The Spanish Presidency of the Council of the EU presented its priorities to the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) on Monday 18 September, through the Secretary of State for European Affairs, Pascual Navarro.
In four points, the Spanish minister presented an overall vision of the objectives to be achieved by the end of the Presidency: - the ”reindustrialisation of the European Union”; - “strengthening the EU’s environmental strategy”, in order to reduce dependence on the most polluting forms of energy; - “promoting greater economic and social justice” and “deepening European unity” by “adapting the internal market”. To this end, three dossiers are being given priority: the regulation introducing the Single Market Emergency Instrument (SMEI), the regulation banning products derived from forced labour and the regulation on construction products.
Delays in the legislative process
With regard to SMEI, the Spanish Secretary of State spoke of a tool that is “fundamental to the resilience of the internal market”, the text of which was recently approved by Parliament (see EUROPE 13249/19). In response to the concerns expressed by the text’s rapporteur, Andreas Schwab (EPP, German), Pascual Navarro reiterated the Spanish Presidency’s high hopes of successfully concluding this dossier before December.
The rapporteur for the text on products of forced labour, Leitão Marques (S&D, Portuguese), regretted the Council’s delay in negotiations, even though the regulation is presented as a priority: “You stress the need to strengthen the competitiveness of the internal market. However, this must always go hand in hand with the protection of human and social rights [...] Will the Spanish Presidency ensure that a general approach is reached before December so that negotiations can be launched in time for the elections?”. The text is the subject of intense negotiations between the political groups and its vote in committee has been postponed until mid-October. Its examination by the Council has only just begun (see EUROPE 13215/1). The Spanish minister responded by referring to the technical difficulty of the regulation: “It is complicated to see how to proceed with legislation at European level. The aim is to make as much progress as possible, and I hope to see an agreement in the Council, but that also depends on the other Member States”. (Original version in French by Isalia Stieffatre)