On Tuesday 24 March, the European Parliament’s Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) expressed its support for the creation of a single programme for the single market and customs union for the period 2028-2034. However, it would like to strengthen it on certain points.
Presented in September by the European Commission (see EUROPE 13701/9), this proposal is part of the second package of proposals for the European Union’s next long-term budget (2028-2034). The aim is to increase the budget to €6.2 billion for the future programme, which merges four sources of EU funding: the single market, the customs union, tax cooperation and measures to combat fraud.
In his draft report, MEP Adnan Dibrani (S&D, Swedish) welcomed this initiative. He would like to “improve the governance structure, while maintaining a degree of flexibility with a refocused structure”. “Control and accountability mechanisms are needed. We need to clarify certain essential objectives and safeguard legal obligations and mandatory systems”, he stressed in committee. He suggested introducing a budget breakdown with a clear link between priorities and the allocation of funds.
The rapporteur also insisted on strengthening consumer protection, legal competition and the protection of the EU’s financial interests.
For their part, Dirk Gotink (EPP, Dutch) and Véronique Joron (PfE, French) spoke of the importance of making this programme an industrial lever for the EU. “We have the example of customs scanners. We are dependent on American and Chinese suppliers for our choices, so we need to condition this funding to encourage the emergence of European players and, above all, reduce this dependence”, the French MEP stressed.
The deadline for tabling amendments has been extended to Thursday 26 March, to take account of the inter-institutional negotiations on customs reform (see other news).
Read the draft report: https://aeur.eu/f/lbo (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)