21.03.2025

Standardization in the “Brussels bubble” 

Hulda Niinistö, EU Policy Project Manager at CEN and CENELEC. Part 1 of 3.

Standardization has become a hot topic in the ”Brussels bubble”. The European Commission is in the process of reviewing Regulation 1025/2012 (the regulation that underpins European standardization and the relations with European Standardization Organisations) to determine whether it is still fit for purpose. So, we are preparing for a busy policy season at CEN and CENELEC.  
 
The Competitiveness Compass that was published in January 2025 to guide the Commission’s work for the next five years confirms that the EU legislative framework for standardization will be revised. This strategic document identifies the need to make the standard-setting process faster and more accessible, in particular for SMEs and startups, to strengthen Europe’s Single Market. The proposal for a revision of Regulation 1025/2012 is expected to be published by the Commission in the first half of 2026.  

The High-Level Forum on European Standardization (HLF) is another exciting topic in Brussels. The HLF is a European Commission expert group established in 2023 as set out by the EU Strategy on Standardization. The forum, which includes 60 members from EU/EEA nations, European standards groups, business, civil society, and academia, provides an excellent setting for all the stakeholders to converse on standardisation topics. The goal is to identify standardization priorities that complement EU policies and regulations, as well as to discuss horizontal topics such as international leadership, education, and skills in a multi-stakeholder format. It includes a total of 16 workstreams, both horizontal and vertical, that create recommendations for different stakeholders. (Check out the latest HLF meeting here.) 

The HLF is overall a symbol of a somewhat bigger trend: standardization is increasingly being used to meet European policy and legislative goals. The Cyber Resilience Act, EU Trusted Data Framework, Digital Product Passport and Artificial Intelligence are just some of the major flagship legislations for which CEN and CENELEC are actively developing standards in support of.  

CEN and CENELEC also contribute to Europe’s green transition: this was identified as critical to achieving European competitiveness by Mario Draghi in his report “The Future of European Competitiveness” (2024), by developing standards for hydrogen, eco-design, carbon capture and critical raw materials to name a few. Standards shape the market, and those who shape the market can secure a competitive lead.  

As global powers have realized the power of standards, standardization has become tied to the whirlpool of today’s geopolitics. Traditionally, standard setting was viewed as a technical process, led at the international level by the United States and European countries. But recently other countries, notably China, have taken a more active role and started leading the global competition for standard setting, especially in emerging technologies. This is chiefly evident in China’s Standards 2035 Strategy, focused on the development of technology standards and their internationalisation. It includes the creation of new standardization research institutes, certification centres, standards innovation bases and financing researchers and companies for standard setting work.  

As Europe also relies on international standards and markets, Europe has been scaling up its influence in global standard setting amidst the fierce competition. It has done so through a series of initiatives which leverage the power of the Single Market and try to establish the “Brussels effect” in the technical domain. The European Parliament in its resolution of 16 September 2021 called for the development of global standards for the new generation of technologies in line with democratic values and in partnership with other likeminded entities. The 2022 Standardization Strategy also clearly set out Europe’s aspiration to take the lead in global standard setting.  

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