Projekt

The Edition 2026 of the European Standardisation Panel Survey aims to identify needs from industry and other stakeholders for standards as potential outcomes of R&I projects, examine how EU R&I framework programmes could address them, and raise awareness of standardisation as a channel for knowledge valorisation.

Survey

The Europe-wide survey received around 2,500 responses, mainly from industry, from all EU Member States. One third of the responses came from NGOs, higher education institutes (HEIs), public research organisations (PROs), and the public sector. A slight majority of respondents were employed in small organisations, and most respondents are active in research and innovation.

The current demand for and use of R&I-based standards by industry is reflected in the high priority assigned to research as an input to standards development. Compared with the ESPS Pilot, conducted in 2023, research has moved to the top position among the different input sources, suggesting that its relevance for standardisation is likely to remain high in the future. In addition, industry increasingly benefits from access to scientific publications, research data, and open source as complementary sources of knowledge for standards development. To better meet industry demand for R&I-based standards, publicly funded R&I projects should explicitly consider and support standardisation activities as part of knowledge valorisation. At the same time, awareness, incentives, resources, and capacities for engagement in standardisation should be strengthened within public research organisations and higher education institutions. These measures could help bridge the gap between the generation of R&I results and their uptake in standards, thereby increasing the contribution of research to standardisation and, ultimately, innovation and competitiveness of industry in the European Union.

10.2025-7.2026

European Commission DG R&I