Law and standards - Safeguarding societal interests in smart grids

This paper examines the relationship between technical standards and law in light of developments in ICT technologies. As standards have grown greater in quantity and influence over the last decade, this paper analyses how standards relate to the legal system. The paper demonstrates the similarities between law and standards, and reviews ways in which standards are binding for users and obtain a legal effect. It is argued that the only way to ensure that sufficient attention is paid to societal interests like those of the users and EU policy aims, is to design and apply procedural criteria for standardization. The paper shows that these criteria are specifically important for the imminent introduction of smart grids in the electricity market, for which many new standards are currently being developed.