignty, ability to reduce dependencies and protection of EU values will rely on our ability to be a global standard-setter. With today’s Strategy, we are crystal-clear on our standardisation priorities and create the conditions for European standards to become global benchmarks. We take action to preserve the integrity of the European standardisation process, putting European SMEs and the European interest at the centre.”

For the EU executive, standards are the foundation of the EU Single Market, helping manufacturers ‘ensure the interoperability of products and services, reduce costs, improve safety and foster innovation. Standards are an invisible but fundamental part of our daily life: from Wi-Fi frequencies, to connected toys or ski bindings, just to mention a few. Standards give confidence that a product or a service is fit for purpose, is safe and will not harm people or the environment. Compliance with harmonised standards guarantees that products are in line with EU law’.

The Strategy presented today proposes five key sets of actions:

Anticipate, prioritise and address standardisation needs in strategic areas: we need standards faster and in tune with the European innovation and policy agenda. The Commission has identified standardisation urgencies as regards COVID-19 vaccine and medicine production, critical raw materials recycling, the clean hydrogen value chain, low-carbon cement, chips certification and data standards. As of this year, standardisation priorities will be clearly identified in the 2022 annual Union work programme for European standardisation. A High-level Forum will be set up to inform future standardisation priorities. The Commission will establish the function of a Chief Standardisation Officer to ensure high-level guidance across the Commission on standardisation activities, which will be supported by an EU excellence hub on standards composed of Commission services.
Improve the governance and integrity of the European standardisation system: European standards, which support EU policy and legislation, must be decided by European players. The Commission is proposing an amendment to the Regulation on standardisation to improve the governance in the European standardisation system. While the European system will remain open, transparent, inclusive and impartial, the proposal prescribes that mandates at the request of the Commission to the European standardisation organisations must be handled by national delegates the national standardisation bodies from the EU and EEA Member States. This will avoid any undue influence of actors from outside the EU and EEA in the decision-making processes during the development of standards for key areas, like cybersecurity or hydrogen standards. The Commission will further pay close attention to the inclusiveness of the system, the role of SMEs and civil society. It calls on the European standardisation organisations to modernise their governance structures and will launch a peer review process among Member States and national standardisation bodies to achieve better inclusiveness for civil society, users and SMEs-friendly conditions for standardisation. At the same time, the Commission will launch the evaluation of the Regulation on standardisation.
Enhance European leadership in global standards: the Commission will work through the High-Level Forum to set up a new mechanism with EU Member States and national standardisation bodies to share information, coordinate and strengthen the European approach to international standardisation. The Commission will also pursue more coordination between EU Member States and like-minded partners. The EU will fund standardisation projects in African and the Neighbourhood countries.
Support innovation: the Commission is proposing to better tap into the potential of EU-funded research to valorise innovation projects through standardisation activities and anticipate early standardisation needs. A ‘standardisation booster’ to support researchers under Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe to test the relevance of their results for standardisation, will be launched. The development of a Code of Practice for researchers on standardisation will be initiated to strengthen the link between standardisation and research/innovation through the European Research Area (ERA), by mid-2022.
Enable the next generation of standardisation experts: standards rely on the best experts and Europe is facing a generation shift. The Commission will promote more academic awareness on standards, for instance through the future organisation of EU University Days and training of researchers.