When the importance of technical standards is explained, a classic that is probably on almost every desk right in front of us often has to be used: the ‘DIN A4 sheet’. Paper formats were defined as early as 1922, back then under the number ‘DIN 476’. Today, however, standards are largely international and so the standard format for our paperwork has also been given a new number, ‘DIN EN ISO 216’. 

Anyone can easily imagine what would happen without a standard for paper. The result would be a huge chaos. However, standards are also indispensable in countless other areas of life, as they represent a common technical language for almost all products, which promotes global trade, ensures quality, protects the environment and society and improves efficiency. Standards are also the basis for innovation. Even the Austrian economist Joseph Schumpeter said that only with the help of standards can innovations become product novelties that also prevail on the market. Standardisation is a prerequisite for scaling in the market. 

The industry owes its good access to global markets to the strong role that Germany has traditionally played in standardisation. If other countries were to set the standards, the result would be expensive adaptations to these standards. The organisation of supply chains would also become more complex. In Germany, the DKE and the German Institute for Standardisation (DIN) are responsible for technical standards. In the vast majority of cases - namely 93 per cent - the electrotechnical standards have a European or international background. The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) and the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) have therefore long been of increasing importance. 

Countries such as China have recognised the importance of participating in standardisation bodies. In the EU, too, there is a growing awareness of the great geostrategic importance of the topic. In this interview, Kerstin Jorna, Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (GROW), comments on current issues relating to standardisation and the EU's plans.