- The aim of the New Standardization Strategy launched by the European Commission is to reinforce the key role that standards play in a resilient, ecological and digital internal market, as well as to strengthen the EU's competitiveness worldwide.
- It represents a new strategic approach to respond, through quality, to the increasingly rapid pace of innovation, and to enhance the global role of the European Standardization System.
- It also reaffirms the key role of the CEN, CENELEC and ETSI European standardization organizations, of which UNE is a part as the Spanish member.
Madrid, 8 July 2022 - The headquarters of the Spanish Association for Standardization, UNE, today hosted the presentation of the new European Standardization Strategy, which reinforces the key role of technical standards for a resilient, ecological and digital single European market, and provides greater support for European strategic autonomy, global leadership and competitiveness.
This strategy, launched by the European Commission early in the year, also reaffirms the important role of the European standardization organizations CEN, CENELEC and ETSI, of which the UNE is a part as the Spanish member, in developing the standards that promote the internal market and the green and digital transitions.
With five key sets of actions, the Strategy also underlines the importance of the principle of national delegation in the development of European standards and the necessary leadership of European members in the development of international standards in ISO and IEC in areas of strategic priority for European institutions and economic agents. It also upholds the unique nature of the European Standardization System, which is based on markets and is inclusive and structured through coherent, effective and robust public-private collaboration.
The event was attended by leading experts who analysed the key role of standardization in Europe, both for the single market and on a global scale.
In the words of Javier García, UNE's CEO, "this strategy recognizes that standards form the basis of the EU's single market and that the harmonized standards published in the last 30 years have enabled companies to demonstrate compliance with EU legislation, yielding great benefits to both companies and consumers. Standards create equal conditions in the domestic market and reinforce the strategic autonomy of a stronger Europe in the world, as well as the safety of European citizens, providing an effective response to the main challenges of society and companies".
Galo Gutiérrez, the managing director of Industry and SMEs at the Ministry of Justice, Commerce and Tourism, noted that "European standardization is a key factor in industry's competitiveness. European standardization bodies must play a significant role on an international level, and our national standardization body (UNE) has to be the party that channels and promotes the standardization needs of our industrial fabric".
Elena Santiago, CEO of CEN and CENELEC, stated that "the New European Standardization Strategy is the culmination of a broad collective reflection and close collaboration with the European Commission on how to future-proof the European Standardization System. As such, it recognizes the strategic value of standards and provides a clear framework for renewed collaboration with European institutions. The CEN and CENELEC community is ready to commit, to ensure Europe's long-term sustained recovery and resilience and to help Europe keep its promises".
During the event, a panel was held on "Standardization in support of public policies", moderated by Paloma García, Director of Standardization Programmes and Stakeholder Engagement at the UNE. Also taking part in the panel were José Manuel Prieto, Deputy Director General of Industrial Quality and Safety at MINCOTUR; Miguel Ángel Bermúdez, Deputy Director General of Standards and Technical Studies at the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and the Urban Agenda; and Pedro Martín Jurado, international adviser on Technical Standards at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation's Office for Digital Telecommunications and Infrastructure. The event was closed out by Carlos Esteban, UNE's president.
Areas of the European Standardization Strategy
The new European Standardization Strategy focuses on five main areas:
- To anticipate, prioritise and address urgent standardisation needs in strategic areas: by developing standards more quickly, in line with Europe's policy and innovation agenda. The Commission has identified areas that urgently need standards, such as the production of vaccines and medicines to combat COVID-19, recycling key raw materials, and artificial intelligence.
- Improve the governance and integrity of the European standardization system: the European system is open, transparent, inclusive and impartial and it must be the responsibility of European agents (i.e. national delegations - the EU Member State and European Economic Area (EEA) national Standardization bodies) to decide on European standards to limit the possible influence of representatives of third countries in key sector decisions.
- Enhance European leadership in global standards: the high-level forum, together with the Member States and national standardization bodies, will establish a mechanism to share information, coordinate and strengthen the European approach in international standardization forums (ISO, IEC and ITU).
- Support innovation: The Commission will launch a "standardization drive" to highlight innovation projects and anticipate early standardization needs.
- Enable the next generation of standardization experts: the development of standards, both at European and international level, is based on the contributions of experts, and the Commission will therefore promote greater academic knowledge of standards by organizing university and training sessions for researchers.
Competitive edge for companies
The Strategy itself recognizes that "European standardization operates in an increasingly competitive global context" and it provides companies with a "competitive edge in terms of market access and technological development". It also underscores the need to address the "increasingly rapid pace of innovation", to "put standards at the centre of a green and resilient economy" and to "enhance the global role of the European Standardization System".
Click here to see the new European Standardization Strategy.
