Standards

Standards stimulate and enable innovation and competiveness in Europe, and are a key objective of the EU-US Free Trade Agreement. Industry needs framework conditions which are the basis on which to invest, innovate and gain global market share in an increasingly competitive world. Standardisation brings efficiency and trust to industry and consumers. Across the JRC, three quarters of our work contributes to supporting the standardisation system in areas spanning from environmental monitoring to critical infrastructure protection and from food safety to nuclear safety and security.

Concretely our work on standards includes:

- Pre-normative research in areas such as health and life sciences, bio- and eco-technologies and nanotechnology;

- Measurement standards and quality assurance tools in industrial sectors, nuclear safeguards, and food and environment control;

- Harmonised methodologies;

- Certification;

- Foresight studies on the need for standards development and preparation of standards.

The JRC also supports European and worldwide standards in areas such as clean transport, water and renewable energies. In many international settings, the JRC represents the European position from a scientific and technical stand point.

It is essential for the EU economy that European standardisation adapts continuously to the fast changing global developments as well as to the new technological developments. The European Solar Test Installation (ESTI) is an example of the way we examine emerging technologies under certain standards and conditions.

Standards are an integral part of Horizon 2020, the EU's Framework Programme for research and innovation.