Intense debate on certification of services

Published 07-03-2012
Can we afford to continue without cross-border recog­nition of certification of services or should we promote for example pan-European solutions? And what role should the standardisation of services play at national and European level? These topics were discussed at a workshop on the role of certification linked to standardisation that took place on 1 March 2012. The event was hosted by the EFTA Secretariat and Nordic Innovation in cooperation with the European Commission, CEN, ANEC and Normapme.

The workshop was attended by 40 participants and chaired by Mr Håkan Jonsson, Senior Consultant at the Swedish-based consultancy firm Hallvarsson and Halvarsson. Links to the presentations can be found at the bottom of this page.

The Managing Director of Nordic Innovation, Ms Kari Winquist, welcomed the participants and highlighted the continuous efforts of Nordic Innovation and EFTA to raise awareness of the role of certification in achieving a single market for services, most recently through the Technopolis study on services certification linked to service standards at national level in Europe. Ms Winquist emphasised the importance of increasing trade in services to enhance European competitiveness, job creation and efficiency, and invited experts to discuss how best to ensure that the increased use of standards and certificates facilitates harmonisation rather than fragmentation of the Single Market.

Mr Tore N. Thomassen from the EFTA Secretariat and Mr Johan England from Nordic Innovation opened the discussions with a dialogue focusing on the different functions of certification of services. Enhanced consumer trust and increased service quality were emphasised as important dimensions of the certification process and formal standards were considered the desired basis for the development of certification schemes. It was held, however, that certification may constitute an obstacle to trade and increase the cost of services in the absence of cross-border recognition of schemes. Several questions were posed to the other participants: Should we promote standards for the purpose of certification? When should public authorities intervene? Why has the industry been less concerned with seeking more cross-border recognition of certification?

Mr Jacques McMillan from DG Enterprise and Industry emphasised in his keynote remark that the objective of certification should be to contribute to the credibility of products and services, and that certification should be the result of industry demand. In his presentation, Mr McMillan challenged the assumption that services are manifestly different from products, inviting the participants to reflect on whether the regulatory tools used for facilitating trade in products were also feasible for services. Finally, Mr McMillan emphasised that certification should be used as a quality tool rather than as a means of policing the market, and warned of proliferation of national certification schemes at the cost of European solutions.

Mr James Stroyan from Technopolis Ltd presented the main findings of the study on services certification. The study identified 380 national service standards and 55 European service standards, as well as 163 certification schemes operated at national level and linked to one or more of these service standards. The study also found that the rate of development of new service standards was higher at national level than at European level, and that the trends indicated that this gap would become wider in future. Approximately one in four service standards have led to the development of related certification schemes, and in some service sectors the study identified overlapping schemes operating in different countries. Mr Stroyan stressed, however, that the motivation for certifying a service could vary across sectors and that regulators should be wary of pushing for a “one-size-fits-all” European solution.

Ms Heide Rühle, Member of the European Parliament, gave a brief presentation on the developments of the negotiations in Parliament on the proposal for a regulation on standardisation. Ms Rühle emphasised that standardisation had been a successful tool for increasing trade in goods, and that the European Parliament was considering whether and how to integrate services standardisation. It was evident from the number of questions and comments Ms Rühle received from the participants that her presentation had hit upon the interest of the workshop.

Mr Hoang Liauw, Secretary to the CEN Certification Board, gave a presentation on the Keymark, focusing in particular on solar thermal collectors. Mr Liauw emphasised that the industry had been the driving force behind the establishment of the Solar Keymark, and that industry demand was a critical success factor. In order for the Solar Keymark and other pan-European schemes to be successful, Mr Liauw underlined the importance of securing the support of regulators, of the existence of accredited testing and certification bodies, and of using European standards as a basis for developing certification schemes.

Mr Peter Jonas from Austrian Standards plus Certification informed the participants that certified services existed in Austria, indicating that the notion of certification was successful and that certification worked. Mr Jonas did not consider it realistic though to expect the services sector to be more proactive in establishing pan-European solutions than the products sector. It was emphasised that certification was often used in order to assign the service a quality seal, as professional service providers wished to distinguish themselves from less serious service providers in the market. Whilst Mr Jonas underlined that European and international standards should form the basis of certification schemes, certification nevertheless remained a “national” mindset.

Mr Daniel Makay from HOTREC stated in his presentation that quality charters or labels drawn up by professional bodies at EU level, as envisaged in Article 26 (1) (b) of the Services Directive, was the preferred method of ensuring the quality of services in the tourism industry. In response to the Services Directive, Mr Makay informed the participants that HOTREC had set up the European Hospitality Scheme and the Hotelstars Scheme. Mr Makay emphasised that standards should remain voluntary, as an obligation to comply with standards would disadvantage micro-enterprises, and that standards should continue to be market driven, easily accessible and consensus based.

Ms Ellen Troska from FEDEMAC presented the approach to certification in the moving sector. Experience from the moving sector demonstrated that standards were not necessarily developed at European level because market players sought to maintain their niches on the national market and were reluctant to educate competitors through a transparent standardisation process. Ms Troska emphasised that cross-border recognition of certification was an appropriate solution for the moving industry, and that this would generate beneficial effects for private and commercial customers as well as for cooperation partners. She stated, however, that even in the event that certification was recognised across borders, this would not necessarily imply harmonisation of the services provided.
The final round of discussions was opened by some brief comments from Mr Konstantinos Dimitriadis from DG MARKT, Mr Klaus Tillmann from Normapme and Mr Stephen Russell from ANEC. Mr Dimitriadis indicated that DG MARKT would host a workshop this autumn, building inter alia on the findings of the three studies commissioned by Nordic Innovation on the certification of services. Mr Russell conveyed the view that European standards would not be effective without a level regulatory playing field, and emphasised that quality of services should be the main requirement for certification. Mr Tillmann was of the view that we should not continue without cross-border recognition of certification services, but was uncertain whether promoting pan-European solutions was right in every case.

The participants expressed diverse views on the issue of certification, and the workshop sparked lively discussions on the role of certification and standardisation in achieving a single market for services. Not all stakeholders were of the opinion that pan-European solutions necessarily had a role to play in the certification of services, as services were perceived to be more local in nature than products. Considering that an increasing number of services are procured online, several of the participants nevertheless questioned this assumption.

The workshop highlighted that it would be useful to clarify the exact role of standards and certification in services in light of Article 26 of the Services Directive. Whilst the participants agreed that certification should ideally be based on European standards, the discussion also demonstrated that standards might be applied successfully without the establishment of correlated certification schemes. Service providers and customers should therefore preferably agree on the need for standards and certification. In addition, there was concern that the increased use of standards and certification would harm the competitive process in the market, and several participants stressed that standards must remain voluntary and on a de facto basis.

Finally, the important question was raised of whether industry and regulators should grasp the opportunity to promote cross-border recognition of certification of services now, even in the absence of a clearly-identified problem for the services sector. Whilst some participants were concerned that the experience of the products sector was now repeating itself in the services sector, others were less certain that facilitating overarching solutions for the entire services sector would necessarily produce the best practical results.

The issue of standardisation and certification of services should remain a topic of debate in order to find the best approach for creating a single market for services. As the Technopolis study has demonstrated, the window of opportunity is here and now!

Workshop Programme

Presentations at the workshop:

  • Jacques McMillan, European Commission: Objective of the Services Directive
  • James Stroyan, Technopolis: A Study on Services Certification linked to Service Standards at National Level in Europe
  • Hoang Liauw, CEN Certification Board: One standard- One test- One mark
  • Peter Jonas, Austrian Standards plus: Certification of Services
  • Daniel Makay, HOTREC: Presentation will be available shortly
  • Ellen Troska, Federation of European Movers Associations: Harmonisation or Fragmentation in the Single Market for Services

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