The proposed, agreed and voted amendment goes towards greater openness, transparency, and inclusiveness of European Standardisation Organisations (ESOs).
The agreement reached by the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament on 12th October, and approved during the Coreper I meeting on 20th October, endorses the proposal of the European Commission to amend the Standardisation Regulation.
The amendment foresees that the national standardisation bodies from the EU and the European Economic Area (EEA) will be the actors taking key decisions in the standards-development process after a mandate from the Commission. This will ensure the protection and respect of EU values, and the direct involvement of SMEs and their associations in providing expertise to ESOs to make their administration and governance more open, transparent, and inclusive.
Moreover, the newly created Recital 4(a), on the need to guarantee the “essential” SMEs interests are represented within the ESOs and at national level, is warmly welcomed. This Recital, adding to the EC proposal, underlines once more the need for transparency and inclusiveness in the standardisation system, involving SMEs and all interested stakeholders.
EFESME welcomes this agreement, especially regarding the EU values, and the direct involvement of SMEs and their associations in providing expertise to ESOs towards a greater openness, transparency, and inclusiveness.
