Annexes to COM(2008)133 - Towards an increased contribution from standardisation to innovation in Europe - Main contents
Please note
This page contains a limited version of this dossier in the EU Monitor.
| dossier | COM(2008)133 - Towards an increased contribution from standardisation to innovation in Europe. |
|---|---|
| document | COM(2008)133  |
| date | January 1, 1945 |
Standards should also enable innovation in many areas not included above, in particular where standardisation needs have been identified in the context of European Technology Platforms (ETPs) and Joint Technology Initiatives (JTIs). Relevant examples are Space, Galileo, Fuel Cells and Hydrogen and Nanotechnologies.
5. How to strengthen the contribution of standardisation to innovation and competitiveness
If standardisation is to fully realise its potential benefits in support of innovation, it must adapt itself to the needs of innovation and respond to the challenges resulting from globalisation, the emergence of new economic powers, and the evolution of technology. The responsibility for the continuous improvement of European standardisation mostly belongs to its private stakeholders, but, due to its important public interest dimension, the Commission and the Member States also have a role to play.
The Commission has identified the following nine key elements for focusing EU standardisation policy on innovation:
(1) Re-assert the commitment to market-led standardisation and to the voluntary use of standards. The specific added value of standardisation with respect to setting technical specifications lies indeed in the voluntary cooperation of private and public actors.
The Commission encourages industry to set up or accelerate cooperation in the development, implementation and use of standards in support of innovation and competitiveness
(2) Recognise the importance of both formal and informal standards for innovation. A formal standardisation process which fully respects the principles of openness, inclusiveness, transparency and coherence and is accountable for establishing consensus between all national positions and interested parties is necessary. At the same time, other standards, developed both within the recognised standards organisations and in other organisations, are often more receptive to innovative technologies, and play thus an important role in accelerating their acceptance by the market. In order to get the benefits of both types of standard, preserve the coherence of the European standardisation system and optimise the impact of available experts, it is important to facilitate good coordination of activities between formal and informal standards bodies. In this respect, the practice of ETSI at European level, and of ISO and IEC at international level, of engaging in collaboration with many informal standards fora needs to be considered as good practice.
– The Commission invites the ESOs to develop less formal standardisation deliverables when appropriate for industry and user needs.
– The Commission invites the standards organisations, both formal and informal, to find ways of cooperating during the planning of activities and of transferring standards to the most appropriate level, international or European, for dealing with the market in question.
(3) Focus on standards development for the global market. European industry needs standards that allow access to increasingly global markets. Consequently, standards-making shifts towards the international level, where the stakes of setting standards in cooperation with other trading partners are higher than ever. This is a strategic challenge that industry must address. It is important that European industry is involved from the onset in setting standards for global markets. In this context, the focus of the ESOs and the National Standards Bodies (NSBs) should be to facilitate European contributions to international standardisation work. Coordination mechanisms between the European and international standards organisations already exist, allowing stakeholders to decide whether the European or the international level should lead in the development of international standards. However, the emergence of new economic powers who may gradually assert their role in international standards-making, and the growing scarcity of European experts in some industrial sectors, demand a continuous improvement in the effectiveness and efficiency of European contributions at international level.
International standards are part of an emerging international regulatory regime based on regulatory cooperation, convergence of standards and equivalence of rules. This approach, which is emerging as a result of sectoral bilateral discussion with third countries [15], should be further developed in the mutual interest of the EU and its partners, including developing countries, thus avoiding the risk of divergent standards and rules becoming barriers to spreading innovation, competition and trade.
– The Commission will strengthen its efforts through multilateral agreements and through bilateral trade and regulatory dialogues to promote regulatory models based on the reliance on voluntary standards, and to enhance the commitment of our trade partners to the development and use of international standards.
– The Commission encourages the stakeholders of European standardisation to strengthen their involvement in international standardisation, to cooperate in addressing the standardisation activities and policies of relevant regions, and in particular to strengthen the role of the ESOs in increasing the impact of European input to international standardisation.
– Building on the successful experience of the European standards expert in China, the Commission encourages the ESOs to make proposals for improving the visibility of European standardisation in other strategic markets, and to co-operate with a view to setting up procedures for pro-active information exchanges on standardisation with relevant regions.
(4) Facilitate the inclusion of new knowledge in standards, in particular from publicly-funded Research and Innovation programmes including the RTD [16] Community Framework Programme and CIP (Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme). While only a limited proportion of R&D projects delivers results of interest for standardisation, their systematic identification and the facilitation of exchanges with the appropriate standards bodies have the potential to accelerate the application of new knowledge in an industrial and commercial environment.
The Joint Research Centre (JRC) already leads co- and pre-normative research in several areas including construction, life-sciences, bio- and eco-technologies. These activities have allowed the development of relevant standards, including measurement standards, and of innovative products and services. It is important to maintain and reinforce this effort.
Setting up a powerful European metrology with common standards for measurement and testing is a field where the cooperation of Member States and the Community is necessary. In this respect, the setting up in 2007 of the association of national metrology institutes (Euramet e.V.), and the European Metrology Research Programme, as a potential EC article169 initiative under the 7th Research Framework Programme are important milestones.
Measures to be assessed by public research and innovation authorities include:the introduction of concrete incentives for the consideration of standardisation issues in the activity plans of public research institutions and of co-funded RTD and innovation projectsthe provision of training in standardisation for evaluators and managers of RTD and innovation programmessystematic action to link standardisation-relevant research projects with the standardisation community, in particular in those priority areas identified for lead markets, Joint Technology Initiatives (JTIs) and Technology Platform (ETPs)Standards organisations are encouraged to facilitate the research community’s access to published standards.The ESOs are invited to develop a joint proposal for setting up technology watch activities and helpdesks with a focus on facilitating the transfer of results of RTD and CIP framework programmes to standardisation. The Commission is prepared to consider financial support for such a proposal. |
(5) Facilitate the access to standardisation of all interested stakeholders, in particular SMEs, but also users/consumers and researchers. Standardisation is a powerful tool for the dissemination of the state of the art to SMEs, and through the participation of consumers, to facilitate the uptake of innovation by the market. However, this potential is often not realised because of barriers such as the complexity of the language of the standards, the time required to participate in standards-making, and the cost of the deliverables.
The EU supports SME representation in standards-setting at European level. Additionally, the funding schemes ‘Research for SMEs’ and ‘Research for SME associations’ of the 7th RTD Community Framework Programme (2007-2013), as well as several mechanisms developed within EU Cohesion Policy, enable SMEs and their associations to provide input into the standardisation process, but also to assist SMEs to comply with new standards. The following measures are proposed:
– The Commission will substantially increase its financial support to European coordination of SME representation in standardisation. Within the planned proposal for a Small Business Act, the Commission will introduce provisions to consolidate the commitment of the Member States to include SMEs in standardisation at national level, which is the most accessible context for most SMEs.
– The Commission invites the standardisation bodies to fully acknowledge the implications of the ‘think small first’ principle, in particular regarding how the standardisation process may be revised in order to improve the transparency of standardisation activities and the cost-benefit balance of participation for SMEs and users. The Commission encourages the ESOs to seek a fair and balanced representation of all stakeholders of standardisation.
– On the basis of existing SME associations and national bodies, SMEs need to organise themselves better to defend their interests in the standardisation process, with the institutional and financial support of public authorities.
Regarding access to standards, the cost of purchasing standards is increasingly mentioned by SMEs and other stakeholders as an issue. Some standards organisations, such as ETSI and ITU for all their deliverables, and CEN and CENELEC for some of them, have decided to publish their standards for free, and there is evidence that this decision has multiplied their diffusion. Other issues relate to the lack of standards in national languages, the excessive number of cross-references between standards, and the difficulty in identifying the group of standards relevant for a product or process.
– The Commission invites the standards organisations to systematically publish abstracts of European Standards without access restriction.
– The Commission is currently carrying out a study on access to European standardisation. The European and national standards bodies are invited to address as a matter of priority the conditions of access to standardisation, and to reconsider, in close cooperation with the Member States and the Commission, their business model in order to reduce the cost of access to standards, with the ultimate goal of providing free access to standards developed in support of EU legislation and policy.
(6) EU policy needs to address better those barriers which hinder the actual implementation and effective use of standards, such as their lack of visibility, their complexity, the uncertainty about conformity to the standard or the existence of competing standards.
The Commission will strengthen its support to the coordination of the integration of standards in innovative products and business practices through the Europe Innova standardisation networks.
(7) Both intellectual property rights (IPRs) and standardisation encourage innovation and facilitate the dissemination of technology. However, as they contribute to these common objectives by different means, due regard needs to be paid to the interrelation between IPR and standardisation.
The Commission supports the view that standards should be open for access and implementation by everyone, with IPRs relevant to the standard being taken into consideration in the standardisation process, aiming to establish a balance between the interests of the users of standards and the rights of owners of intellectual property. In the Guidelines for cooperation [17] between the EC and EFTA and the ESOs, the ESOs have committed themselves to ensure that standards, including any IPRs they might contain, can be used by market operators on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory conditions (FRAND). However, standardisation stakeholders, including public authorities, have been confronted with issues raised by the interplay of IPRs and standards, in particular in the ICT field.
– The Commission encourages the ESOs to continue their efforts to make the FRAND policy effective and to develop mechanisms to prevent abuses of the standard-setting process.
– The Commission will launch a fact-finding study to analyse the interplay of IPR and standards.
(8) A strong European standardisation system is a key asset for European industry, governments and citizens. The ESOs are the keystone of standardisation in Europe, and their ongoing reform processes deserve special attention. ETSI continues to implement the recommendations of its 2004 High Level Review Group, and CEN and CENELEC are now starting to implement the first recommendations of the FLES exercise (Future Landscape of European Standardisation). These initiatives are timely. The ESOs and their members are of course responsible for addressing most of the points set out above in their reform processes.
The Commission encourages the ESOs to pursue and be ambitious in their reform efforts, in particular to address the following points:(a) Where appropriate, the involvement of stakeholders in the governance of formal standardisation at European level should be improved(b) The current procedures for standards development need to be reviewed in order to further speed up the standard-setting process, to ensure a pro-active setting of priorities in subjects to be addressed based on industry and users needs, and to identify the type of deliverables to be developed. The Commission invites the ESOs and the NSBs to systematically give priority to the European level for new standardisation activities, avoiding potential delays due to preparatory work at national level(c) The convergence of technologies, and the application of ICT to many other technical fields makes necessary the cooperation between standardisation bodies whose competences have traditionally been separated into electrotechnical, telecommunications, and other technologies. The Commission invites the ESOs to set up common operational structures, such as joint technical bodies, for standardisation in those areas where technologies converge (d) The European identity and the visibility of European standardisation, both inside Europe and in the world, need to be reinforced(e) The Commission, in cooperation with the Member States, will follow up and encourage the reform process of the ESOs in the framework of its continuing dialogue with the ESOs and their stakeholders. |
(9) The focus of European standardisation has to change in accordance with the evolving needs of the European economy and society, and with the dramatic changes in the international political and economic environment. While the Commission invites all standardisation stakeholders to cooperate in the implementation of the measures proposed in this Communication, current and future challenges demand an in-depth reflection on the scope and the role of European standardisation in the emerging global context, including a possible need to update its current legal base.
The Commission will set up a high level expert group to identify the future scope and role of European standardisation and to develop strategic recommendations for the coming decade.
6. Conclusion and follow-up.
The Commission expects the European standardisation bodies, industry and all stakeholders of standardisation to consider the measures outlined in this Communication. In the context of relevant EU initiatives and dialogues, the Commission will discuss with Member States, industry, standards bodies, and other relevant stakeholders how best to achieve the objectives outlined in this Communication. On the basis of these discussions the rolling Action Plan for European Standardisation [18] will be updated.
FINANCIAL STATEMENT
1. NAME OF THE PROPOSAL:
Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament and the European Economic and Social Committee "Towards an increased contribution from standardisation to innovation in Europe"
2. ABM / ABB FRAMEWORK
2.1 Internal market for goods and sectoral policies
2.2 Competitiveness, industrial policy, innovation and enterpreneurship
3. BUDGET LINES
3.1. Budget lines (operational lines and related technical and administrative assistance lines (ex- B..A lines)) including headings:
a) 02.03.04 Standardisation
02.01.04.02 Standardisation, Expenditure on administrative management
b) 02.02.01 CIP (ENTR)
3.2. Duration of the action and of the financial impact:
Permanent / no financial impact (no increase of budget resources needed)
3.3. Budgetary characteristics:
Budget line | Type of expenditure | New | EFTA contribution | Contributions from applicant countries | Heading in financial perspective |
020304 | Non-comp | Diff [19]/ [20] | NO | NO | NO | No 1a |
020201 | Non-comp | Diff/ | NO | YES | YES | No 1a |
02010402 | Non-comp | Non-Diff | NO | NO | NO | No 1a |
4. SUMMARY OF RESOURCES
4.1. Financial Resources
4.1.1. Summary of commitment appropriations (CA) and payment appropriations (PA)
(The actions foreseen by the Commission communication will be covered by existing programmes, no variation in budgetary needs due to the introduction of the proposed measures is envisaged)
EUR million (to 3 decimal places)
Expenditure type | Section no. | | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 and later | Total |
Operational expenditure (020304 and 020201) |
CA 020201Commitment Appropriations (CA) 020304 | 8.1. | a | 1,018,5 | 2,6520,5 | 2,6523,00 | 2,6524,00 | 2,6524,5 | 2,6524,5 | |
PA 020201Payment Appropriations (PA) 020304 | | b | 1,020,4 | 2,6520,5 | 2,6523,00 | 2,6524,00 | 2,6524,5 | 2,6524,5 | |
Administrative expenditure within reference amount [21] (02010402) |
Technical & administrative assistance (NDA)020304 | 8.2.4. | c | 0,3 | 0,5 | 0,5 | 0,5 | 0,5 | 0,5 | |
TOTAL REFERENCE AMOUNT | | | | | | | |
Commitment Appropriations | | a+c | 19,8 | 23,65 | 26,15 | 27,15 | 27,65 | 27,65 | |
Payment Appropriations | | b+c | 21,7 | 23,65 | 26,15 | 27,15 | 27,65 | 27,65 | |
Administrative expenditure not included in reference amount [22] | | |
Human resources and associated expenditure (NDA) | 8.2.5. | d | n.a. | | | | | | |
Administrative costs, other than human resources and associated costs, not included in reference amount (NDA) | 8.2.6. | e | n.a. | | | | | | |
Total indicative financial cost of intervention |
TOTAL CA including cost of Human Resources | | a+c+d+e | 19,8 | 23,65 | 26,15 | 27,15 | 27,65 | 27,65 | |
TOTAL PA including cost of Human Resources | | b+c+d+e | 21,7 | 23,65 | 26,15 | 27,15 | 27,65 | 27,65 | |
4.1.2. Compatibility with Financial Programming
Proposal is compatible with existing financial programming.
4.1.3. Financial impact on Revenue
Proposal has no financial implications on revenue
4.2. Human Resources FTE (including officials, temporary and external staff) – see detail under point 8.2.1.
Annual requirements | Year n | n + 1 | n + 2 | n + 3 | n + 4 | n + 5 and later |
Total number of human resources | n.a. | | | | | |
The proposal has no implication on human resources
5. CHARACTERISTICS AND OBJECTIVES
5.1. Need to be met in the short or long term
The Communication announces a number of actions for which a financing from the Community budget will be required :
a) actions to be financed through the budget lines 020304 "Standardisation" and 02010402 "Standardisation, Expenditure on administrative management." :
* setting up and implementation of standardisation programmes in support of sustainable industrial policy and of lead markets (sustainable construction, e-health, protective textiles, bio-based products, recycling, renewable energy, etc…)
* strengthening of the visibility of European standardisation, in particular in strategically important markets
* setting up by the European standardisation organisations of activities of technology watch and helpdesk
b) action to be financed through the budget line 020201 - CIP (ENTR) : increase of the financial support to European co-ordination of SME representatives in standardisation. An amount of 1mio€ has been earmarked in the Commission's decision of 10 December 2007 establishing the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Work programme for 2008. For subsequent years this amount will need to be further increased up to 2,65 mio p.a. (indicative amount).
The aforementioned actions [a) and b)] will be financed on the basis of a reallocation of credit inside the aforementioned budget lines without any change in the existing multi-annual financial programming.
5.2. Value-added of Community involvement and coherence of the proposal with other financial instruments and possible synergy
The Community co-financing will enable the standardisation bodies to set up necessary European standards within the required timeframe.
The co-financing of a technology watch and helpdesk activity will allow the instalment and maintenance of a European infrastructure of technology watch available for standardisation and foster the taking up of results of research output by standardisation.
The increased financial support for SME representation will improve the access of European SMEs to the European and international standardisation activities and therefore display synergies due to SME intermediates involvement at national level.
5.3. Objectives, expected results and related indicators of the proposal in the context of the ABM framework
The aforementioned actions will aim at promoting the setting up and use by stakeholders of international and European standards in key areas for innovation. The timely involvement of and input from European stakeholders, including SMEs, will improve the competitiveness of European industry. Indicators: execution of relevant standardisation programmes; publication of standards; uptake of new subjects within standardisation taking account of research output.
5.4. Method of Implementation (indicative)
Centralised Management
directly by the Commission
6. MONITORING AND EVALUATION
6.1. Monitoring system
6.2. Evaluation
6.2.1. Ex-ante evaluation
Ex-ante evaluations of funded activities will be carried out in accordance with the financial rules for each action.
6.2.2. Measures taken following an intermediate/ex-post evaluation (lessons learned from similar experiences in the past)
Not applicable
6.2.3. Terms and frequency of future evaluation
Every 5 years in accordance with Article 6(2) of Decision 1673/2006/EC of the European Parliament and the Council of 24.10.2006
7. Anti-fraud measures
Application of Decision 1673/2006/EC, Article 7
8. DETAILS OF RESOURCES
8.1. Objectives of the proposal in terms of their financial cost
n.a.
8.2. Administrative Expenditure
8.2.1. Number and type of human resources
Types of post | | Staff to be assigned to management of the action using existing and/or additional resources (number of posts/FTEs) |
| | Year n | Year n+1 | Year n+2 | Year n+3 | Year n+4 | Year n+5 |
Officials or temporary staff [23] (XX 01 01) | A*/AD | n.a. | | | | | |
| B*, C*/AST | n.a. | | | | | |
Staff financed [24] by art. XX 01 02 | n.a. | | | | | |
Other staff [25] financed by art. XX 01 04/05 | n.a. | | | | | |
TOTAL | | | | | | |
8.2.2. Description of tasks deriving from the action
n.a.
8.2.3. Sources of human resources (statutory)
8.2.4. Other Administrative expenditure included in reference amount (XX 01 04/05 – Expenditure on administrative management))
EUR million (to 3 decimal places)
Budget line(number and heading) | Year 2008 | Year 2009 | Year 2010 | Year 2011 | Year 2012 | Year 2013 and later | TOTAL |
1 Technical and administrative assistance (including related staff costs) | | | | | | | |
Executive agencies [26] | | | | | | | |
Other technical and administrative assistance | 0,3 | 0,5 | 0,5 | 0,5 | 0,5 | 0,5 | |
- intra muros | | | | | | | |
- extra muros | | | | | | | |
Total Technical and administrative assistance | | | | | | | |
8.2.5. Financial cost of human resources and associated costs not included in the reference amount
EUR million (to 3 decimal places)
Type of human resources | Year n | Year n+1 | Year n+2 | Year n+3 | Year n+4 | Year n+5and later |
Officials and temporary staff (XX 01 01) | n.a. | | | | | |
Staff financed by Art XX 01 02 (auxiliary, END, contract staff, etc.)(specify budget line) | n.a. | | | | | |
Total cost of Human Resources and associated costs (NOT in reference amount) | n.a. | | | | | |
Calculation– Officials and Temporary agents
n.a.
Calculation – Staff financed under art. XX 01 02
n.a.
8.2.6. Other administrative expenditure not included in reference amountEUR million (to 3 decimal places) |
| Year n | Year n+1 | Year n+2 | Year n+3 | Year n+4 | Year n+5and later | TOTAL |
XX 01 02 11 01 – Missions | n.a. | | | | | | |
XX 01 02 11 02 – Meetings & Conferences | n.a | | | | | | |
XX 01 02 11 03 – Committees [27] | n.a | | | | | | |
XX 01 02 11 04 – Studies & consultations | n.a | | | | | | |
XX 01 02 11 05 - Information systems | n.a | | | | | | |
2 Total Other Management Expenditure (XX 01 02 11) | n.a | | | | | | |
3 Other expenditure of an administrative nature (specify including reference to budget line) | n.a | | | | | | |
Total Administrative expenditure, other than human resources and associated costs (NOT included in reference amount) | n.a | | | | | | |
Calculation - Other administrative expenditure not included in reference amount
[1] http://www.eu2006.fi/news_and_documents/conclusions/vko50/en_GB/1165932111543/
[2] European Parliament resolution of 24 May 2007 on putting knowledge into practice: a broad-based innovation strategy for Europe
[3] COM(2006)502 final “Putting knowledge into practice: A broad-based innovation strategy for the EU”
[4] COM(2007)374, “Mid-term review of industrial policy. A contribution to the EU’s Growth and Jobs Strategy”
[5] CEN for the majority of sectors, CENELEC for the electro-technical area, ETSI in telecommunications
[6] IEC in the electro-technical area, ITU in telecommunications and ISO in most other areas, but also the International Civil Aviation Organisation, Codex Alimentarius, UN-CEFACT, etc
[7] OJ L 204, 21.7.1998, p.37
[8] COM(2004)674 on the role of European standardisation in the framework of European policies and legislation
[9] COM(2004)38, introducing ETAP, an Environmental Technologies Action Plan for the European Union
[10] COM (2007) 860 “A lead market initiative for Europe”
[11] Such as eHealth, sustainable construction and recycling and renewable energies
[12] Particularly relevant are SEC 2007 (280) Guide on dealing with innovative solutions in public procurement, and ongoing Europe Innova networks http://www.europe-innova.org
[13] Radio-Frequency Identification
[14] http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/ict/policy/standards/piper/full_report.pdf
[15] COM (2007)581 “‘The European Interest : succeeding in the age of globalisation’
[16] RTD: Research and Technological Development
[17] General guidelines for the co-operation between CEN, CENELEC and ETSI and the European Commission and the European Free Trade Association, signed on 28 March 2003. OJEU C 91 , 16/04/2003 p. 7
[18] http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/standards_policy/action_plan/index.htm
[19] Differentiated appropriations
[20] Non-differentiated appropriations hereafter referred to as NDA
[21] Expenditure within article xx 01 04 of Title xx.
[22] Expenditure within chapter xx 01 other than articles xx 01 04 or xx 01 05.
[23] Cost of which is NOT covered by the reference amount
[24] Cost of which is NOT covered by the reference amount
[25] Cost of which is included within the reference amount
[26] Reference should be made to the specific legislative financial statement for the Executive Agency(ies) concerned.
[27] Specify the type of committee and the group to which it belongs.
--------------------------------------------------