1. The issues, Europe and the new approach

The completion of the single European market presupposes that products can circulate freely without the disguised re-establishment of barriers to trade (Treaty of Rome 1957). To achieve this objective, the Council of Ministers of the European Communities adopted a resolution on May 7, 1985, defining a new approach to harmonization which should make it possible to complete the internal market within the set timeframe (end 1992) by pursuing three objectives:

• simplify and speed up the Community legislative process ;

• avoid making numerous detailed rules compulsory to facilitate innovation, among other things;

• make greater use of national standardization and certification procedures.

The principles of this new approach are defined below:...