The imperative need to adopt EU standards

By.E.Saikhantuya

Prime Minister S. Batbold has time and again talked about the need for Mongolia to adopt and implement European Union standards in areas of commercial production and services. This will ensure a basic standard of quality and thus help improve Mongolian competitiveness. People abroad will know just what to expect from a Mongolian product or at a Mongolian service centre. It is well known that any restaurant in any EU country offers basic standards of service and facilities. Similarly, all cities there have special roads for cyclists and their public services offer facilities to make moving around and life in general easier for disabled people. The Prime Minister is keen to see a Mongolia where we shall have clean and green public places, apartments built to last without niggling problems, and airports which could compete with any other in Europe.

There are reports that the Government will soon publish a set of legally enforceable guidelines to implement the Prime Minister’s desires. Once we start following these, trade ties with Europe will receive a boost, with importers assured of the standard of Mongolian products. A precondition of joining the extended family of EU nations is to follow their standards, as enshrined in laws. Some local variations are permitted but the emphasis is on conformity to universal standards. That is the key to our development, it is explained.

The EU has in place a number of institutions to see that the adopted standards are followed and to enforce compliance. These include the European Standards Commission, the European Electro Technical Products Standards Commission, the European Communications Standards Institution, Mining Standards Commission and many other such organizations, all responsible to monitor quality and legality. Their control extends to every sector, including construction, the food industry, the environment, health and transportation, etc. The standards are elaborately divided into subsidiary standards. Fortunately, creativity and individual thinking have not been standardised, but everyone living in Europe has learnt to be productive, and to stop  scrounging.

It may very well be asked why  Mongolia in the heart of Asia should follow standards developed in Europe, especially at a time when the balance of power is shifting eastwards. For an answer, we have to  consider the examples of some East European countries that had political and economical conditions similar to Mongolia’s two decades ago, and have benefited from successful adoption of new standards. They include Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Romania. It did not take long for them to realise that adoption of European standards was imperative for their national development. After all, these standards have evolved over hundreds of years.

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