4 - The EU Regulatory Framework

Summary

This chapter provides an overview of the EU regulatory framework applicable to standardization. In particular, it covers the relationship between international, European, and national standardization bodies and the standards they produce. On the general level, it explains the EU’s New Approach policy for technical standardization, discusses the legal value of the European harmonized standards, and reviews the most recent case law of the European Court of Justice on standards’ role and value in the EU legal order. It also examines whether and when standards development organizations (SDOs) can breach EU competition law, namely, Articles 101 and 102 TFEU, by reviewing the relevant case law of the European Court of Justice and the Decisions of the European Commission. In particular, this chapter offers an in-depth analysis of the EU Regulation 1025/2010 and the Commissions’ Horizontal Guidelines, especially with regard to their applicability to ICT standards and ICT SDOs, focusing on the procedural requirements for these institutions to legitimize their standards and to limit or escape possible antitrust liability.