Factor in programme for growth. The relaunch of the internal market is a priority objective not just because of the advantages it brings to the everyday lives of European citizens but also because it can help make the EU a promoter of economic growth. This comment was made by Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa, who believes that the current EU agenda already incorporates most of the elements that will enable the EU to play this role (EUROPE 10246). The essential element is economic governance, which will monitor member states' budgetary policies and outline the new rules that will govern financial questions. The president of Notre Europe, however, believes that these two innovations, together with consolidation of the internal market, implementation of the 2020 strategy, reform of the Community budget and the issuing of Eurobonds to finance major infrastructure projects that go beyond the border of any one member state, will make up the “different chapters of a genuine Community programme for growth”. The significance of the common market, will therefore assume a dimension that is likely to help overcome some of the misgivings and suspicions that sometimes surrounded this project.
Correcting the excesses and respecting the timetable. This column has not endorsed everything that has been done or proposed over the years. Certain excesses of liberalisation have been corrected, such as in the area of gaming and lotteries, as well as in sport (although not everything is clear in this respect). The European Court of Justice is playing an increasingly positive role by taking into consideration factors such as the fight against alcoholism and has opposed some of the excesses of gambling by improving a number of assessments in this connection, such as the absurd position whereby closing a shop for a day could have been considered as a barrier to the free movement of goods. This column has, on a number of occasions, expressed its concerns about, for example, free competition to letters weighing less than 50 g: how can the universal service be guaranteed without creating complicated or uncontrollable mechanisms? Competition in “passenger” rail traffic (with the obligation incumbent upon network operators to allow competitors to use their own networks) is still raising a number of questions. These are, nevertheless, just trivialities when examined in the overall perspective.
Overall, there is agreement on the objective: getting rid of the internal borders of the EU is positive for the economy and for citizens. This objective should be consolidated and completed. The obstacles, misgivings and delays damage the competitiveness of Europe at a world level. The rules are often too complicated; the cartels and other illegal agreements have a negative impact on consumers; tax competition, beyond certain limits, is damaging and delays to the European patent are leading to unnecessary costs and further complications. The divergences that this column has been highlighting over recent days should not be allowed to block the way ahead and the timetable set out by Michel Barnier should be respected: the final version of the programme before the spring and presentation of operational proposals in 2011 in 2012.
The instruments are there. The Lisbon Treaty strengthened the legal instruments for taking action, especially in the most sensitive domain of all - services of general interest. Some of the concepts that were discussed at length over a number of years are now included in the texts. Article 14 of the TFEU (Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union) recognises “the position occupied by the services of general economic interest (SGEI) among the common values of the EU” as well as, “the role that the services play in the social and territorial cohesion of the Union”. Article 106 reaffirms the fact that SGEI are subject to competition rules but “within limits and whereby application of these rules does not obstruct the accomplishment, in form or in fact, of the specific mission imparted to them”. How many years and how many battles has it taken for these sentences to be included in the treaty! A protocol in the annex acknowledges the remit of member states to provide services of a general nature, with regard to health, but not just for this issue.
These texts do not resolve all of the problems, far from it, and debates about the application of the principles included in the treaty will still be very complex and sometimes difficult. On occasions, this involves genuine questions about what kind of civilisation should be chosen with regard to requirements that respect the traditions and mindsets of neighbours, and defining subsequent and appropriate compromises. Certain sectors will require separate initiatives, for example, the common energy market, which does not exist at all, because the electricity and gas markets are still fragmented. The Commission has just presented its draft proposal on this (see the following pages). It was pointed out that the single market ultimately has an ethical dimension: eradicating privilege and profiting from unfair positions.
(F.R./transl.fl)