Brussels, 17/10/2001 (Agence Europe) - On 14 October, the international standards organisations that develop technical specifications for the production of goods and services and the environmental management of processes (CEN, CENELEC, ISO and IEC) celebrated the World Standards Day, focussing this year on the environment and standards.
The Commission "mandates" the European standards bodies to draw up European standards as tools to help implement EU legislation (the standards are compulsory even though a standard is essentially voluntary, unlike technical regulations) and highlighted the importance it attaches to using standards to help companies improve their environmental performance in order to achieve the sustainable development the EU is aiming towards.
In a press release, the European Commissioner for standardisation policy, Erkki Liikanen, stressed that, "Doing business in the Single Market has become so much easier with European standards. In the global marketplace Europe is in a very strong position because it has linked European standardisation as closely as possible to international standardisation.
The standardisation mantra "one standard, one test, accepted everywhere" is constantly recited by those who are eager to trade and gain market opportunities, and international standards are seen as an important tool in this regard…
Today, the challenge before us is to ensure that environmental considerations are taken fully into account in the standards-making process.
That is why the Commission has put considerable emphasis on the full involvement of all relevant interested parties in the standards development process".
Margot Wallström, Environment Commissioner, said, "Standardisation is one way of working with the market to put the idea of environmental protection into practice". Standards can play a crucial role from the design of products, through manufacturing to packaging, in implementing the Commission's Integrated Product Policy.
Likewise, the Commission's new Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS), a tool designed to help companies improve their environmental performance, incorporates all the relevant elements of the international ISO 14001 environmental management award.