Commission sets out to reform ICT standardisation

The Commission wants the European Union to reshape its approach to standards-setting to give Europe greater influence on international standards in information and communication technologies.

Over the last decade, the traditional standards setting organisations, such as national standards institutes and bodies such as the International Telecommunication Union, have been sidelined by specialised industry consortia, for example in the mobile phone market, and global bodies, such as those controlling standards on the World Wide Web.

This shift in influence is not reflected in the EU’s standardisation policy. Industry-dictated standards cannot be referenced in public procurement, even if they are stable and could help to achieve policy goals, such as interoperability within e-health systems. Without reform the EU will also face obstacles in its attempts to drive the development and promotion of international standards for personal data protection.

Now, the Commission has published a White Paper setting out a number of policy options and is inviting comments. It says the proposed reforms should increase the possibility of using and referencing EU recognised standards in legislation and public procurement. The reforms will also give the EU a bigger influence on international standard-setting in ICT.

The following policy options are suggested in the White Paper:

• Defining the attributes which make ICT standards eligible for association with EU legislation and policies. Ten such attributes are proposed based on the World Trade Organisation criteria for international standardisation organisations (such as openness, treatment of intellectual property rights, consensus etc.)

• Creating a permanent stakeholders’ platform to advise the Commission on the objectives and priorities of ICT standardisation policy and its implementation.

• Allowing the Commission to reference specific ICT fora and consortia standards meeting the attributes, in areas where there are no European Standardisation Organisation standards, in policies and legislation.

• Updating public procurement rules for ICT systems by enabling referencing not only of products, but also services and applications. The suggested reforms will provide a better level of interoperability of publically procured ICT services and applications.

Such a new standardisation policy should allow the use of and reference to ICT standards irrespective of their origin, if the necessary conditions are met.

The white paper is intended as the first move in the consultation of stakeholders such as public authorities, consumers, companies and industry and standards developing organisations. Comments are invited up to 15 September 2009.