Standard bearers

Industry standards are found in nearly all aspects of life – product safety, technical specifications, management processes and technology. Many standards are developed by international institutions, principally ISO (perhaps best known for the management standard ISO 9001) and the electrotechnical standards body IEC. Others are developed by the European standards bodies, such as CEN-CENELEC. Nearly all sovereign countries also have their own national standards bodies. 

As well as participating in international and European standardisation and adopting the resultant standards – voluntarily in the case of international standards and compulsorily in the case of European standards for members of CEN-CENELEC – national standards bodies (BSI in the case of the UK) may also develop national standards. 

The use of voluntary standards in private contracts raises no issues of democracy, transparency or the rule of law, insofar as they are decisions solely of the parties themselves. Yet standards can also be referred to in legislation or provide a means of complying with legislation. In the EU context, this is achieved formally by the process known as harmonised standards, where a standard is cited in the Official Journal and thereafter provides a means of conforming with the relevant EU law. These cover areas from technology to agriculture, the environment, finance, telecommunications and transport. When that happens, citizens are entitled to ask about the level of accountability and transparency found in the development of the relevant standards, which is the principal theme of this book. 

The authors look at how standards enter the EU legal system and how those methods align with EU principles of openness, coherence, accountability, participation and effectiveness. The book then turns to specific institutions and agencies of the EU. But there are a number of tensions with those principles and various forms of standards, particularly with regard to participation and transparency. This is the result of standards organisations not being subject to democratic control, nor being obliged to disclose all details of the development process. 

Such questions remain important to Britain post-Brexit, not just because of trade with Europe. The UK’s BSI remains a full member of the European standards organisations, including CEN-CENELEC, requiring it to adopt European standards and withdraw competing national ones. Although written in a dry, technical style, this is a solid reference work. 

James Wilson FRHistS is an independent author. His most recent book is Lord Denning: Life, Law and Legacy (WSH, 2023)