The third ESOs call for proposals for 2022 will support the Standardisation activities performed by CEN, CENELEC and ETSI!

The third call for proposals for this year of the action grant supporting the standardisation activities of the European Standardisation Organisations (ESOs) - (SMP-STAND-2022-ESOS-03-IBA), and thus contributing to the European Commission Standardisation strategy, is currently open.

This action grant has pre-identified beneficiaries, notably the three recognised ESOs in the EU according to the Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012: the European Committee for Standardization (CEN), the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (CENELEC) and the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI). Only standards developed by these three ESOs are recognised as European Standards (ENs).

This call is promoted under  the Support to Standardisation strand of the Single Market Programme (SMP) - which is managed by the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA) of the European Commission since 1 April 2021.

With its budget of € 3,610,952, this call will support the extremely valuable activities of the ESOs which, by producing harmonised standards, contribute to the conformity of EU products with the respected legislative provisions' essential requirements and allow commercialisation and implementation in all EU Member States – thus fostering the Single Market.

Applications are thus reserved to the pre-identified beneficiaries, who will have the opportunity to apply as of 8 November 2022 until 10 January 2023 via eGrants, following the successful on-boarding to the system of the programme. However, benefits from this call will touch all European citizens, especially consumers and entrepreneurs.

In particular, the call will focus on 13 topics:

• Topic 1 - SMP-STAND-2022-ESOS-03-IBA - Standards for low-carbon cement (CEN);
• Topic 2 - SMP-STAND-2022-ESOS-03-IBA - Standards for COVID-19 vaccines and medicines production (CEN);
• Topic 3 - SMP-STAND-2022-ESOS-03-IBA - Assistance to standardisation work in mainstreaming climate adaptation into EU standards (CEN/CENELEC);
• Topic 4 - SMP-STAND-2022-ESOS-03-IBA - Standards for postal services and the improvement of quality of service in support of Directive 97/67/EC (CEN);
• Topic 5 - SMP-STAND-2022-ESOS-03-IBA - CEN-CENELEC IT interfaces for harmonised standards (CEN/CENELEC);
• Topic 6 - SMP-STAND-2022-ESOS-03-IBA - ETSI IT interfaces for harmonised standards (ETSI);
• Topic 7 - SMP-STAND-2022-ESOS-03-IBA - Review existing standards to identify needs for revisions or development of new standards to meet the objectives of the European Green Deal and Europe’s Digital Decade and support the resilience of the EU single market (CEN/CENELEC);
• Topic 8 - SMP-STAND-2022-ESOS-03-IBA - Trainings to improve the quality of the CEN-CENELEC deliverables (CEN/CENELEC);
• Topic 9 - SMP-STAND-2022-ESOS-03-IBA - Trainings to improve the quality of the ETSI deliverables (ETSI);
• Topic 10 - SMP-STAND-2022-ESOS-03-IBA - Enhancing the involvement of under-represented stakeholders in the standardisation activities of ETSI (ETSI);
• Topic 11 - SMP-STAND-2022-ESOS-03-IBA - Seconded European Standardisation Expert, India (SESEI) Phase V (ETSI);
• Topic 12 - SMP-STAND-2022-ESOS-03-IBA - Mapping of standards related with  the Cyber Resilience Act proposal by CEN-CENELEC (CEN/CENELEC);
• Topic 13 - SMP-STAND-2022-ESOS-03-IBA - Mapping of standards related with the Cyber Resilience Act proposal by ETSI (ETSI).

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Why are EU standards important?

The primary objective of standardisation is the definition of voluntary technical or quality specifications with which current or future products, production processes or services may comply.

They produce European standards and European standardisation deliverables, which support the implementation of EU policies and legislation. The long-term partnership between the Commission and ESOs builds on the shared objectives established by the EU policies and legislation on standardisation.

The European standards, adopted after a request made by the Commission for the application of Union harmonisation legislation, are harmonised standards. Compliance of a product, process or service with harmonised standards offers presumption of conformity with the respected legislative provisions' essential requirements and allows commercialisation and implementation in all EU Member States.

Therefore, European standards and European standardisation deliverables are essential for the implementation of the Single Market. In addition, standards can play a crucial role in boosting innovation to the benefit of small and medium-sized enterprises and of EU citizens.