(1)

Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council (3) establishes rules with regard to the establishment of European standards and European standardisation deliverables for products and for services, in support of Union legislation and policies.

(2)

In accordance with Article 10 of Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012, the Commission may request one or more European standardisation organisations to draft a European standard or European standardisation deliverable.

(3)

European standards and European standardisation deliverables play an important role in the internal market and consumer protection. Standards not only determine the technical aspects of products and services, but they also play an important role for workers, consumers and the environment. For example, harmonised standards can be used to confer a presumption that products to be made available on the market are in conformity with the essential requirements laid down in the relevant Union harmonisation legislation for those products, while ensuring the quality and safety of products and services for consumers and protecting the environment.

(4)

In the past, practices in the European standardisation organisations as regards their internal governance and decision-making procedures have changed. As a result of those changes, the European standardisation organisations have increased their cooperation with international and European stakeholders. Such cooperation is welcome as it contributes to a transparent, open and impartial standardisation process built on consensus. Nevertheless, when European standardisation organisations execute standardisation requests in support of Union legislation and policies, it is essential that their internal decisions take into account the interests, policy objectives and values of the Union, as well as public interests in general.

(5)

In line with Articles 5 and 6 of Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012, sound procedures and a balanced representation of relevant stakeholders’ interests, including those stakeholders representing, inter alia, SMEs and environmental, social and consumer interests, are essential, and therefore should be ensured. The views of, and the input from, all relevant stakeholders should be taken into account in European standardisation organisations. Furthermore, the views expressed in the national consultations conducted by national standardisation bodies should be taken into account when taking decisions on European standards and European standardisation deliverables requested under Article 10(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012.

(6)

National standardisation bodies play an essential role in the standardisation system, both at Union level, in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012, and at Member State level. National standardisation bodies are therefore best placed to ensure that the interests, policy objectives and values of the Union, as well as public interests in general, are duly taken into account in European standardisation organisations. It is therefore necessary to strengthen their role in the decision-making bodies of the European standardisation organisations when those bodies take decisions concerning European standards and European standardisation deliverables requested by the Commission under Article 10(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012, without affecting the important role played by the broader stakeholder base in preparing effective standards that respond to public interest and market needs.

(7)

The decision-making bodies of the European standardisation organisations are open for participation not only by national standardisation bodies, but also, inter alia, by national standardisation organisations of acceding countries, candidate countries and other countries which have formally become members of the European standardisation organisations in question and have concluded an agreement with the Union to ensure regulatory convergence. In order to avoid excluding those organisations from participating in the work of the decision-making bodies concerned, it is only necessary to provide that the decisions in those bodies concerning European standards and European standardisation deliverables requested under Article 10(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012 be taken exclusively by representatives of national standardisation bodies, without imposing any other requirements on the work of the decision-making bodies of the European standardisation organisations. Participation by the national standardisation organisations of third countries in the work of the European standardisation organisations should not prevent the adoption of any decision concerning European standards and European standardisation deliverables requested by the Commission where such decision has the support of the national standardisation bodies from Member States and EEA countries only.

(8)

In order for the requirement that decisions in the decision-making bodies of European standardisation organisations concerning European standards and European standardisation deliverables requested by the Commission under Article 10(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012 be taken exclusively by representatives of national standardisations bodies to be effective, it is necessary to provide that the Commission should only make such requests to a European standardisation organisation that complies with that requirement.

(9)

Standardisation procedures entail decisions that require specific work streams, which should be deemed to constitute separate work items. Such work items are initiated in order either to develop a new, or to revise, merge, amend or correct an existing European standard or European standardisation deliverable.

(10)

Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012 should therefore be amended accordingly.

(11)

In order to allow the European standardisation organisations to adapt, where necessary, their internal rules of procedure to comply with the requirements of this Regulation, its application should be deferred,

(1)

paragraph 1 is replaced by the following:

(2)

the following paragraph is inserted: