the Association Agreements with Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia.

Japan (regulatory dialogue and FTA negotiations).China (regulatory, industrial policy, innovation cooperation dialogues, EU-China 2020 Strategic Agenda for Cooperation).US ( TTIP – Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations and TEC – Transatlantic Economic Council).The unit, 'Standards for Growth' of the Directorate-General for Internal market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs is actively involved in all aspects concerning standardisation of the Commission dialogues with third countries and the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations. the Dresden Agreements between the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) and the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (CENELEC).Īctions supporting standardisation on the international stage.

the Vienna Agreement between the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) and the European Committee for Standardisation (CEN).

The aim is to avoid European standards competing or even conflicting with international ones.

Cooperative agreements - there are cooperative arrangements between the European and international standardisation organisations.

Each European standard adopted as an international standard represents a possible competitive advantage for European industry.

Competitive advantage - the European Standardisation Organisations CEN, CENELEC and ETSI are encouraged to closely link European and international standardisation.

This process is called primacy of international standardisation, and it means that European standards should be based on International standards (COM(2011)-311, point 7).

What the Commission does - the Commission's policy aims to align European standards as much as possible with the international standards adopted by the recognised International Standardisation Organisations ISO, IEC and ITU.

International aspects of standardisation policy The use of international standards helps guarantee access to global markets, fosters interoperability of products and enhances international competitiveness. They can bring European industry and businesses the possibility to establish worldwide partnerships and sell their products or services globally. International standards help remove trade barriers, support regulatory convergence at international level and avoid the emergence of protectionist measures.

Iso standards