The European Commission plans to adopt a new Standardisation Strategy in the second half of 2021, in order to ensure that standardisation supports the European strategic autonomy. Ensuring technological sovereignty is crucial to the success of many EU policies, such as the European Green Deal and the digital transition. The published roadmap will look at the entire system of standardisation in Europe, including harmonised standards which cover the Recreational Craft Directive (RCD).

EBI participates in the consultation launched by the European Commission, welcoming the initiative and highlighting positions relevant to the sector. The role of recreational boat-building as a key sector for the European economy is underlined, as manufacturing still predominantly takes place in the EU. The new Strategy must continue to safeguard the sector’s competitiveness and its export capacity, protecting the requirements of the RCD. Furthermore, the EU should improve the process of standardising innovative products, such as hybrid, hydrogen and marinized electric engines. Doing this would stimulate the uptake of these products, helping in achieving the Green Deal. The EU should also increase its activities in international standard setting organisations, such as ISO and CEN.

A pivotal priority for EBI is improving and harmonising accident investigations on recreational boats at the EU level. Current investigations are not harmonised at EU level, making their use in standard development almost impossible.

Other suggestions from EBI include: speeding up the harmonisation process; providing legal experts to the Working Groups to better assess legal issues that could negatively impact the final assessment; and further aligning the standardisation process between the UK and the EU.

The full EBI position paper can be found here.