| Member States are obliged to notify to the
Commission, in draft, proposed technical regulations and to observe a three
month standstill period before the regulation is made or brought into force.
This is to provide an opportunity for the Commission and other Member States to
comment if they consider that the proposed regulation has the potential to
create a technical barrier to trade (the Commission circulates the notified
drafts to all Member States). If a comment perceives the potential barrier to
trade to be a serious one, this has the effect of extending the standstill
period for a further three months.
The Directive applies to industrially manufactured products and agricultural
products, and from 5 August 1999, the Directive applies to information society
services which are defined as services supplied at a distance by electronic
means and at the individual request of a recipient of services.
Central Units have been set up in the Member States to administer the
notification procedure on behalf of their Government Departments.
STRD2 acts as the Central Unit for the UK and receives other Member States
notifications for onward transmission to the relevant Department, as well as
being the conduit for Departments notifications of their proposed technical
regulations and also for their comments on other Member States' notifications.
Departments involve industry as appropriate in their comments.
Further information on Directive 98/34, as a one page flyer, is available as
98-34flyer.pdf  (123 kb).
For Government Departments / Agencies wishing to know more about the
Directive and the notification system, guidance is available at
98-34guidance.pdf (402 kb).
Government Departments / Agencies should use "Form A"
 (41
kb) for notifying proposed technical regulations. |
