EU and International Standards and Standardisation
Standards are an essential element of the infrastructure in the UK that supports and encourages innovation
The UK Government focus is therefore on getting the standardisation infrastructure right, to maximise the benefits of standards to innovation and productivity, both through domestic uptake and through international compatibility. European standards are business orientated and market-led. Common standards across the EU can help to promote trade, as well as protecting health, safety and the environment. The EU is a world leader in setting such standards, and it is therefore to be welcomed that many global firms choose to adopt them.
Standards are used to reduce trade barriers and have contributed to the opening up of the European Single market for goods and, more progressively now, for services. As businesses function in global markets, the use and acceptance of standards applied to products, processes and systems at the global level is increasing. UK businesses view standards as a means for entering new and emerging markets such as China and India. At the same time it also means continued acceptance into developed markets, because meeting standards demonstrates that businesses have applied a level of rigour. For these reasons interoperability of standards is vital in enabling global transactions. Technological convergence means that different products by different suppliers often function in networks or need to be able to interact with each other.
The standardisation infrastructure is a global one and as standards are primarily market-driven [consumer /purchaser/ societal], choice is not limited to a specific market, but the global market. For EU business to be successful in global markets the EU should develop standards that are fully justified by market failure, and based on evidence. The processes for developing standards need to be fast and non-bureaucratic, whilst ensuring that stakeholders have an appropriate opportunity to participate. It is also Important that the EU look at the possibility of international standards, where appropriate, being adopted quickly and tailored to EU frameworks, in order to minimise barriers to trade and investment, and ensure that EU businesses can compete successfully in global markets. The EU needs to work internationally to find the common ground on standards. Mutual recognition provides an important route forward here.
Through the European Commission (EC) we contribute to the development of European standardisation policy, promoting the removal of barriers to trade. Currently this includes negotiation on two new EC proposals on Community harmonisation legislation based on the New Approach principles that aim to improve the functioning of the single market.
At the international level, barriers are tackled by standards bodies through the International Organization for Standardisation (ISO) and the electrotechnical equivalent (IEC) and by Governments through the Technical Barriers to Trade Committee of the World Trade Organisation. The Trade Committee of the OECD also has a developing interest in standardisation. There is also a number of other organs involved, which may be intergovernmental (for example OIML), non-governmental (the Transatlantic Business Dialogue, for example), or other standard bodies (including regional groupings). Pursuit of UK policy requires close co-operation between government and the National Standards Body (BSI) so that negotiating positions in the standards and intergovernmental fora reinforce rather than conflict with each other.
