Brussels, 23/01/2014 (Agence Europe) - Adopting by 33 votes to 1, with 1 abstention an own-initiative report by Morten Lokkegaard (ALDE, Denmark) on Thursday 22 January, the European Parliament's internal market committee gave its full backing to SOLVIT, an online dispute settlement system for the internal market. The report, which calls for a new version of SOLVIT, was in response to the European Commission's report published in September, and does not rule out legislation to replace the informal procedures if necessary to make the system more adaptable.
SOLVIT has proved its worth, but is not yet in the public eye. MEPs therefore recommend that the national SOLVIT centres carry out awareness-raising among companies. The rapporteur says SOLVIT should focus on solving problems for companies and should also deal with more complex cases (with the aid of the European Commission where necessary). Lokkegaard feels that SOLVIT could be used by the Commission to spot problems in the functioning of the single market arising from incorrect application of EU rules. The draft report will be adopted by the European Parliament plenary at the end of February. (MD/transl.fl)