KANBrief 1/13
In November 2012, the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology and DIN organised the second conference for SMEs, held in Berlin under the heading "Standardization as a success factor". The aim was to discuss how SMEs' application of standards and their participation in the standardization process could be simplified. The focus lay upon the new EU Standardisation Regulation (Regulation (EC) No 1025/2012 on European standardisation), which explicitly seeks the standardization of services in addition to products.
The value in standardizing services is not immediately apparent. Services however are ultimately also products sold on the market; virtual products, but ones with huge potential for the Single Market: around 70% of the gross added value in the EU is generated by means of services. This value is however for the most part created at national level. Making services more comparable and thus promoting the cross-border market for them in the EU is one goal of the Standardisation Regulation.
Improving quality, but not standardizing qualifications
In contrast to products, services are delivered with a particular customer focus and are generally unique to the customer concerned. The craft and trades sector therefore sees one particular threat in the new EU Regulation: "If processes themselves cannot be standardized, the result may ultimately be that skills and competencies are defined for the person delivering the service. The end of this process could be an explosion in the certification of persons on the basis not only of their ability, but also of their formal vocational qualifications," warns Dirk Palige, Managing Director of the council of the German chambers of skilled crafts. Progress in the service sector may also result in the emergence of new occupations. That requirements concerning training and examination intervals may be set out in standards at this early stage is however a cause for concern for Palige. "In the long term, this development could threaten Germany's dual vocational training system."
First determine the benefit – then standardize
The EU Regulation itself states that future standards projects "are voluntary and should be market- driven whereby the needs of the economic operators and stakeholders directly or indirectly affected by the standard prevail". Dr. Rainer Jäkel, head of directorate at the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology, even spoke of it being a criterion for future service standards to be "market-driven". Who, though, defines the benefit of a service, particularly since the interests differ widely in this case?
The stakeholders themselves must as a matter of principle be involved: "The principle of national delegation," says Jäkel, "assures that SMEs, and also parties such as the OSH lobby, are involved efficiently in standards development. When mandates for service standards are issued, we can also exercise our national right to make our voice heard in order to check whether the European Commission is respecting the national competencies – which at our request are explicitly stated in the regulation – for example with regard to vocational training or to social and health services."
A strategy for service standards is needed and is also being called for. With the establishment of KOMMIT, its small business commission, in 2008, DIN has already taken an important step towards involving SMEs more effectively in standards development and towards increasing transparency, precisely as is now required by the Standardisation Regulation. In conjunction with KOMMIT, the DIN Coordination Office for Services Standardization (KDL) is currently defining the structure of the services market in order to obtain an overview of standards projects that could be beneficial. In this context the Director of DIN, Dr.-Ing. Torsten Bahke, warns that it is important for consideration to be given at an early stage to market relevance. "Not everything should or must be standardized. If we want to influence developments in Europe with consideration for our own interests, it is high time for us to end the discussion of whether the standardization of services is a good or bad thing per se, and to enter into a detailed discussion of strategy. Our objective must be to support the European Single Market with standardization projects. Our aim is competition, not protectionism."
The occupational safety and health lobby acknowledges the value of standardized services for the European Single Market. However, requirements concerning the safety and health of the providers of the services are the preserve of national legislation and arrangements outside the sphere of standardization. It is therefore important for us to look closely at what is being standardized (see also KANBrief 1/13).
Karl-Josef Thielen