Policy brief
Published:
The power of standards in European Union digital governance
Summary:
• This policy brief situates standardisation projects in the EU within global regulatory power, highlighting implications for markets, innovation, and global governance.
• Standards for the production and distribution of digital products in the EU are technopolitical instruments that shape authority, legitimacy, and power, rather than neutral administrative tools for ensuring security and quality.
• The EU’s regulatory power extends beyond European borders, intensifying debates about regulatory overreach, where public-interest regulation is often framed as protectionist and consequently rejected or simply ignored by major tech companies.
• Standards should remain contestable, certification regimes subject to robust oversight, and expertise broadened beyond narrow technocratic communities.
• Standards for the production and distribution of digital products in the EU are technopolitical instruments that shape authority, legitimacy, and power, rather than neutral administrative tools for ensuring security and quality.
• The EU’s regulatory power extends beyond European borders, intensifying debates about regulatory overreach, where public-interest regulation is often framed as protectionist and consequently rejected or simply ignored by major tech companies.
• Standards should remain contestable, certification regimes subject to robust oversight, and expertise broadened beyond narrow technocratic communities.
- Publisher: Norwegian Institute of International Affairs
- Page count: 4
- Language: English
- Pages: 1 - 4
- Volume: 2025
- Booklet: 32