Memo: Standards help businesses and protect consumers – World Standards Day

Standards improve compatibility, interoperability, safety or quality of products and services. Standards were never as important as today with mobile phone or software companies publicly battling for the domination of their respective technical specifications. Consumers strongly call for standards when it comes to chargers, e.g. for electric cars or bikes.

As a foundation of the internal market European standards help EU businesses to overcome barriers caused by divergent national standards. Harmonised standards allow EU industry to compete on a level playing field thus increasing consumer trust in the market. Moreover, standardisation can promote the development of new and innovative products. Therefore, to raise awareness of the importance of standardisation to the global economy, supporting industry, consumers and authorities, several international standardisation institutions1 organise the World Standards Day, each year on 14th October. To celebrate this day, the Commission is organising an important meeting with stakeholders and industry that will improve cooperation at EU level to bridge challenges with solutions in the ever evolving standardisation world.