Brussels, 5 December 2011 - The proposal for HORIZON 2020, adopted on 30 November 2011 by the European Commission, recognizes the role of standardization in supporting the market take-up of innovation. The European Standards Organizations are fully committed to play a key role in HORIZON 2020, hence contributing to the objectives of the Innovation Union.

In the new proposal for HORIZON 2020, standardization is mentioned in all three priority pillars:  Excellent Science, Industrial Leadership and Societal Challenges. Standards and the standardization process are identified as tools which help accelerate the deployment and diffusion of innovative products and services into the market.

The key role of standardization as a bridge between research, innovation and market has been recognized in recent political initiatives by all EU institutions. More and more researchers and companies understand the role standards play and seek to include pre-normative research and standardization activities in their research projects.

The implementation of Horizon 2020 will aim to respond to the evolving opportunities and needs from science and technology, industry, policies and society. The European Standards Organizations are fully committed to support Horizon 2020 and help tackle the technical barriers to innovation in Europe. We are seeking considerable improvements in the links between standardization, innovation and research, and are ready to collaborate with the European Commission to provide a long-term framework to link appropriate research results with standardization.

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