ANEC welcomes the revision of Regulation (EU) 1025/2012 and supports focused amendments that strengthen, rather than overhaul, the European Standardization System.
Standardization must remain a technical tool that follows political decisions. Clearer Standardization Requests are therefore needed, and the European Commission should retain final responsibility for ensuring harmonized standards comply with EU law and the Charter of Fundamental Rights. ANEC also calls for a permanent multidisciplinary assessment structure within the Commission to replace the current HAS Consultant system.
Timely delivery of standards is important, but ANEC stresses that speeding up procedures must not weaken inclusiveness, transparency or the quality of the final outcome. Consumer and other public-interest representation remains limited in many national committees, and EU support for Annex III organizations continues to be essential in complementing the national delegation principle.
ANEC also highlights that international standards used in EU legislation must fully reflect EU values and fundamental rights. This requires closer monitoring of international work, clearer guidance on when European standardization may be outsourced, and more support for underrepresented stakeholders who participate in ISO or IEC processes.
Finally, ANEC insists that harmonized standards must be accessible to all potential users. Controlled read-only access, multilingual versions, and machine-readable formats are needed to improve transparency and legal certainty.
Overall, ANEC sees the revision as an opportunity to reinforce an inclusive, reliable and legally robust standardization system that protects consumers, raises competitiveness, and strengthens the Single Market.
