Brussels, 01/06/2016 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 1 June, the European Commission presented a communication on modernising and harmonising standards, physical and digital, within the EU to make the internal market work better by the end of 2019.
Complementing the single market strategy (see EUROPE 11417), the package presented on 1 June is articulated around three main areas: - the Joint Initiative on Standardisation (JIS) which will be formally launched by all partners in Amsterdam on 13 June under the Dutch Presidency of the Council of the EU; - the proposal for a 2017 work programme for European standardisation identifies which will focus, in particular, on the information and communication technology (ICT) sector; - the development of voluntary European service standards to facilitate compatibility between services (for example, in the tourism sector).
The JIS is a dialogue which seeks to improve communication between European and national standardisation organisations and bodies, industry, SMEs, consumer associations, trade unions, environmental organisations, member states and the Commission. A steering group, chaired by the Commission, is due to present a definite action plan to mark World Standards Day in October 2016.
As for the 2017 work programme on services and ICT, it should be noted that, on 19 April of this year, the Commission presented a communication on joint standards in the digital sector (see EUROPE 11535) with a view, ultimately, to developing a standard setting plan within the framework of the digital single market, focusing on 5G, cloud computing, the internet of things, data and, last but not least, cybersecurity.
Lastly, and more generally on service standards, the Commission, with the European Committee for Standardisation (ECS), intends over the course of the next few months to carry out a series of studies and discussions with stakeholders to develop a European service standards strategy by the end of the year.
European Commission Vice-President with responsibility for Employment, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness Jyrki Katainen said that standards play an important role in the sound operation of the internal market, given that “they bring technical certainty”. He went on immediately to say that not everything had to be standardised, before concluding: “Two years from now, Europe will be a different continent from the business point of view”. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)