On the 4th December 2012 the Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on European Standardistion finally entered into force. The new regulation amends Council Directives 89/686/EEC and 93/15/EEC and Directives 94/9/EC, 94/25/EC, 95/16/EC, 97/23/EC, 98/34/EC, 2004/22/EC, 2007/23/EC, 2009/105/EC and 2009/23/EC of the European Parliament and the Council. The Regulation was adopted by the Council of the European Union on the 4th October 2012 and was proposed on the 1st June 2011, with the COM (2011)311 "A strategic vision for European standards: Moving forward to enhance and accelerate the sustainable growth of the European economy by 2020", which contains a series of legislative and non-legislative measures on standardisaton. The European Standardistion is the first of the twelve priority actions defined by the Single Market Act of April 2011. It has to be considered an important step for SMEs since, thanks to the new legislation, they will be better protected. In fact, SMEs will be involved not only in the initial consultation but also in the drafting of standards. Moreover, by promoting administrative simplification and burden reduction, the new rules aim to improve access to standards for SMEs, reducing costs.
The Regulation will apply from 1 January 2013 and shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
To read the full text of the Regulation, please follow this link.
