EFTA suggestions for the EU 2020 Strategy

Published 12-01-2010
The EFTA Secretariat, on behalf of the EFTA Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Committee, has forwarded concrete suggestions to the European Commission in response to a consultation on the EU 2020 Strategy, which is under preparation and which will be adopted during the March EU Summit (see European Commission Document COM (2009) 647).

The proposal relates to the use of standardisation as a tool for the success of European policies and to the concern that new certification schemes for services, created at a national level, may impede the creation of the single market for services. 

The EFTA TBT Committee believes that European and international standardisation may contribute even more to answering the challenges set out in COM (2009) 647, such as climate change//energy saving, industrial policy and innovation, interoperability in several important sectors, the internal market for services and European companies’ access to open, global markets.

Furthermore, based on the experience of product markets, it is of concern to the EFTA TBT Committee that, in creating the single market for services, this may be counteracted by certifications schemes created and operated at a national level, which would lack cross-border recognition.

The proposals submitted by EFTA are available here.

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