The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has released an industry commentary series highlighting perspectives on the European Commission's Digital Single Market strategy. American National Standards Institute (ANSI) president and CEO S. Joe Bhatia contributed to the effort with an editorial emphasizing that ANSI will strongly advocate the multiple-path approach in any standards-related discussions surrounding the Digital Single Market.
In May 2015 the European Commission unveiled plans to create a Digital Single Market built on three pillars: better access for consumers and businesses to digital goods and services across Europe; creating the right conditions and a level playing field for digital networks and innovative services to flourish; and maximizing the growth potential for the digital economy. The deadline was set for the end of 2016.
Ultimately, the Digital Single Market is aimed at boosting the growth of Europe's digital economy while creating new opportunities for investment and trade. As a response to the plan, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has published a series highlighting different aspects of the strategy in relation to the impact on society and stakeholders, including feedback from ANSI, Intel, Microsoft, Google, UPS, the Brookings Institution, and the Chamber itself.
In Mr. Bhatia's editorial, "Globally Relevant Standards and Conformance Will Support Europe's Vision for a Digital Single Market," he emphasizes that in order for Europe's vision for a Digital Single Market to take hold, the strategy will have to "embrace the importance of international standards and global approaches to conformity assessment."
Furthermore, in accordance with the World Trade Organization (WTO) Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Agreement, the global relevance of a standard should not be measured by which organization developed it but rather by how it was developed (in an open, impartial, consensus-based process) and its usefulness in the market.
Continually working to strengthen transatlantic cooperation, ANSI has convened a productive dialogue with the European standards organizations, including CEN, CENELEC, and ETSI, for over 20 years. "Chief among our goals is to affirm our support for increased transatlantic trade, and to further mutual understanding of our respective U.S. and European standardization systems," Mr. Bhatia wrote. He emphasized that ANSI and the broader U.S. standardization community are prepared to work collaboratively with the aforementioned groups and other stakeholders in the European standardization system to "bring vision to reality in a way that embraces globally relevant standards and conformance for the benefit of all."
To read Mr. Bhatia's full commentary featured in the U.S. Chamber's International Policy Update newsletter, click here.