Public Consultation for Revision of the EU Standardisation System Regulation
The European Standardisation System (ESS) represents a public-private partnership between the European Commission, the European Standardisation Organisations (ESOs), Member State National Standardisation Bodies (NSBs) and societal stakeholders from across industry, academia and civil society organisations.
The EU Standardisation System Regulation (Regulation 1025/2012) provides the ‘rulebook’ for the effective functioning of this partnership, setting out the principles of governance, including the requirement for inclusiveness and balanced representation, whilst ensuring that standards developed are of a high quality and are produced in a timely manner. At its core, the regulation is concerned with the effective and efficient delivery of harmonised standards that are requested by the European Commission to one of the ESOs.
Harmonised standards help to eliminate technical barriers to trade, promote innovation and growth, and contribute to the free movement of goods and services within the European Single Market. Whilst compliance with standards is voluntary, use of these harmonised standards provides a convenient way to demonstrate compliance with EU law through the concept of ‘presumption of conformity’.
After more than ten years since its introduction, the EU Commission is currently evaluating the effectiveness and efficiency of the Regulation. In the context of rapid technological development, essential for green transition and digital transformation, and in a changing political and economic landscape, the evaluation and potential future revisions are of great significance to the standardisation community and its stakeholders.
In June 2025, the EU Commission published its evaluation which highlighted the benefits that the Regulation has brought about, whilst also identifying areas for improvement under headings including - speed and flexibility, inclusiveness, access & transparency, and approaches to ensure EU’s position as a global standard setter. The Commission is now seeking further stakeholder engagement in parallel with progressing its assessment for the impact of potential proposed revisions.
The current public consultation is therefore an important opportunity for all developers and users of standards from industry, government, academia and civil society as well as technical committee members and wider stakeholders, to have their say in the future development of European Standards. Further information and portal for public consultation submission are available here: Standardisation Regulation – revision
Further useful resources from NSAI and the ESOs:
CEN / CENELEC : Shaping the Future: A New Era for European Standardization Policy - CEN-CENELEC
ETSI Position Papers: ETSI - Position Papers I ETSI Position Papers
NSAI Response to the Regulation 1025/ 2012 Call for Evidence - Response
[Disclaimer: All reasonable effort was made to ensure that the information on this page was correct at the time of publication. Any views or opinions expressed on this page are not necessarily those of NSAI. NSAI accepts no responsibility or liability howsoever arising from the contents of this publication or any errors, inaccuracies, or omissions in the contents of the information provided therein.]
