Report from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council and the European Economic and Social Committee. The operation of Directive 98/34/EC from 2011 to 2013

This report analyses the application of the procedures laid down by Directive 98/34/EC from 2011 to 2013 as regards technical regulations and for 2011 and 2012 as regards standards (the standardisation part of Directive 98/34/EC was repealed as of 1 January 2013 by Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012 on European standardisation, in order to better address future challenges in European standardisation). It highlights the important contribution of the notification procedure to the functioning of the single market and to the implementation of the Better Regulation policy.

The standardisation part consists of the information procedure on standards, the Commission requests to the European Standards Organisations (ESOs) for standardisation work (mandates), and formal objections against standards. Each of these activities has proved to be an important element in the functioning of the single market. The information procedure has brought transparency to standards at national and thus also European level and has encouraged National Standards Bodies (NSBs) to continue to take initiatives at European level, which in turn promotes European harmonisation. Formal objections have enabled Member States and the Commission to ensure that standards meet the goals of regulation when used for the purposes of ‘New Approach’ legislation. Mandates have provided the means by which the relationship between the Commission services and standardisation bodies is determined; the interface between the policy level and its technical expression.

In the field of technical regulations, the notification to the Commission of national technical regulations prior to their adoption has again proved to be an effective instrument of prevention of barriers to trade and of cooperation between the Commission and the Member States and among the Member States themselves. The notification procedure has been an important tool for guiding national regulatory activity in certain emerging sectors and improving the quality of national technical regulations - in terms of transparency, readability and effectiveness - in non-harmonised or partly harmonised areas. The greater clarity in the legal framework of the Member States has helped economic operators reduce the cost of accessing the regulations and applying them correctly.

EUR-Lex: SWD(2015)137: Commission Staff Working Document accompanying the report http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=SWD:2015:137:FIN

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