Standards are becoming more and more important with the digital and green transformation. However, Standards do not appear on their own – they have to be proposed, written,
negotiated, agreed and rewritten to keep them up to date.
Small Business Standards (SBS), the European non-profit association representing small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) in European and international standardisation was
established in 2013. Its objectives are to represent the interests of European SMEs in the standardisation process, to raise their awareness about standardisation, facilitate the uptake
of standards among SMEs and to motivate them to engage in the standardisation process.
SMEs are a key part of the European economy; they create growth, employment and new jobs. In the EU’s private sector alone, SMEs account for two-thirds of all jobs. The European
economy is undergoing unprecedented transformations. The European Commission has put the green and digital transitions on top of the political agenda as the two trends that will shape
Europe and its future. Standards are important enablers of this digital and green transformation. Moreover, the success in achieving these EU objectives requires the involvement of SMEs.
resources and knowledge about the standardisation process. This is also why SMEs tend to rely more than large companies on business associations to represent their interest in
standardisation. The role of SME associations is key to bridge the gap between SMEs and standardisation and represent the collective interests of SMEs.
Therefore, SBS wanted to have a better insight into the current knowledge of SME associations on standardisation and their relationship with the National Standards Bodies (NSBs). This
concerns the involvement of SME associations in the work of the NSBs, the support offered to SMEs/SME associations by the National Standard Bodies and the national governments to get further involved in standardisation as well as how SME associations interact with their respective NSBs.
In view of this, SBS launched a questionnaire in the second half of 2022 addressed to SME associations to have a better insight into the current knowledge of SME associations about
the national standardisation system and their relationship with the National Standards Bodies (NSBs).
Although the results cannot be described asfully representative, they give an indication of the challenges and difficulties faced and the recommendations of this report can be used as basis
for establishing recommendations that can support the further involvement of SMEs and SME associations in standardisation at the national level.
The outcome of the study will be used in SBS’ contacts with the NSBs and to feed into the implementation of the EU standardisation Strategy1 published early in 2022 by the European
Commission. The strategy foresees the launch of a peer review between Member States and national standards bodies to identify where SME participation at the national level could be
improved. The results of the survey and the recommendations of the report also aim at contributing to this process.
1 COM (2022) 31, An EU Strategy on standardisation – Setting global standards in support of a resilient, green
and digital EU single market, 2.2.2022.
