Mr. Verheugen, Mr. Harting, Ladies and Gentlemen:
Welcome to the European Conference on Standardisation.
I should like to thank:
The day before yesterday, we celebrated here in Berlin that the European Union was founded 50 years ago. In their Berlin declaration, the heads of state and government commemorated the success story of a united Europe. After the two World Wars, the „Treaty of Rome“ of 1957 represented the first serious attempt at uniting Europe in a peaceful manner.
In this, freedom and competition were origin, guarantor and engine of an integration of national economies.
From its origins with six Member States, the European Union with 27 Member States has meanwhile become the world’s largest common market with almost 500 million inhabitants.
Technical regulations form part of this body of common rules for the single market. They are an important element of the European success story: Only 20 years ago was 90 % of all DIN standards of national origin. Nowadays, more than 85 % of our standards originates at European and international level. The idea of standardisation is nothing new: Already in the 15th century, Venice equipped its fleet with standardised oars, masts and sails. In each of its agencies in the different ports, Venice kept standardised spare parts in store for its fleet. Thus, repairs could be executed simply and quickly. This represented a fundamental innovation which enabled Venice to expand its rule of the seas.
Two years ago, a book came out with the title: „Kopf hoch Deutschland (Cheer up, Germany)– optimistic stories of a despondent republic“. As distinct from now, Germany was still in the middle of a cyclical valley of tears. At that time, the journalist Hajo Schumacher referred to the success story of standardisation. He did away with the prejudice that standardisation people were „elderly gentlemen with oversleeves and hairs sprouting our of their nostrils running about with folding rules, paper ruled in millimetre squares and magnifying glasses“.
Standards, on the other hand, create „reliability, comparability, effectiveness and confidence“ and thus „mullet-billion competitive advantages in a globalised economy“.
In order to safeguard these competitive advantages, we are presently facing the following tasks in standardisation policy:
Uniform standards and licensing procedures are vital for unimpeded trade. As far as the EU is concerned, this is already the case for many sectors of industry: Costs for product adaptation and double testing can thus be avoided. Here an example: A German manufacturer with 150 employees produces construction equipment in small series. The price of a typical unit of equipment is 2.000 €.
Previously, he had to pay testing costs of up to 2.000 € in some countries, in order to be able to sell his product in these countries. Especially in the case of small units, this is an impediment to getting a foothold on a new market. Nowadays the rule for goods with annual trading volume of 1.500 billion € is: one standard – one test – accepted everywhere in the European Union.
The model which makes this simplification possible is the so-called „new approach“.
In February, the European Commission presented a proposal whose purpose is:
It is our intention to firmly install this well-tested model internationally as well:
It is in the interest of our economy to work at the international level with the same standards as at the European level. We are therefore committed to the WTO agreements to base our technical legislation on international standards.
Nevertheless, we have found that there are differences of opinion on both sides of the Atlantic:
Divergent approaches to regulation produce high costs. These should be reduced to our mutual benefit. Within the framework of the „New Transatlantic Partnership“ as proposed by the Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel, we want to address this subject as well.
Standards do not only help to reduce world-wide trade barriers; they are also an important instrument for transforming innovative ideas into marketable products. For good ideas alone are not enough for holding one’s own in the market. They must also be translated into commercial success.
My aim as the Federal Minister of Economics and Technology is to turn knowledge into assets!
In order to make high technologies successful in world markets, we have to make a strategic use of standardisation. A prime example for the success of standardisation is laser technology:
In the 1980s, Germany was a developing country as far as the production of laser beam source is concerned. Nowadays, German enterprises are world-market leaders in this field. Standards have helped to make knowledge available and to establish the new technology.
Standards became transmitter belts between scientific findings and industrial utilisation!
We therefore support the German Institute of Standardisation in systematically researching new key technologies and to prepare them for standardisation.
This concerns fields such as
Standardisation and regulatory aspects have to be embedded more strongly in public research programmes: Wherever research funds are up for distribution, regulation and standardisation must be a criterion for the selection of projects attracting promotion.
We thus support the aim embedded in high-tech strategy, which is to link regulation and standardisation more firmly and, above all, at an earlier stage. Because as it goes: Whoever has the standard, has the market as well. Whoever is late in standardisation, is punished by the market. In order to successfully face world-wide competition, Europe must make sure again and again to play a leading role in technology. As the Federal Minister of Economics and Technology, I am therefore clearly committed to the agreed objective of the EU to invest at least 3 % of the gross domestic product in research and innovation till 2010.
In this regard, I attach particular importance to the support of innovative SMEs. We will increase funding in this area by an annual 10 % till 2009. We will merge the support hitherto granted into a central innovation programme for small and medium-sized enterprises. We will streamline application procedures and thereby make a contribution to reducing bureaucracy.
Especially for SMEs, international standards are the gateway to new markets in a globalised world. SMEs benefit from the growth in industrialising countries. The boom in China alone strongly boosted transactions of every third German SME in the past three years. This is the result of a survey among 7,200 SMEs [Source: FTD dated 22Feb.07]. The trade volume with China in 2010 is estimated at over 100 bn. Euro.
It is therefore of great economic policy importance that countries like China, Russia and India subscribe to international standardisation.
As politicians, we advocate trustful cooperation between legislation and standardisation in these countries, which has proved to be successful in Europe. In the course of implementing the European Services Directive, the importance of standardisation for SMEs will increase even further. Standards can simplify cross-border services and negotiations between business partners.
Small and medium-sized enterprises must therefore be able to represent their interests in standardisation:
„Together, Europe can succeed“. This is the motto of the German EU Council Presidency. Standardisation, too, will only be successful if all concerned work together.
Also in dynamic sectors, we must shape the standardisation process in a way which permits Europe’s innovation potential to fully develop. Europe must also in future play an essential role in the developing global standards together with the USA and Asia. To this end, we must expedite international standardisation. And we must intensify world-wide cooperation in technical legislation.
My aim is to increase the awareness of the business community, science and politics for the potential of standardisation.
Let us all use this European Conference in order to achieve this aim.
In this sense, I wish you an interesting and successful meeting.
And last, but not least a pleasant stay in beautiful Berlin.
