Brussels, 02/12/2013 (Agence Europe) - The Competitiveness Council has now given its assessment of the single market policy as part of its contribution to the European Semester budgetary process. On Monday 2 December, ministers adopted conclusions on the subject on the basis of the evaluation presented by the Commission at the beginning of the month (see EUROPE 10962), following the annual growth assessment in the EU.
The member states highlight the importance of transposing European laws in this field. To this end, they welcome the new online single market scoreboard as a useful tool to monitor the application of EU law and call on the Commission together with member states to put forward by the end of 2014 a set of qualitative and quantitative indicators aimed at measuring inter alia the economic effects of application of the single market rules. The Council also underlines the benefits contained within the Internal Market Problem Solving Network (SOLVIT). It suggests that this should be better coordinated and that it should also be used to identify fields of action within the internal market that require improvement.
Focus on services. On the internal market for services, the Council calls for the proportionality principle to be taken into account. It confirms the importance of making progress in the mutual recognition of professional qualifications and getting rid of barriers that still remain in this regard. Similarly, the Competitiveness Council also wants member states to improve the way the Points of Single Contact (PSC) operate (set up by the services directive) by making them more visible, making them multilingual, using online services while also providing a number of physical points of contact. It also supports the Commission's efforts to promote online and material retail trade through the action plan proposed this year on the subject (see EUROPE 10776). The Council is still also waiting for a roadmap on parcel deliveries this year. The Council highlighted the importance of e-invoicing and welcomed the agreement in this respect on online billing for public purchasing (see other article). (MD/transl.fl)