Explanatory Memorandum to COM(2011)315 - European Standardisation - Main contents
Please note
This page contains a limited version of this dossier in the EU Monitor.
| dossier | COM(2011)315 - European Standardisation. |
|---|---|
| source | COM(2011)315  |
| date | 01-06-2011 |
· Grounds for and objectives of the proposal
European standardisation results from voluntary cooperation between industry, public authorities and other interested parties collaborating within a system founded on openness, transparency and consensus. For European industry, standards summarise best practice in a specific area, because they encapsulate the collective expertise of the participating actors.
In the future, European standardisation will play a crucial role in a wide variety of areas, wider than today, ranging from supporting European competitiveness, protecting the consumer, improving accessibility for disabled and elderly people to tackling climate change. To respond rapidly to evolving needs in all areas, a comprehensive, inclusive, efficient and technically up-to-date European standardisation system will be required. This system will build on the strengths of the existing system, but will also need to be flexible and responsive in addressing future challenges as they arise.
In its EUROPE 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth [COM(2010) 2020], the Commission highlighted the necessity to improve the method of standard setting and the use of standards in Europe to leverage European and international standards for the long-term competitiveness of European industry and for the achievement of important policy goals in areas such as e-government, e-health or e-accessibility.
On 21 October 2010, the European Parliament adopted a report on the future of European standardisation [A7-0276/2010] which indicated that the review of European standardisation should preserve its many successful elements, remedy its deficiencies and strike the right balance between the European, national and international dimensions. Furthermore, it recognises that interoperability is key to innovation and competitiveness, especially in the ICT sector.
In its communication of 13 April 2011 on the ‘Single market Act: Twelve levers to boost growth and confidence', the Commission included among its twelve key priority actions to be adopted by the EU institutions before the end of 2012 the extension of the European standardisation system to services.
· General context
Standards and standardisation are very effective policy tools for the EU. Although standards and standardisation have much wider benefits for the European economy, they are used as policy instruments to ensure, inter alia, the functioning of the single market of products, the interoperability of networks and systems, in particular in the field of ICT, a high level of consumer and environmental protection, and more innovation and social inclusion.
Standards are indispensable in the digital society to ensure the interoperability of networks and systems, especially in the field of ICT. In a digitally driven society, ICT solutions are used in any economic sector as well as in our daily lives. ICT solutions, applications and services have to be able to communicate with each other; they should be interoperable. Interoperability requires standards.
European standards play a very important part in the functioning of the internal market for industrial products. European standards replace national and often conflicting standards which, as such, may create technical impediments to a national market.
For the purpose of this Regulation, there are 2 types of standards: European standards developed at the request of the Commission, on the basis of a so-called 'mandate' in which the ESOs are requested to draw up, and the other European standards developed at the initiative of other actors (businesses, national standardisation bodies, stakeholders, etc.).
This proposal addresses three major problems:
1. In a rapidly changing world and society, especially in sectors characterized by very short product lives and development cycles, standards must keep pace with rapid technological development. Some stakeholders argue that the entire process of creating European standards developed at the request of the Commission is too slow. The main negative consequence of a slow standard-setting process is that conflicting national standards continue, which may create technical barriers in the supply chain or barriers to trade if the national standard is used as a protectionist instrument. Another consequence is that, in the absence of harmonised standards, businesses cannot use the relevant standard to confer a presumption of conformity and must demonstrate compliance with the essential requirements in accordance with the conformity assessment module set out in the applicable EU legislation. In both cases, businesses are prevented from saving costs incurred due to fragmentation of the internal market or conformity assessment procedures. Conflicting national standards or the absence of harmonised standards lead to higher transaction costs and higher per-unit costs caused by the need to produce divergent batches. Industry reacts to this situation by establishing informal standardisation channels for the rapid development of technical specifications to ensure interoperability which gain an international reach.
2. SMEs encounter a series of problems with respect to standards and standardisation. One of the most important problems, according to many stakeholders, is that SMEs are in general under-represented in standardisation activities, in particular at European level. Furthermore, standards often relate to the safety and well-being of citizens, the efficiency of networks, the environment and other public policy fields. Although standards play a major role in society, the opinion of relevant societal stakeholders is not sufficiently integrated in the standardisation process in the EU. In order to address the problem of insufficient representation of SMEs and societal stakeholders in standardisation activities, financial contributions are paid to organisations representing SMEs and societal stakeholders. The criteria for eligibility for these grants, the conditions for their use and the type of financial contributions available vary widely. Some organisations receive grants for actions while others also receive operating grants. The most negative consequence of the problem of insufficient participation of SMEs and societal stakeholders is their lack of influence on the process.
3. In the field of ICT, many standards ensuring interoperability are not elaborated by the ESOs but by other organisations that develop standards (hereinafter 'global fora and consortia'). A concrete example are Internet and World Wide Web related standards. Due mostly to a lack of highly specialized expertise, the traditional standard-setting organisations do not cover the ICT domain and so currently a major part of the global ICT standardisation work is done outside the formal European or International standardisation system. At the moment, referring to 'Fora and Consortia Standards' in public procurement which is subject to Directive 2004/18/CE is only possible in exceptional circumstances. Since these standards do not, as such, fit into any of the categories of standards to which public authorities may refer in their calls for tenders, cautious public authorities will refrain from referring to them. The consequence is that the ITC that they are procuring may not be interoperable with ITC purchased by other authorities. This difficulty often prevents public authorities from defining their ICT strategies and architectures, including cross-border interoperability between organisations.
· Existing provisions in the area of the proposal
This proposal replaces a part of Directive 98/34/EC and repeals Decisions No 1673/2006/EC and 87/95/EEC.
· Consistency with the other policies and objectives of the Union
This initiative implements the Europe 2020 Flagship Initiatives on the Innovation Union [COM(2010)546], Industrial Policy [COM(2010)614], a Digital Agenda for Europe [COM(2010)245] and a Resource Efficient Europe [COM(2011)21]. It also implements the Single Market Act [COM(2011)206], as well as the Disability Strategy 2010-2020 [COM(2010)636]. It is part of a CWP 2011 Strategic initiative.
· Consultation of interested parties
Two general public consultations were held in 2009 and 2010 while a more specific consultation of national authorities, European Standards Organisations, National Standards Bodies, stakeholder organisations and Fora and Consortia was organised in 2010. In 2009, the White Paper on "Modernising ICT Standardisation in the EU – The Way Forward" was adopted.
Moreover, this regulation builds on the work of an independent expert group, the Expert Panel for the Review of the European Standardisation System (EXPRESS), was composed of 30 experts from European, national and international standards organisations, industry, SMEs, NGOs, trade unions, academia, fora and consortia and public authorities from EU Member States. EXPRESS delivered its report 'Standardisation for a competitive and innovative Europe: a vision for 2020' to the European Commission in February 2010.
The responses to the consultations, the White Paper on "Modernising ICT Standardisation in the EU – The Way Forward" the EXPRESS report 'Standardisation for a competitive and innovative Europe: a vision for 2020' and the report of the European Parliament constitute the basis for the policy options that were eventually selected.
An open consultation was conducted over the internet from 23/03/2010 to 21/05/2010. The Commission received 483 responses. The results are available on ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies
· Collection and use of expertise
There was no need for external expertise.0
· Impact assessment
The impact assessment and its executive summary give an overview of the different options.
Only the combination of policy Options 1.A (deadlines on the delivery of European standards) and 1.C (transparent and simplified procedures for harmonised standards and other European standards requested by the Commission), and policy options 2.C (strengthen the position of organisations representing SMEs and societal stakeholders within the ESOs by providing for the possibility of an operating grant) and 3.B (referencing of 'Fora and Consortia Standards' in public procurement) meet the criteria of effectiveness, efficiency and consistency. Therefore, these 4 options constitute the basis of this proposal.
The Commission carried out an impact assessment listed in the Work Programme, whose report is accessible on ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies
Contents
· Summary of the proposed action
1. The cooperation between national standardisation bodies will become more transparent;
2. The use of standards developed by other organisations in the field of information and communication technologies will be possible in public procurement, provided that these standards comply with a set of criteria based on the WTO principles for international standardisation processes, in domains where there are no European standards, where European standards have not gained market uptake or where these standards have become obsolete.
3. The planning will be improved: the Commission will establish an annual Work Programme, which will identify priorities for European standardisation and the mandates required.
4. SMEs and societal stakeholders should be better represented in European standardisation, and the financial support to organisations representing SMEs and societal stakeholders will be ensured.
5. A reduction of the administrative burden imposed on the Commission and the ESOs, for example by the possibility of a robust simplification of lump sums, clearly disconnected from any verification of actual costs of implementation. This proposal constitutes a further shift towards a performance-based system, based on the definition of agreed indicators and objectives (outputs and outcomes). The speed and the efficiency of the standard-setting process could constitute such an objective.
6. Although European standards are already widely used for transport and logistics, postal services and electronic communications networks and services, the voluntary European standards have played a less prominent role in supporting the completion of the single market for services. This proposal therefore includes service standards within its scope in order to enable the Commission to issue mandates requesting the development of European service standards and to finance a part of the cost of this development.
· Legal basis
· Subsidiarity principle
The subsidiarity principle applies insofar as the proposal does not fall under the exclusive competence of the EU.
The objectives of the proposal cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States for the following reason(s).
European standardisation supports European legislation establishing the Single Market and contributes to increasing the competitiveness of European industry. The harmonisation of standards of products at European level overcomes technical barriers to trade which could be caused by conflicting national standards. Therefore, problems relating to standardisation at European level require a solution at European level.
EU action will better achieve the objectives of the proposal for the following reason(s).
The objective of ensuring the functioning of the internal market by reducing obstacles to intra-EU trade arising from different national standards on products could not be sufficiently achieved by Member States. It was therefore felt appropriate in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, by reason of the scale and effects of the problem, to achieve this at EU level.
European standards play a very important part in the functioning of the internal market for industrial products. European standards replace national and often conflicting standards which, as such, may create technical impediments to enter a national market. Harmonised standards ensure that products meet the essential requirements set out in EU legislation. Compliance with a European 'harmonised' standard guarantees the required level of safety of products. However, use of harmonised standards is still voluntary and a manufacturer may use any other technical solution which demonstrates that his product meets the essential requirements.
During the impact assessment process, many non-legislative options were discarded for reasons related to subsidiarity as set out in detail in the impact assessment.
The proposal therefore complies with the subsidiarity principle.
· Proportionality principle
The proposal complies with the proportionality principle for the following reason(s).
The proposal only relates to the functioning of standardisation at European level and the cooperation between national standardisation bodies in order to avoid conflicting national standards.
This proposal does not lead to any new administrative burden for economic operators, national governments, regional and local authorities and citizens.
· Choice of instruments
Proposed instruments: regulation.
Other means would not be adequate for the following reason(s).
The suggested options as well as the simplification items do not require an amendment of the legislation of Member States. This instrument only concerns the European standardisation organisations, the cooperation between the national standardisation bodies, the involvement of organisations representing SMEs and societal stakeholders in European standardisation, and the Commission. Therefore, a Directive would not be an appropriate instrument in this case.
The legal instrument would have to be of general application, in particular for the part on the use of Fora and Consortia standards in procurement which would have to be directly applicable in all Member States. In addition, the legislative instrument would contain a number of obligations that would be directly applicable to the European standardisation organisations, the national standardisation bodies, organisations representing SMEs and societal stakeholders in European standardisation, and the Commission. Therefore, the most appropriate legal instrument is a regulation. Alternative options would not have been sufficient to achieve the proposed objectives.
The budgetary implications are set out in the financial statement.
· Simplification
The proposal provides for simplification of legislation.
Standardisation will be extended to services. The financial management will be simplified. For further details, see below.
The proposal is included in the Commission's rolling programme for up-date and simplification of the EU acquis and its Work and Legislative Programme under the reference 2010/ENTR/0021.
· Repeal of existing legislation
The adoption of the proposal will lead to the repeal of existing legislation.
· Review/revision/sunset clause
The proposal includes a review clause.
· European Economic Area
The proposed act concerns an EEA matter and should therefore extend to the European Economic Area.
· Detailed explanation of the proposal
This proposal aims at revising and merging:
1. Council Decision 87/95/EEC on standardisation in the field of information technology and telecommunications, by the repeal of almost all its (outdated) provisions and the introduction of a new system allowing the use, in the field of public procurement, of ICT standards developed by organisations other than the European standardisation bodies.
2. Directive 98/34/EC laying down a procedure for the provision of information in the field of technical standards and regulations and of rules on Information Society services (whereby all articles related to the notification of draft technical regulations fall outside the scope of the proposal and remain unaltered), through the following measures: the European cooperation on standardisation will be extended to services, the cooperation between national standardisation bodies will become more transparent, SMEs and societal stakeholders will be better represented in European standardisation, and the financial support to organisations representing SMEs and societal stakeholders will be ensured.
3. Decision No 1673/2006/EC on the financing of European standardisation. The main principles of this Decision will remain unaltered but the following novelties will be introduced in line with the proposed new Financial Regulation: a reduction of the administrative burden imposed on operational services and the European standardisation bodies, for example by the possibility of a robust simplification of lump sums, clearly disconnected from any verification of actual costs of implementation. This proposal constitutes a further shift towards a performance-based system, based on the definition of agreed indicators and objectives (outputs and outcomes). The speed and the efficiency of the standard-setting process constitute such an objective.