The European Commission (EC) has published a new Standardization Strategy outlining the EU's approach to standards within the Single Market as well as globally. The Strategy is accompanied by a proposal for an amendment to the Regulation on standardization, a report on its implementation, and the 2022 annual Union work programme for European standardization. This new Strategy aims to strengthen the EU's global competitiveness, enable a resilient, green, and digital economy, and to enshrine democratic values in technology applications. The new Standardization strategy illustrates the EU approach to standards concerning the Single Market and globally proposes five main actions:

• Anticipate, prioritize and address standardization needs in strategic areas

• Improve the governance and integrity of the European standardization system

• Enhance European leadership in global standards

• Support innovation

• Enable the next generation of standardization experts

As part of the European Standardization Package, the Commission presented a proposal for an amendment to Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012 – which sets the principles for how the European Standardization Organizations (ESOs) support European legislation – and subjected it to a consultation process to receive input from interested stakeholders. In particular, the proposed amendment concerns the decisions of ESOs concerning European standards and European standardization deliverables.

Given the relevance of the topic and their commitment to contribute to the reflection on the future of the European Standardization System (ESS), CEN and CENELEC, as two of the officially recognized ESOs, issued a response. In particular, the two organizations welcome the proposed amendment of Regulation 1025/2012 and the fact that it emphasizes the national delegation principle.

The Commission proposed new rules on who can use, and access data generated in the EU across all economic sectors. The Data Act will ensure fairness in the digital environment, stimulate a competitive data market, open opportunities for data-driven innovation and make data more accessible for all. It will lead to new, innovative services and more competitive prices for aftermarket services and repairs of connected objects. This last horizontal building block of the Commission's data strategy will play a key role in the digital transformation, in line with the 2030 digital objectives. 

In addition, the Data Act reviews certain aspects of the Database Directive, which was created in the 1990s to protect investments in the structured presentation of data. Notably, it clarifies that databases containing data from Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices and objects should not be subject to separate legal protection. This will ensure they can be accessed and used.

Privacy and personal data protection are essential in our current society as our offline and digital experiences are increasingly entwined. To ensure that these essential values are taken into account early on in the development of products and services, newly developed EN 17529 ‘Data protection and privacy by design and by default’ provides manufacturers and service providers with requirements before, or independently of, any specific application integration.

EN 17529 was developed in response to a request from the European Commission and is a perfect example of how European standards can be developed to complement international adoptions to address European values. Under this same mandate, there are also two Technical Reports that are currently being finalized which contain recommendations on how to integrate the principle of ‘data protection and privacy by design’ during the entire lifecycle of biometric access-control products and services, in order to achieve ‘data protection and privacy by default’. EN 17529 was developed by CEN-CLC/JTC 13 ‘Cybersecurity and Data Protection’, the Secretariat of which is currently held by DIN. JTC 13 is currently working on more standards to address similar issues, notably through its Working Group 5 ‘Data Protection, Privacy and Identity Management’.

The Commission proposed new rules to establish common cybersecurity and information security measures across the EU institutions, bodies, offices and agencies. The proposal aims to bolster their resilience and response capacities against cyber threats and incidents, as well as to ensure a resilient, secure EU public administration, amidst rising malicious cyber activities in the global landscape. 

Cybersecurity Regulation: The proposed Cybersecurity Regulation will put in place a framework for governance, risk management and control in the cybersecurity area. It will lead to the creation of a new inter-institutional Cybersecurity Board, boost cybersecurity capabilities, and stimulate regular maturity assessments and better cyber-hygiene. It will also extend the mandate of the Computer Emergency Response Team for the EU institutions, bodies, offices and agencies (CERT-EU), as a threat intelligence, information exchange and incident response coordination hub, a central advisory body, and a service provider.

ETSI has just released GS PDL 011 the first in a series of specifications that are concerned with the implementation of permissioned distributed ledgers (PDL). This and following specifications will help with the realization of the numerous operational and security advantages of a decentralized approach to the recording of transactions, while simultaneously being both inexpensive to perform and inherently scalable.

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ETSI’s industry specification group for PDL (ISG PDL) was formed with the objective of establishing an open ecosystem upon which trusted and fully compatible PDL solutions could be built. The group includes mobile operators, semiconductor vendors, telecom equipment suppliers, agriculture manufacturers, automotive brands, plus several highly respected research institutes.

The new PDL group specification (GS PDL 011) produced by the ETSI ISG will provide a functional framework to adhere to when smart contract activities are being undertaken, without repudiation being a threat. This will thereby prevent the prospect of fraud occurring.

Since 17 March all smartphones sold in Europe are required to comply with Advanced Mobile Location for emergency communications. AML was standardized in ETSI TS 103 625 by the ETSI technical committee on emergency communications (EMTEL) in December 2019. It is already helping emergency services dispatch the needed resources efficiently in Europe and worldwide.

AML meets the requirements of the Delegated Regulation 2019/320 which makes it mandatory that all the smartphones sold in the European single market send the caller’s handset-derived location information when launching an emergency communication. The legislation specifically requires that smartphones process data from Global Navigation Systems, compatible and interoperable with at least the Galileo system, and Wi-Fi data to establish the caller's position. AML is a protocol to transport the data (using SMS and/or HTTPS) from the smartphone to the emergency call centre. It provides the accurate location of the caller to the Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) in a manner that is compliant with privacy regulations.

In parallel, ETSI is finalizing ETSI TS 103 825 that will provide the Test Purposes to develop AML test descriptions for handsets. This new standard will help Notified Bodies assess the compliance of manufacturers’ smartphones with AML. AML is supported by the main two operating systems, iOS and Android, and is already deployed in 30 countries worldwide.

The Commission proposed to update the EU consumer rules to empower consumers for the green transition. The updated rules will ensure that consumers can take informed and environment-friendly choices when buying their products. Consumers will have a right to know how long a product is designed to last for and how, if at all, it can be repaired. In addition, the rules will strengthen consumer protection against untrustworthy or false environmental claims, banning ‘greenwashing' and practices misleading consumers about the durability of a product.

The European Commission presented proposals to update and modernize the Industrial Emissions Directive, key legislation to help prevent and control pollution. Updated rules will help guide industrial investments necessary for Europe's transformation towards a zero-pollution, competitive, climate-neutral economy by 2050. They aim to spur innovation, reward frontrunners, and help level the playing field on the EU market. The revision will help provide long-term investment certainty, with first new obligations on industry expected in the second half of the decade.  

The revision builds on the overall approach of the existing Industrial Emissions Directive, which currently covers some 50,000 large industrial installations and intensive livestock farms in Europe. These installations need to comply to emissions conditions by applying activity specific ‘Best Available Techniques'. These techniques are determined together by industry, national and Commission experts, and civil society. The new rules will cover more relevant sources of emissions, make permitting more effective, reduce administrative costs, increase transparency, and give more support to breakthrough technologies and other innovative approaches.

The Commission signed grant agreements of €1.1 billion with seven large-scale projects via the EU Innovation Fund, funded by revenues from the EU's Emissions Trading System (ETS). These projects aim to reduce emissions by over 76 Mt of CO2eq during the first ten years of operation. The seven projects are deploying innovative low-carbon technologies at industrial scale, covering key sectors such as hydrogen, steel, chemicals, cement, solar energy, biofuels, and carbon capture and storage.