SMEunited, which represents the interests of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and the craft industry, and Small Business Standards (SBS), which defends the interests of SMEs in the standardisation process, welcomed the EU Strategy on Standardisation that was presented by the European Commission on Wednesday, 2 February, and the inclusion of SMEs in it.
Nevertheless, they did provide a few avenues for improvement. SBS thus expressed its concerns with regard to developing a horizontal approach through implementing acts by the European Commission. This approach had been chosen for the regulation on machinery. For SBS, this solution must be a last resort and must always be adopted in consultation with SMEs.
SMEunited also offered some recommendations. To be sure, it is pleased with the coordination mechanism between EU Member States and national standards bodies to strengthen the EU’s approach to standardisation on the international stage. However, SMEunited insists that SBS be involved in this mechanism.
From SMEunited’s point of view, SMEs need to be encouraged to adopt the standards. It is not enough to take [SMEs] into consideration during the “pre-normative” phase; they need to be given incentives downstream as well. In this respect, the availability of standards in the national language and SME-friendly pricing schemes are essential. Moreover, the association believes that special attention must be paid to standards in education and vocational training.
The European Commission presented an extensive strategy—structured around five priorities—that notably envisages amending Regulation 1025/2012 on European standardisation so as to prevent bodies outside the EU or the European Economic Area (EEA) from influencing key standards and even creating a new high-level forum to set EU standardisation priorities (see EUROPE 12882/3). (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)