The European Commissioner for Internal Market, Thierry Breton, set out the important milestones to come under his mandate to deepen the Internal Market, during a speech in Prague ahead of the 30th anniversary of the Single Market, on Thursday 8 December.
According to him, the Commission’s action must be structured around the following four axes: - improving the implementation of rules; - taking better account of SMEs in European policies; - improving access to products, services and skills; - strengthening the European Union’s position on the international scene.
Poor implementation of the rules is a pet peeve of the European Commission, which regularly brings cases before the Court of Justice of the EU against Member States breaking the rules (see EUROPE 12858/19). On this point, the Commissioner insisted on the adoption of the Single Market Emergency Instrument (currently under negotiation - see EUROPE 13072/28) to maintain the proper functioning of the Single Market in times of crisis.
Mr Breton also emphasised the key role of the SMET task force, a working group on the enforcement of Single Market rules. He said, for example, that the group had removed more than 80 “concrete barriers” to the licensing of wind and solar power installations.
Finally, he recalled the forthcoming implementation of the Single Digital Gateway (see EUROPE 12105/32) in conjunction with the Your Europe portal. By the end of 2023, this hub should give citizens access to around 20 online administrative procedures across the 27 Member States, such as registering a number plate or applying for a pension.
The Commissioner also recalled the announcement of the package to support SMEs, including the forthcoming revision of the late payments directive. He announced that by 2023 a full assessment of every future legislative proposal for its administrative impact on SMEs (a very pressing demand from SMEs - see EUROPE 13073/30) would be in place.
The former French minister acknowledged that the internal market for services remains inefficient. He is working on a common electronic form for the declaration of posting of workers. Advanced manufacturing, mobility and construction are the ecosystems he will focus on, he said.
Finally, Mr Breton spoke about the geopolitical role of the Internal Market in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. For him, the Single Market is a way of attracting foreign investment and industrial and innovative players, and thus of influencing international regulatory frameworks.
Without the pull and scale of the Single Market, “we would never have been able to come up with such an ambitious and game-changing package as the DSA/DMA package” governing the activities of digital platforms (see EUROPE 12986/3), he said.
According to the European Commission’s work programme, the ‘SME’ package is scheduled for the first quarter of 2023, as is the communication on the Single Market. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)