On Wednesday, 19 October, Member States’ deputy permanent representatives approved the interinstitutional agreement on the regulation concerning the decisions of European standardisation organisations. No Member State interfered.
The EU Council’s mandate was amended to include the European Parliament’s demands. Now, according to Recital 6, third countries’ national standards bodies should not hinder the work of European standardisation organisations when a European Commission proposal only has the support of EU Member States and the European Economic Area (see EUROPE 13041/6). Moreover, the agreement highlights the role of SME, consumer, social, and environmental interests (Recital 4a).
The political agreement will be put to a vote in the European Parliament’s Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) on 27 October. The plenary vote could take place during the second session in November.
The announcement that the Permanent Representatives Committee I (Coreper I) had given its approval was welcomed by SMEunited, which represents SMEs and craft enterprises, as well as by Small Business Standards (SBS), which defends the interests of SMEs in the standardisation process, notably with regard to the amendment of Recital 4a.
To read the four-column document of the interinstitutional negotiations: https://aeur.eu/f/3mf (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)