Commission plans further practical guidance on the implementation of the Standardisation Regulation

The objective of the expected guidance is to provide clarification on the development process for harmonised standards from the drafting of Standardisation Requests to the assessment and publication of harmonised standards.

ECOS would very much welcome further clarification of the Regulation in many of its aspects, including the legal nature of standards, the implementation of the provisions and principles of transparency and inclusiveness, and the interaction between policymakers and standardisation organisations during the Standardisation Request process.

Furthermore, we see the guidance document as an opportunity to address long-standing weaknesses of the standardisation system, including the need to ensure transparency and inclusiveness when standardisation work supporting Standardisation Requests takes place at international level via the Vienna and Frankfurt Agreements. Finally, we would also like to see some improvement in the level of administrative control by the Commission over SRs, especially in terms of ensuring transparency in the SR drafting process, and respecting its deadlines.