EU Working Towards RFID Standards

The European Commission has formed a group to provide it with advice about RFID (radio frequency identification), which it aims to avoid regulating, according to the commissioner in charge of that area.

The potential growth of the RFID market is "huge," Information Society and Media Commissioner Viviane Reding told reporters Thursday at the Cebit trade show in Hanover, Germany. She estimated that the European RFID market will grow from €500 million (US$660 million) in 2006 to €7 billion by 2016.

"We're strong in wireless, mobility and chip manufacturing, and we must develop this for RFID," she said. But the commissioner also warned that industry must pay greater attention to security and privacy issues. "We must make industry aware that the Internet of things must be an Internet for people."

To that end, Reding announced the creation of an "RFID stakeholder group," including representatives from industry and consumer groups. The group will provide advice to the Commission, which plans by the middle of this year to propose amendments to the e-Piracy Directive taking account of RFID applications. Also, later in the year, the Commission intends to publish recommendations for member states on how to handle data security and privacy issues affected by the use of RFID.

Reding stressed her intention to avoid a "top-down approach," or overregulation, which could stymie RFID development. She pointed to many benefits of smart-tag technology, including billions of euros that companies can save through greater efficiency.

The Commissioner is working closely with government officials in the U.S., China, Japan and Korea to promote RFID international standards.

"We totally support the efforts of the Commission to bring all the various stakeholders together and, in particular, to help push for global RFID standards," said Antonia Voerste, a spokeswoman for German retailer Metro AG, one of the largest users of smart-tag technology in the country. "RFID is very much a global issue."