Brussels, 14/06/2016 (Agence Europe) - The European Union, the European Free-Trade Association (EFTA) and several standardisation and private sector bodies signed the Joint Initiative on Standardisation (JIS) in Amsterdam on Monday 13 June at the high-level stakeholder conference as part of the Single Market Forum.
This joint initiative was included in a raft of measures adopted on 1 June (see EUROPE 11563) and, more generally, will be in line with the Single Market Strategy (see EUROPE 11417) and the regulation on European standardisation adopted in 2012 (Regulation 1025/2012).
The JIS is, in a sense, a statement of “a vision for European standardisation” with a view to modernising the European standardisation system, centred on fundamental values. Standards must, for example, be market-driven, serve societal welfare or facilitate the creation of international trade partnerships.
In order to achieve this, participants must recognise the other contracting parties as strategic partners and view strengthening public authorities' engagement in standardisation, improving exchanges of all economic and political players with European standardisation organisations and closer integration in the process of the various players at European and national levels as prerequisites for the success of the modernisation of the European standardisation system. In order to maintain an “open collaborative process”, the document calls for the establishment of a steering group, an informal consultative body chaired by the Commission “in order to further develop concrete actions and to continue the work of the Editorial Committee, including monitoring the Joint Initiative on Standardisation”.
More specifically, participants set out three major priority areas for moving forward with the process of prioritising and modernising standards: - ensuring awareness and understanding of the European standardisation system; - improving coordination, cooperation, transparency and inclusiveness; - ensuring greater competitiveness and internationalisation of the European economy.
The signing of the JIS opens a delivery period of 42 months during which the signatories undertake to meet at least once a year under the auspices of the European Commission to assess progress, implementation and functioning of the initiative. The JIS remains, however, a voluntary collaborative effort and does not replace any existing legal obligations. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)