ABSTRACT
The European decision-making system has many layers at which standards with potential effects for economic competition are constantly updated. When the same product can be manufactured in different sectors and in different ways, business associations sometimes have to take their own members' side against another sector. This tends to happen when the battle is fought in a European Committee for Standardization (CEN) discussing production processes that are permitted or, conversely, judged to be out of date. Some associations that have historically been particularly exposed to the effects of the Commission's standardisation on technical issues may thus seek to discreetly manage ISO standards. For the largest companies coalitions are very easy to bring about because they are members of several organisations at once. In Brussels the proliferation of public consultations and possibility for lobbyists to be certified as stakeholders are two aspects of a system in which the legitimacy of decisions relies on the balancing of so-called "business" and "consumer" interests.
