(1)

European standardisation is a voluntary activity performed by and on behalf of parties interested in establishing standards and other standardisation products in response to their needs. These standardisation products are drawn up by the European Committee for Standardisation, the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardisation and the European Telecommunications Standards Institute, bodies listed in Annex I to Directive 98/34/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 June 1998 laying down a procedure for the provision of information in the field of technical standards and regulations and of rules on Information Society services (3) (hereinafter European standardisation bodies).

(2)

Directive 98/34/EC allows the Commission, after consulting the committee set up by the Directive, to submit requests for standardisation to the European standardisation bodies. General Guidelines for the Cooperation between CEN, Cenelec and ETSI and the European Commission and the European Free Trade Association of 28 March 2003 (4) set out the partnership relationships between European standardisation bodies and the Community and the European Free Trade Association, which also provides support for European standardisation.

(3)

It is necessary for the Community to contribute to the financing of European standardisation in view of the latter's useful role in supporting its legislation and policies. On the one hand, European standardisation contributes to the functioning and strengthening of the internal market, thanks especially to the New Approach directives in the fields of health, safety and environmental and consumer protection, and to ensuring interoperability in fields such as transport. On the other hand, European standardisation helps to boost the competitiveness of enterprises by facilitating in particular the free movement of goods and services, network interoperability, means of communication, technological development and innovation in activities such as information technology. Therefore, it is appropriate to include in this Decision the financing of European standardisation activities in the field of information technologies and telecommunications, which is also governed, in particular, by Council Decision 87/95/EEC of 22 December 1986 on standardisation in the field of information technology and telecommunications (5).

(4)

This Decision should provide an explicit, complete and detailed legal basis for the Community's financing of all the European standardisation activities required to implement its policies and legislation.

(5)

It is necessary to ensure that small and medium-sized enterprises, particularly small, micro and craft enterprises, are able to apply European standards. These standards should therefore be designed and adapted to take account of the characteristics and environment of such enterprises.

(6)

Community financing should seek to establish standards or other standardisation products, to facilitate their use by enterprises through their translation into the various official Community languages, to strengthen the cohesion of the European standardisation system and to ensure fair and transparent access to European standards for all market players throughout the European Union. This is especially important in cases where the use of standards enables compliance with Community legislation.

(7)

The appropriations allocated to European standardisation activities should be fixed every year by the budgetary authority within the limits of an indicative financial envelope for a period of the relevant financial framework and should be the subject of an annual Commission decision fixing amounts and, where necessary, the maximum co-financing rates by type of activity.

(8)

In view of the very broad field of involvement of European standardisation in support of Community policies and legislation and the different types of standardisation activity, there should be provision for different financing arrangements. In the main, this concerns grants without calls for proposals to the European standardisation bodies in accordance with the provisions of the second subparagraph of Article 110(1) of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 of 25 June 2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities (6) (hereinafter the Financial Regulation) and Article 168(1)(d) of Commission Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2342/2002 of 23 December 2002 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 (7).

(9)

Furthermore, the same should apply to those bodies which, whilst not recognised as European standardisation bodies in Annex I to Directive 98/34/EC, have been mandated in a basic act and have been charged with carrying out preliminary work in support of European standardisation in cooperation with the European standardisation bodies.

(10)

Member States are encouraged to ensure proper national financing for standardisation tasks.

(11)

In addition, inasmuch as European standardisation bodies provide ongoing support for Community activities, they should have effective and efficient central secretariats. The Commission should therefore be in a position to provide grants to those bodies pursuing an objective of general European interest without applying, in the case of operating grants, the principle of annual reduction referred to in Article 113(2) of the Financial Regulation. The effective operation of European standardisation bodies also requires that national members of these bodies fulfil their obligations as to financial contributions to the European standardisation system.

(12)

The financing of standardisation activities should also be capable of covering preliminary or ancillary activities in connection with the establishment of standards or other standardisation products. This refers primarily to work involving research, the preparation of preliminary documents for legislation, inter-laboratory tests and the validation or evaluation of standards. In addition, the promotion of standardisation at European and international level should include carrying out programmes of technical assistance and cooperation with third countries. With a view to improving market access and boosting the competitiveness of European Union enterprises, there should consequently be provision for giving grants to other bodies through calls for proposals or, where necessary, by awarding contracts.

(13)

Partnership agreements are regularly signed between the Commission and European standardisation bodies in order to fix the administrative and financial rules on financing standardisation activities in accordance with the provisions of the Financial Regulation. The European Parliament and the Council should be informed of the content of these agreements.

(14)

In view of the specific nature of standardisation work and especially the involvement in the standardisation process of various stakeholders, it should be acknowledged that the co-financing of the activities of producing European standards or other standardisation products covered by a Community grant could be provided by contributions in kind, for instance by making experts available.

(15)

In order to ensure the effective implementation of this Decision, there should be the possibility of using the requisite expertise, particularly with regard to auditing and financial management, as well as administrative support resources capable of facilitating implementation, and of evaluating on a regular basis the relevance of the activities receiving Community financing in order to ensure their usefulness and impact.

(16)

Appropriate measures should also be taken to avoid fraud and irregularities and to recover funds unduly paid in accordance with Council Regulations (EC, Euratom) No 2988/95 of 18 December 1995 on the protection of the European Communities financial interests (8) and (Euratom, EC) No 2185/96 of 11 November 1996 concerning on-the-spot checks and inspections carried out by the Commission in order to protect the European Communities' financial interests against fraud and other irregularities (9) and Regulation (EC) No 1073/1999 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 May 1999 concerning investigations conducted by the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) (10),