Commission’s Communication on Harmonised standards: Enhancing transparency and legal certainty for a fully functioning Single Market

Posted on 06.12.2018

On 22 November, the European Commission published the communication “Harmonised standards: Enhancing transparency and legal certainty for a fully functioning Single Market”. The Communication provides an overview of the functioning of the European standardisation system, takes stock of the initiatives launched in recent years and presents four key actions that the Commission will immediately undertake to enhance the efficiency, transparency and legal certainty for the actors involved in the development of harmonised standards:
• Eliminate, as rapidly as possible, the remaining backlog of harmonised standards that are not yet published in the Official Journal of the European Union,
• Streamline internal decision making processes, in particular the decision of publishing the references to harmonised standards in the Official Journal,
• Elaborate a guidance document on practical aspects of implementing the Standardisation Regulation,
• Reinforce, on an on-going basis, the system of consultants to support swift and robust assessments of harmonised standards and timely publication in the Official Journal.