Brussels – Technical standards for goods, products, commodities, and even services. There are many – too many – standards to comply with, and the cost to businesses in terms of time lost and money spent is high – too high. The European Commission intends to take remedial action with a new regulation on technical standards (standard regulation) which, if approved, will reduce the average time required to draw up and comply with a European standard from six to four years, and save businesses €300 million a year in compliance costs.
The fundamental issue is that the process of placing any product on the single market is far too cumbersome. The current system of technical specifications and standards to be met is based on cooperation between recognised European standardisation bodies (CEN, CENELEC and ETSI), national standardisation bodies, industry, public authorities, consumer representatives, trade unions, environmental organisations and other stakeholders. This is a convoluted process, compounded by the technological revolution: as officials in Brussels point out, the current standardisation system faces the challenge of keeping pace with rapid innovation and technological developments, which require standards to be drawn up promptly.
Hence the decision to bring about changes that will benefit the “European system”: “A robust European standardisation system is essential for the smooth functioning of the single market, for competitiveness, for our technological sovereignty, and for our economic security”, emphasises Stéphane Séjourné, Executive Vice-President responsible for industry.
Reform tailored to SMEs, and a greater central role for the Commission
The proposal for a new regulation provides for a requirement for greater involvement of small and medium-sized enterprises, requiring national standardisation bodies to reduce the costs of participation in standardisation activities for SMEs. Beyond that, the existing structure is not significantly altered. https://www.eunews.it/en/2026/02/12/one-europe-one-market-von-der-leyen-announces-eu-competitiveness-roadmap/
At the European level, the drafting of technical regulations is entrusted to three officially recognised standardisation organisations: the CEN (European Committee for Standardisation), which covers most sectors; the CENELEC (European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardisation), for the electrotechnical sector; and the ETSI (European Telecommunications Standards Institute), for telecommunications and information technology. The three bodies work in collaboration with the national standardisation bodies of each Member State, and the technical content is drawn up by experts from industry, public authorities, consumer organisations, workers’ representatives, environmental organisations, academia, and other relevant groups.
Under this system, a change is to be made that is regarded as “fundamental” to harmonising and centralising the whole process: the Commission, after consulting the European standardisation organisations, will be able to submit standardisation requests to the designated standardisation bodies. This will enable the required expertise to be mobilised rapidly, without bypassing the standardisation organisations. The EU executive acts on behalf of businesses, offering them fast-track procedures for the approval of products to be placed on the market.
Other changes provided for in the measure include the adoption of key performance indicators and real-time monitoring via a digital platform. Added to this is the introduction of binding deadlines, the simplification of procedures and “alternative routes” for submitting certain requests from the Commission to standardisation bodies other than the three mentioned above.
The reform proposal will now require the approval of the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union to become a reality. Séjourné calls for support for the new regulation: “Regulations may be technical in nature, but they are also strategic: those who define them shape the technologies, products, and markets of tomorrow.”
English version by the Translation Service of Withub
