The Expert Panel for the Review of the European Standardisation System (EXPRESS)
Following the Commission Communication "Towards an increased contribution from standardisation to innovation in Europe" (COM(2008) 133 final 
of 11.3.2008) and the Conclusions of the Competitiveness Council of 25.9.2008, the European Commission DG Enterprise and Industry has asked key experts to make strategic recommendations regarding standardisation in Europe for the decade to come.
Experts were brought together in January 2009 in an independent group, the Expert Panel for the Review of the European Standardisation System (EXPRESS). These experts were nominated ad personam and are included in the Secretariat General's Register of Expert Groups.
The Terms of Reference for EXPRESS summarises why and how this group of experts has been set up and gives a detailed description of its tasks. EXPRESS met 8 times, with the final meeting in January 2010.
The Panel was composed of 30 experts coming from European, national and international standards organisations, industry, SMEs, NGOs, trade unions, academia, fora and consortia and public authorities from EU Member States.
EXPRESS delivered its report "Standardisation for a competitive and innovative Europe: a vision for 2020" to the European Commission in February 2010.
The report contains a vision of European standardisation and 12 strategic goals that are backed up with specific recommendations.
These recommendations are targeted at the Commission, Member States, standardisation bodies and stakeholders.
The main issues covered in the EXPRESS report are the following:
- European standardisation in a globalised world
- Standardisation and innovatio
- Standardisation of services
- Societal interests
- Effective and efficient standards-setting
- Access to standardisation
- The legal framework of standardisation in Europe
- The financing of standardisation in Europe
The EXPRESS report is available here [244 KB] .
