The standardization package - View of CEN-CENELEC

Summary form only given. CEN and CENELEC as the three European Standard Organizations welcome the Communication and draft Regulation. Standardization is an important economic activity in Europe and globally. The launch of the package on 1 June offers the chance to focus attention on its virtues as a tool for economic and social coherence. Separately for ICT and other issues, there was a long discussion and consultation process, culminating in the EXPRESS report and the ICT White Paper in 2009. We contributed, and as a result the Communication and Regulation do take account of the practicalities. But it would be surprising if we had no reservations on the detail. The proposals for improvement in the new package lay heavy emphasis on improving participation in and information on standardization for stakeholders. More emphasis is given on the contribution of SMEs, and the various societal stakeholders. We also see the welcome levelling of the playing field on service standardization. There is a new regime for public procurement, to allow for the recognition of certain ICT consortia specifications. The Commission would like to improve planning of work programmes and they request the ESOs to be more and more performant, for instance in terms of standardization speed.