European Parliament adopts a report on standardisation
The report is a response to the publication in June 2016 of several documents detailing the European Commission’s vision on how European standard setting should evolve over the coming years. Overall, the Parliament supports the European Commission’s views and opposes any radical changes that would undermine the core values of the current European Standardisation System. For instance, it clearly reiterates that standards are voluntary and market-driven, and cannot be seen as EU law. All the principles set out in Regulation 1025/2012, such as “inclusiveness” or how to better involve SMEs and societal stakeholders in the standardisation process, are also reaffirmed.
One key chapter of the report concerns ICT standards. It emphasises the importance of open standards in order to strengthen Europe’s leadership in crucial areas such as 5G and cybersecurity. ICT standards are also a tool to ensure interoperability and foster the adoption of digital technologies in all sectors.
The report rightly recognises some concerns on the part of stakeholders, including SMEs, regarding the treatment of intellectual property rights in standards. It thus lays the foundations for future European Commission initiatives aiming to streamline the transparency and enforcements of IPRs in standardisation.
Furthermore, the report proposes the establishment of an Annual Standardisation Forum to enhance coordination between all the relevant stakeholders involved in standardisation. It also calls for the creation of a European register listing existing European standards in all official EU languages. This register would include additional information on ongoing standardisation work by ESOs, existing standardisation mandates, progress made and decisions containing formal objections.
The full report is available here.