EU Standardisation Strategy – what to expect

By Nerea Ruiz Fuente

By Ivo Cabral

Setting robust standards is vital for the EU to meet its climate goals. Commission-mandated standards are a tool to ensure compliance with laws, and as such they will have crucial importance to whether new pieces of legislation will truly achieve their objectives. Standards are also essential tools to limit climate change and realise the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (we wrote more about this here).

In recent months, Commissioner Breton has been giving signs of the geostrategic importance he sees in standardisation, as European standards face more intense competition at an international level.

Consequently, the Commission’s strategy will seek to address the challenges and opportunities for standardisation in Europe, and globally. Changes will try to solve some of the most pressing problems standard-making is currently facing.

Why does the EU need a standardisation strategy if standards are set by standardisation organisations?

Around one fifth of the standards approved every year by European Standardisation Organisations are created following a standardisation request by the European Commission. This way, EU policymakers make sure that technical rules underpinning the implementation of legislation are developed. Such Commission-mandated norms are called ‘harmonised standards’. They define, for example, the conditions under which a plastic bag should be considered as compostable; or set methods to be followed by companies wishing to market their products as repairable.

Commission officials draft the requirements for new standards in documents called Standardisation Requests. CEN, CENELEC and ETSI then undertake a consultation process among their members to decide whether to accept or reject the work proposed under the SR. If accepted, they develop the technical details, in a process that typically takes 2 to 3 years. At the end, the Commission verifies that the final text meets the specifications set out in the original request. If approved, a reference is published in the EU’s Official Journal.

The European Commission has not always been involved in the process. Before 1985, when a new regulation entered into force, there was no role for EU public institutions in standard-setting. In the early 90s, only 3% of all standards were mandated by the Commission. The role of the public institutions became more prominent after a new European regulation on standardisation was passed in 2012. Since 2009, they represent about 20% of all new European standards.

What are the problems that the strategy seeks to solve?

The Commission’s strategy will address the challenges and opportunities for standardisation in Europe, and globally. Changes will try to solve some of the most pressing problems standard-making is facing, including:

Delays in the approval of new European standards

Last May, 17 EU countries published a non-paper where they pointed to the lengthy delays in the approval of new European standards. They warned the Commission that companies might start using international standards instead, ‘leaving the European system at risk of collapse’, if the problem was not solved.

The signing governments called on the Commission to provide greater flexibility for European Standardisation Organisations (ESOs), including clear criteria for evaluation of standards, and making their citation in the EU Official Journal quicker.

Here, the Commission will need to tread carefully. While checks do make the process longer, thorough monitoring and consultation with civil society organisations is critical to ensure that new standards fulfil their purpose. It is about striking the right balance between speed and quality.

Inclusiveness on a global level

The 2012 Standardisation Regulation made the standardisation process more inclusive, officially recognising civil society organisations such as ECOS as key stakeholders of the European Standardisation System[1]. This allowed for representation of a greater variety of interests in the otherwise industry-dominated decision-making process. Consumers, small businesses, environmental and social organisations were all given a seat at the table – Europe is one of the few places in the world where this is the case.

However, most new European standards are adapted international ones, set by ISO, IEC or ITU, where input from civil society organisations is much more limited. For example, 73% of all European Standards in the CENELEC portfolio are identical or based on IEC ones. Consequently, with the new Strategy, we expect the Commission to seek broader participation of concerned organisations at the international level.

Legal certainty of harmonised standards as part of EU law

Some standards directly address matters of societal concern – even though they are developed mainly by industry players. The technical definitions for biodegradable or compostable plastics are a clear example, with vital implications for the sustainability of our planet.    

A 2016 ECJ ruling (James Elliot case) determined that harmonised standards (initiated by a Commission mandate) are part of EU law. However, the legal effects of harmonised standards are not clearly explained in the existing regulation, leaving open questions about the role and responsibilities of the European Commission in relation to the European Standardisation Organisations (CEN, CENELEC and ETSI).

Delegating technical work to standardisation bodies seems like an easier option when it comes to detailed definitions and test methods. Still, the Commission should ensure the supremacy of mandatory legislation over voluntary standards in areas of public interest, such as protecting people’s health and the environment. This means that harmonised standards complement legislation but should never fill a gap left by policy.

What do environmental organisations expect from the Standardisation Strategy?

We have outlined our expectations here below. 

– Standards are now developed in a more inclusive way in Europe, but this is still a work in progress.

Civil society organisations have established ways of participating at European level, but with minimal representation both at international and national arenas. Unless civil society can have a strong voice at all levels, the quality of standards entering the market and being used in legislation will always miss reaching the latest state of the art.

– Standards should foster the uptake of climate friendly alternatives to polluting solutions but they remain an obstacle in many cases.

The European Commission should use the European Standardisation system to better identify, eliminate and amend standards that are barriers to the deployment of clean technologies, environment-friendly materials or secondary raw materials.

– Europe’s environmental ambition should be translated into worldwide standards.

Environmentally ambitious standards are essential for Europe to achieve its geostrategic ambition, and support the European Green Deal. Europe should push the global agenda where existing international standards fall short in matching the European environmental ambition, inspiring other countries to follow its lead.

– The European Commission should do more to initiate, manage and monitor the harmonised standards development process, as these standards underpin many legal requirements.

How can standardisation help Europe gain a competitive edge at global level? Would this be good for the planet?

Global trade is rapidly changing. Being a leading actor in standard-setting can give a competitive edge to Europe in new technologies such as artificial intelligence and blockchain. It is also the case for areas critical for the green transition, such as the rules governing battery manufacturing or the global trade of used plastics.

The EU is currently the region with the highest climate ambition in the world. As a global leader, Europe could use its position to push the climate agenda in international standardisation, for example in cases where existing international standards do not match European environmental ambition (such as recyclability of electric car batteries).

A stronger Europe in the standardisation world would be excellent news for global climate action. The European Commission has officially said that it will seek better ‘coordination of EU stakeholders and available resources ‘to set standards ‘in line with EU values‘.