Some keynote messages on standardization and trade between US and EU Challenges and opportunities for a ANSI CEN-CENELEC-ETSI enhanced Cooperation Francisco J. VERDERA CEN-CENELEC-ETSI / External Relations Officer
3 European Standards Organizations (ESOs): CEN European committee for standardization; CENELEC European committee for electrotechnical standardization; ETSI- European Telecommunications Standards Institute.
Similarities and Differences Vienna, 1991 (>30%) Dresden, 1996 (>75%) National standards bodies Industry, consumers, users, associations, federations, Industry (80%) Public sector, users, R&D (20%) Extra EU +/- 30%
European standardization: some important assets Fully harmonized market for industrial and consumer products (same standards EU+EFTA countries); Market driven standardization processes & voluntary standards; Clear links of standards with regulations; Clear conformity assessment for legal compliance; Highly based on ISO and IEC Standardization (CEN-CENELEC); Wide use of European standards by third countries and regions; High level of consumer and environmental protection; Growth of European Standards for services; Simple, transparent and coherent system for market access.
Relations with US standardization system Technical cooperation on ad-hoc basis; Regular exchanges of information with ANSI; ANSI is key (unique reference partner ); Agreement with ANSI to go further in our cooperation, and facilitate proposed US-EU Trade Agreement. (Currently, communications from US standardization system to EC- EFTA and other European stakeholders is highly decentralized); (Big asymmetries regarding access to information on use of standards and conformity assessment in the different US administration levels, compared to EU-EFTA).
ETSI relations to US SDOs TIA: Co-operation Agreement partners since 1994 Technical co-operation in numerous areas Partnership Project partners in: Project Mesa (www.projectmesa.org) OneM2M (www.onem2m.org) Global Standards Collaboration (GSC) presence as one of the participating Standards Organizations ATIS: North American organizational and founding partner of 3GPP MoU partners since 2010 GSC member
ETSI relations to US SDOs IEEE Standards Association (IEEE-SA) MoU partners since 2009 EC Multi-stakeholder Platform for ICT standardization stakeholder participant Global Standards Collaboration (GSC) presence as one of the participating Standards Organizations
Requirements for a sound bilateral US-EU trade agreement Standards are key to unlock the potential of the EU- US trade relation; Role of ANSI in the process is also essential as the interface for Europe with the US standardization system; Reduce information asymmetries on standards and conformity assessment (US); Essential to apply reciprocity on measures; Need for strong signal to both authorities and stakeholders that US and EU standardization systems are working together.
What happens in a no change scenario? Opportunity lost; Wrong message to our respective stakeholders (including industries and the authorities); Keep basic cooperation on ad-hoc basis; Uncertainty about the real progress of a proposed US-EU trade agreement; Inefficient use of resources, in terms of lobbying and promotion (each side just trying to change the other system, no further commitment or progress); US and EU are not alone in the world (competition from third countries and regions).
Benefits and potential of enhanced dialogue Increase transparency and information about the US system (specially for SMEs); Minimize the burden on US and European industry for market access; Improve results, on a changing and challenging international market scenario; Increased synergies between both systems; Enhanced citizens protection; Maximize competitiveness of our respective industries.
Key messages Coordinated communication channels ANSI CEN- CENELEC-ETSI and between relevant US - EU Authorities; Avoid bypassing these channels (distortion); Understanding and respecting our differences; Ensure symmetry of information about standards and conformity assessment used in legal compliance (critical for SMEs); Ensure adequate reciprocity of measures; Ensure Win-Win situations, and Need to show real progress for our end users (real stakeholders, beyond the existing infrastructures ).
Thank you very much for your attention Francisco J. VERDERA CEN-CENELEC-ETSI / External Relations Officer ero@cencenelec.eu coopera@aenor.es