MEPs increased the budget of the 2021-2027 Single Market Programme from €4 billion to €6.5 billion in current prices when the report by Nicola Danti (S&D) of Italy was adopted by a comfortable majority (30 votes to 8).
“Very good news", the rapporteur welcomed the agreement reached between the political groups to more than "double" support for SMEs to more than €3 billion and, above all, to include a specific line of almost €500 million dedicated to market surveillance. "This means more resources to defend against unfair competition from Chinese and other products", he continued, insisting on consumer protection.
Thus, MEPs substantially amended Article 4 dedicated to the programme budget by creating a budget line of €394.5 million to reduce market barriers, another €396.2 million for market surveillance and a third €220.5 million for the proper functioning of standardisation at European level.
In addition, they increased the budget dedicated to supporting the competitiveness of SMEs from €1 billion to €3.1 billion and the budget for better consumer protection from €188 million to €198 million. The other budget lines to ensure human and animal health throughout the food chain (€1.7 billion) and to maintain a high quality of European statistics (€552 million) remain unchanged.
It should be noted that MEPs are introducing a 5% ceiling on expenditure to cover administrative costs and technical support to maximise the impact of the actions financed.
In general, MEPs agreed to clarify and detail the general objectives of the programme (Article 3), emphasising the digital dimension of the internal market, in particular to support the development of the collaborative economy. They have also included provisions to enhance the visibility of European grants and actions financed, on the one hand, and to support the evaluation process and the monitoring of the implementation of the programme, on the other.
No trilogues in sight
Depending on the speed of the lawyer-linguists, the text should be submitted to the plenary vote, either during the February session or during the March session. The Council, for its part, adopted a general approach on this text last November (see EUROPE 12149). Differences, except on budgetary issues, are not insurmountable, according to one source. But, in all likelihood, the rapporteur would not consider opening interinstitutional negotiations, since the Council will not have stabilised positions on budgetary issues until the autumn. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)