Due to the growing economic importance of the service sector, the European Commission is looking at eliminating obstacles to the freedom of movement for service providers and at promoting the free exchange of services between Member States. In this context, the Commission is increasingly promoting the use of standardisation in the services field. European standards and industry charters are explicitly mentioned in the Directive on Services in the Internal Market (2006/123/EC) and in the European Standardisation Regulation (EU) 1025/2012.
As standards gain more importance in the service sector, the need for an overarching legal framework becomes more pressing. Such a framework exists for products (e.g. General Product Safety Directive and Product Liability Directive) and ANEC believes it should also be developed for services safety, quality and liability.
Work Areas:
1) Horizontal service issues
The lack of an overarching European legal framework for service safety and liability is critical to consumers. The basis of ANEC’s work, both influencing developments in service standardisation and calling for an EU legal framework, can be found in ANEC's research on service standardisation and related minimum consumer requirements carried out in 2007 and the resulting position on service standardisation. As a result of its research studies and analysis of the European regulatory framework for services ANEC advocates for these core consumer elements to be addressed in service standards:
- customer satisfaction
- complaints handling and redress procedures
- information provision
- service safety
- personnel competence
- contracts and billing
- accessibility
- sustainability.
These core services elements should be used as a ‘blueprint’ for service standards to ensure a consistent approach across sectors throughout Europe.
ANEC has contributed to the CEN CA Strategic Advisory Group on Services (SAGS) to ensure key consumer concerns are addressed in political and strategic discussions related to service standardisation. The ‘Strategic Plan on Services standardization’ in support of CEN-CENELEC Ambitions 2020, covers leading trends and challenges affecting the services sector. It also intends to provide a typology of service standards and criteria to identify sectors with potential for service standardisation.
In the Communication ‘Single Market: Europe's best asset in a changing world’, the Commission makes a fresh assessment of the situation in the Single Market, calling on Member States to renew their political commitment to it. The communication confirms services take a prominent role in the single market and the Commission recognizes there is still untapped potential for the sector. In the 2022 Standardisation strategy, the Commission made its assessment of the most pertinent areas where harmonised standards could improve competitiveness and reduce market barriers, including service standards for advanced manufacturing and construction.
Our work on horizontal services focuses on the European Commission’s two-stage standardisation mandate (M/517) for the development of a series of standards addressing horizontal aspects of services. The first deliverable was an analysis of the feasibility of standards addressing horizontal aspects of services.
The second phase of M/517 - the development of a series of standards capable of flexible application across a wide range of services, is now dealt with by CEN TC 447 Horizontal standards for the provision of services.
ANEC contributes to the work of this TC for the development of standards on service procurement, contracts and performance assessment and further consumer-oriented deliverables. The TC also works on two items put forward by ANEC on customer experience and complaints handling.
In line with these activities, ANEC also takes part in ISO TC 176 SC 3 ‘Supporting Technologies’ to monitor the developments of ISO 10000 series on customer satisfaction and in the ISO COPOLCO Working Group 22 'Consumer standards action group'.
The value of the Single Market and European standardisation is being addressed by ANEC also on the importance of the service sector aiding the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
2) Health, Care and Support Services
Certain private healthcare services are of primary concern to consumers as these services often come with significant risks. The safety aspects include the competence of personnel, the hygiene of the premises and equipment, and information provision at all stages of the service. The coronavirus pandemic has put even more the health of citizens at the forefront of the political priorities globally.
The ANEC Project Team on Health, Care and Support Services operates in conjunction with the horizontal ANEC Services WG to develop positions on health, care and support services, and to provide expertise to our representatives dealing with standardisation activities in this area. Considering CEN is increasingly addressing health care related issues in European standards, ANEC has ensured the consumer voice is heard on relevant standardisation activities.
At a horizontal level, ANEC has participated in stakeholders’ discussions in CEN regarding the development of a CEN strategy in the healthcare services area. After experiencing a lack of engagement by the medical industry in standardisation and regulation, ANEC decided to collect information available in other standards or related documents on professions and qualification levels in Europe with examples for them to be used in future standardisation. The ANEC Technical Study on cross-border healthcare, has been widely acknowledged by members and stakeholders.
Our study suggests that a key barrier to seeking planned treatment abroad is a lack of awareness about rights. ANEC contributed to the EC Consultation(s) on the evaluation of Directive 2011/24/EU on patients' rights in cross-border healthcare. The evaluation report published in Spring 2022 is widely in line with ANEC Recommendations in our technical study on consumer experiences with cross border healthcare and recent contributions to EC:
- Directive has ensured the equal treatment of all EU patients when treated in any other EU country and it has provided for partial or full reimbursement of cross-border healthcare costs.
- Challenges still faced by consumers when seeking healthcare abroad, mainly due to uneven application of directive by EU countries, burdensome administrative procedures and overly complex information on the best cross-border healthcare options available.
ANEC continues monitoring the follow-up actions included in the report to enhance the implementation of the Directive.
The sectoral activities in which ANEC has been involved in the healthcare and wellbeing services area range from aesthetic surgical and non-surgical care, to social care services.
Aesthetic services
Consumers are increasingly concerned about the quality and safety of care services, such as those provided by aesthetic surgery service providers, or wellbeing services provided in beauty salons or solaria. Aesthetic surgery and non-surgical aesthetic services are particularly sensitive issues. ANEC represents the consumer voice in CEN TC 403 ‘Aesthetic Surgery and aesthetic non-surgical medical services’, and has been very active in CENTC 409 ‘Beauty Salon services’, and CEN TC 412 ‘Indoor UV exposure’.
With the aesthetic services market increasing in Europe, and the number of services offered cross-border rising, the need for a regulatory framework and common standards becomes more urgent in ensuring the safety and quality of services.
Person-centred care and support services
Other health-related services, of particular importance to the elderly, include residential care services and services related to technical aids. Building on the experience of activities in CEN TC 385, which developed CEN TS 16118 ‘Sheltered housing – Requirements for services for older people provided in a sheltered housing scheme’, ANEC had issued a study on ‘Models of special accommodation for older people across Europe’. Although the first standards activities in TC 385 proved complex, CEN TC 449 ‘Quality of care for elderly people in ordinary or residential care facilities’ and TC 450 ‘Minimum requirements of patient involvement in person-centred care’, successfully addressed in their deliverables the quality of these services in a comprehensive manner, with the patient and consumer at the heart of their work.
ANEC also participated in CEN TC 431 ‘Service Chain for Social Care Alarms’. The results focused on consumers and aims at giving them an improved level of quality of life by enabling them to stay longer in their own homes and remain independent being able to participate actively in society. This was achieved by working with all interconnected parts in the entire service chain for social care alarms. All parts in the service chain are equally important.
ANEC also followed standardisation related to ‘funeral services’ in CEN TC 448 which are now published.
We collaborated with the ANEC Accessibility Working Group in ISO PC 311 ‘Vulnerable consumers’.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, ANEC are strengthening EU legislation on plans to build a stronger European Health Union.
We remain updated on the results of ‘Artificial Intelligence in healthcare; paving the way with standardisation’.
3) Tourism, Sports, and Leisure Services
Due to the increasing mobility of consumers, and the potential severity of injuries suffered during the provision of these services, the safety and quality of tourism services are of importance to consumers. This is especially true for the more vulnerable groups such as children or the elderly. Services such as hotel accommodation, diving and skiing, extreme sports and adventure holidays often entail significant cross-border and safety aspects.
ANEC conducted a study on European cross-border travel and tourism - Learning from consumer experiences and complaints that explored consumer complaints on problems occurring when using EU cross-border tourism services. The areas examined were car rentals, accommodation, and travel by plane, train and boat. ANEC leaflet: Key Facts on European cross-border complaints provides an overview of the findings. Following the results of this study, the ANEC Services WG developed the ANEC position paper: How can we make travel in the EU better for consumers?.
European and International standardisation
ISO TC 228 ‘Tourism and related services’
ANEC is a liaison organization of ISO TC 228 since 2008. ANEC has contributed in the past to the work of ISO TC 228 WG 2 ‘Health tourism services’ and ISO TC 228 Tourism and related services WG 7 ‘Adventure tourism’ and continues being involved in all WGs of consumer relevance in this international committee.
ANEC contributed the consumer perspective to a pioneering standardisation project on the protocols implemented in the tourism industry to reduce the spread of SARS-CoV-2 under ISO TC 228 WG 18 ‘Measures to reduce the spread of the COVID-19 in the tourism industry’ and in CEN Workshop Agreement EUSAFETOUR. ISO/PAS 5643:2021(en), Tourism and related services — Requirements and guidelines to reduce the spread of Covid-19 in the tourism industry was adopted and also endorsed at European level. It is part of the voluntary CEN Workshop Agreement package of safety measures requested by the European Commission where the PAS is complemented by a ‘European Covid-19 Safety Seal’ that can be used to show compliance with it.
We are currently involved in the development of two deliverables respectively on: ‘Tourist information and reception online and onsite services’ and ‘Online travel agency (OTA) -- Guidelines for online accommodation booking platform services’, these are dealt with in ISO TC 228 WG 3 and WG 19 respectively.
CEN Work on tourism and transport services
ANEC contributed to new European standardisation activity that started in the area of transport services in CEN TC 320 ‘Transport - Logistics and Services’: on the draft standard ‘Transport Services — Customer communications for passenger transport services — A Universal Design approach’. We also continue monitoring activities in the European CEN TC 329 ‘Tourism services’, although most activities take place at the international level in ISO TC 228.
Accessible Tourism
Tourism is one of the fastest growing sectors worldwide. However, for many people, especially vulnerable persons with special needs, travelling is often challenging as they face barriers in many travel destinations.
ANEC Services WG therefore collaborates with the Accessibility WG on accessible tourism and worked in ISO TC 228 WG 14 'Accessible tourism', on the International Standard ISO 21902 Tourism and related services — Accessible tourism for all — Requirements and recommendations. The use of this standard needs to be widely promoted as it can improve the quality and accessibility of tourism services for all consumers and it is important to raise awareness about its benefits in the tourism sector.
Fire Safety and security services
Hotel (fire) safety is an issue which many consumers take for granted when travelling, expecting a similar standard of safety from one country to another. This may not always be the case as studies have shown. In particular, the evacuation of guests with disabilities from hotels in case of fire is not guaranteed everywhere. One of the priorities of the ANEC Services WG has been to obtain a European legislation on hotel fire safety that would rely on technical standards, while providing guidance to all types of hotels in the prevention of fires and safety management. ANEC welcomed that the EC was considering a revision of the recommendation 86/666 on fire safety in existing hotels, and participated in the discussions with stakeholders. Unfortunately, there has been no political will under the Juncker Commission for further European action in the area.
ANEC continues collaborating with other stakeholders campaigning for the setting up of a pan-European accident database as a first minimum step in the area. ANEC also participates in the European Fire Information Exchange Platform (FIEP), which we consider a crucial forum to aid fire safety at the European level. FIEP and the European Parliament have identified a need and opportunity to explore the potential of more coordinated and harmonized fire safety data and statistics at the European level. To this aim the European Parliament has initiated a Pilot Project called ‘EUFireStat’ and has mandated the Commission to manage it. ANEC participated in the EUFireStat Project Steering Group (SG) and finds the final project report of EUFireStat (available at following link: https://cloud.efectisfrance.fr/index.php/s/PLftkTHyrra78Hc) is of great interest in light of ANEC main demands on fire safety of buildings and more generally in the context of ANEC-EuroSafe position paper “European consumer safety needs solid injury data” (https://bit.ly/352G2gQ) and infographic (https://bit.ly/3eIA3RL).
CEN-CENELEC Sector Forum on Security (SF SEC) was created to act as an advisory and coordination body for standardisation activities related to security among vertical sectors (construction, healthcare, PPE etc). ANEC participates in the forum ensuring consumer requirements are addressed. The forum developed the informative brochure CEN/CENELEC Security standardisation matters.
Fitness Centres
ANEC participates in standardisation activities in CEN TC 136 WG 2 on Fitness centres, as this topic tackles various issues relevant for the European consumer, such as differences in requirements and the cross-border aspect. Professionals working in fitness centres are not strictly regulated in many European countries. CEN TC 136 WG 2 started in 2013 to prepare a standard with modular parts on group, cardio vascular and strength training. The split acknowledged that not all fitness centres offer a combination of the different trainings. The first standard EN 17229 developed sets the requirements for trainers in relation to European Qualifications Framework, EQF. The required level depends on the task the trainer should be able to fulfil. ANEC continued contributing to CEN TC 136 on the development of CEN/TS 17676:2022 ‘Guidelines for the safe operation of fitness centres during an infectious outbreak' and we are now involved in the ongoing revision of EN 17229.
4) Services of General Interest (SGIs)
With the increasing liberalisation of services of broad interest, such as postal services, ensuring high protection to consumers becomes more important. Many Services of General Interest (SGIs) play an essential role in the quality of life of citizens and attention should be paid to ensure that such services, despite the requirement of affordability, do not lead to a decrease in the quality, access or safety of the service.
Postal services
ANEC is active in the standardisation of postal services in CEN TC 331 ‘Postal services’ and especially in its WG 1 on ‘Customers, products and Services’’. European standards related to postal services underpin Directive 2008/06/EC on Postal Services. ANEC believes quality-of-service-levels in the postal sector should be measured in a comparable way across companies and countries. This includes damages and complaints procedures. We are also concerned that the need for new parcel-boxes caused by the explosive growth of internet-trade will not be met with a supply of standardised boxes at affordable prices.
The Commission’s mandate M/428 reflected five ANEC proposals for possible new standards on quality of postal services, and requests that close cooperation with customers is ensured. ANEC welcomed these developments and contributed to related standardisation activities.
As part of the European Digital Single Market and Single Market strategies, the EC published a plan to boost e-commerce by tackling geo-blocking, making cross-border parcel delivery more affordable and efficient, and promoting customer trust through better protection and enforcement. ANEC position paper on the proposal for a Regulation on cross-border parcel delivery services shared consumer recommendations with the European Parliament. In April 2018 we welcomed the Council and the European Parliament eventually adopted the regulation on cross-border parcel delivery services to boost e-commerce considering our input and making it easier for consumers to compare different delivery prices across the EU.
ANEC continues monitoring the developments in e-commerce and the relevant standardisation developments.
Keep me posted EU campaign
The ‘Keep me posted EU campaign’ promotes the citizen’s right to choose how to receive information such as tax forms, election documents, bills and statements from service providers without disadvantage. It is a pro-choice campaign, wanting to promote inclusion of vulnerable consumers at European level. The campaign is inspired by the UK campaign, ‘Keep Me Posted UK’, and is directed towards the European Institutions. ANEC is a supporter.
Customer contact centres (call centres)
ANEC participated in the development of EN 15838:2009 on ‘customer contact centre quality’ and supported its adoption. Nevertheless, we were concerned by the focus of the standard on setting requirements for the contract, and the relationship between the customer contact centre and the contracting company. We therefore participated in ISO work that led to the adoption of ISO 18295:2017 which we welcomed as an improved alternative to EN 15838 which ISO 18295 superseded at European level.
Financial services
Attention to the developments related to payments in the single market is drawn from ANEC research activities carried out on consumer complaints in the travel area and on online shopping.
ANEC monitors policy developments in the area through BEUC, Consumers International (CI) and ISO COPOLCO, following our support to the adoption of ISO 12812 ‘Core banking – mobile financial services’.
ANEC participates in the European Payments Council (EPC) Scheme End User Forum (SEUF). The EPC represents payment service providers, and aims at supporting and promoting European payments integration and development, notably the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA).
ANEC also follow up on possible consumer-relevant standardisation activities in the area of financial and insurance services through participation in CEN TC 445 ‘Digital information Interchange in the Insurance Industry’.
ANEC Services WG also monitors the work in ISO TC 322 ‘Sustainable finance’ through collaboration with ANEC Sustainability WG.
5) E-commerce and sharing economy
ANEC’s Technical Study, ‘Cross - Border Online Shopping Within The EU: Learning from Consumer Experiences’ collected data on practical examples of consumer complaints in the consumer services area. The study revealed that, despite European Commission policies to encourage e-commerce cross-border, consumers still face notable barriers to reaping the benefits of a digital single market. It also shows both consumers and retailers need to achieve a better understanding of their rights and responsibilities. ANEC finds European and international standards need to play an essential role in supporting legislation, through offering guidance on good practice in areas such as complaints handling, postal services, online review sites and trust schemes.
As part of the European Digital Single Market and Single Market strategies, the European Commission published a plan to boost e-commerce by tackling geo-blocking, making cross-border parcel delivery more affordable and efficient and promoting customer trust through better protection and enforcement. The Commission issued a Communication on online platforms and the Digital Single Market. This was underpinned by a Staff Working Document on online platforms and the Digital Single Market, formulating the policy approach to online platforms and identifying areas where action or further assessment may be necessary.
In light of ANEC/Consumers International (CI) collaboration in ISO TC 290 ‘Online Reputation’ and its WG 1 ‘online consumer reviews’, ANEC/CI contributed to the EU debate on online platforms in the statement, Cross border e-commerce - How international standards can help transparency of online platforms to raise awareness on the standards under development. In June 2018, ISO published the new standard ISO 20488 ‘Online consumer reviews -- Principles and requirements for their collection, moderation and publication’. It aims to improve the management of review websites and reduce the frequency of “fake reviews”. ANEC helped draft the standard and believes its use will allow consumers to compare products and services with greater confidence.
ANEC developed with Consumers International a common position paper on Sharing Economy and contributes to international standardisation in ISO TC 324 ‘Sharing economy’ and in the work of ISO COPOLCO.
ANEC contributes bringing the consumer perspective in ISO TC 324 ‘Sharing economy’, on the advantages and disadvantages the sharing economy in Europe has presented to consumers so far. ANEC believes matters of particular concern to be security and safety; complaint handling systems and the transparency of the platforms used by operators.
ANEC also continues monitoring the policy developments in the area of sharing Economy that result from the EC Guidance and policy recommendations for the collaborative economy and any standardisation related activity. ANEC contributed to the EC IIA Roadmap on Tourist services – short-term rental initiative expected for 2022.
We also were involved with other tourism stakeholders in the development of the study carried out for the Commission on the feasibility of possible initiatives at EU level and establishment of a multi-stakeholder platform on quality of tourism accommodation https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2873/21829 (Executive summary https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2873/993515).
ANEC also got involved in the new ISO/PC 335 ‘Guidelines for organisations to increase consumer understanding of online terms and conditions’ that will develop a New Work Item Proposal put forward by ISO COPOLCO that ANEC supported. While having legislation in Europe that addresses unfair commercial practices, ANEC covers countries outside the EU, where such protection may not apply. Even when protected by unfair commercial practices legislation, our members find a standard could help making T&Cs clearer for consumers by addressing for example presentation, length, possibility to accept parts or disagree to parts of the online terms & conditions. It is important that while addressing these consumer concerns, the new standard is not contradicting the EU rules.
This work is complementary to the work ANEC contributes to on the ISO TC 323 on sharing economy and the revised ISO 10008 Quality management — Customer satisfaction — Guidelines for business- to-consumer electronic commerce transactions that we contributed to in collaboration with CI in ISO TC 176 SC 3 ‘Supporting Technologies’ WG 18 Customer satisfaction.
Activities in the European & international standards bodies:
ANEC is represented in:
- CEN TC 136 ‘Sports, playground and other recreational facilities and equipment’ WG 2 'Fitness centres'
- CEN TC 320 ‘Transport - Logistics and services’
- CEN TC 329 ‘Tourism services’
- CEN TC 331 ‘Postal Services’ WG 1 ‘Quality of postal services’
- CEN TC 431 ‘Service Chain for Social Care Alarms’ WG 2 ‘Services model development’
- CEN TC 445 ‘Business Processes in the Insurance Industry’
- CEN TC 447 ‘Services - Procurement, contracts and performance assessment
- CEN-CENELEC JTC 4 ‘Services for fire safety and security systems’
- ISO TC 228 ‘Tourism and related services’; WG 2 ‘Health tourism services’; WG 3 ‘Tourist information and reception services’; WG 14 'Accessible tourism'; WG 15 ‘Accommodation’; WG 17 ‘tourist visits’; ISO TC 228 WG 19 ‘Online Travel Agencies’
- ISO COPOLCO WG 22 'Consumer standards action group'
- European Multi-stakeholder Platform on the Quality of Tourism Accommodation Services
- European Payments Council Scheme End-User Forum
- CEN-CENELEC Sector Forum on Security (SF-SEC)
- CEN TC 403 ‘Aesthetic Surgery Services’
- ISO TC 92 ‘Fire Safety’ WG 8 ‘Fire terms and definitions’ (Liaison member, monitoring)
- ISO TC 176 SC 3 ‘Supporting Technologies’ WG 18 Customer satisfaction
- ISO TC 324 ‘Sharing economy’
- ISO TC 322 ‘Sustainable finance’
- ISO/PC 335 ‘Guidelines for organisations to increase consumer understanding of online terms and conditions’
News
ANEC Services WG
The annual meeting of the ANEC Services WG was held remotely in two separate sessions on 11 and 12 May.
On 11 May, our experts discussed activities on horizontal and inclusive services, fire safety, citizen security, and tourism services. Participants also heard about ANEC’s involvement in the EPC Scheme End-User Multi-Stakeholder Group and ISO TC 322 on sustainable finance.
On 12 May, DG SANTE updated experts as regards the evaluation report on application of the directive on Patient Rights in Cross-Border Healthcare (https://bit.ly/3N4wlBu), which was published the same day. A BEUC colleague also joined us to present the latest on the Digital Services Act. Discussions moved on to our work on standards for e-commerce and sharing economy; healthcare-related standards, the opportunities and risks from digital health, and how AI is transforming health services.
We must thank ANEC Services WG Chair, Keith Lewis, as well as all our volunteer experts for their participation, dedication, and continued commitment.
ISO Standard on e-commerce
The revision of ISO 10008 ‘Quality management — Customer satisfaction — Guidance for business-to-consumer electronic commerce transactions’ was approved with all votes in favour.
ANEC contributed to the work with our expert representing Consumers International (CI) and ANEC. We are satisfied with the improvements made in the revision. Our voice was key in the provisions of the standard on services, accessibility, vulnerability, safety, data protection, the online marketplace and Artificial Intelligence.
Publications
To access position papers related to Services please click the link, Position papers.