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EU Advocate General calls for free availability of harmonised technical standards

View into the courtroom of the EU Court of Justice © Blitz Agency 2015 Foto: Gerichtshof der Europäischen Union

2023-06-23

Following a complaint by two non-profit organisations that advocate for the law to be freely accessible to all citizens, Advocate General Medina argued that European harmonised technical standards should be freely available without charge as part of Union law.

In her opinion, the adoption procedure for a harmonised technical standard confirms the decisive role of the Commission. It is the Commission that manages the whole process of harmonised standards preparation including transforming a draft standard into an act that forms part of EU law when it publishes a reference to that standard in the Official Journal of the EU. Harmonised technical standards also a have a legal effect as their application gives rise to the presumption of conformity with the essential requirements of EU secondary legislation.

Advocate General Medina considers that, for the purposes of EU law in general and for the access to EU law in particular, and, given the indispensable role of harmonised standards in the implementation of EU secondary legislation and their legal effects, they should, in principle, not benefit from copyright protection. According to the Advocate General, it follows from Article 297 TFEU that free access to the EU law takes priority over copyright protection. 

The Advocate General's Opinion is not binding on the Court of Justice. The Judges of the Court are now beginning their deliberations in this case. Judgment will be given at a later date.

Press release of the Court of Justice of the EU (not eAcessible)