Brussels, 17/07/2007 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 17 July, when speaking before the members of the relevant EP committee, Portuguese Minister for the Economy and Innovation Manuel Pinho presented the priorities of the Portuguese EU Council presidency with regard to the internal market and consumer protection.
Internal market. On 20 September, in Brussels, the Portuguese EU presidency will be holding a workshop devoted to the future of the internal market, Mr Pinho announced. Expected for September or October, the Commission's communication on revision of the internal market “should be accompanied by proposals”, he added. The European institution had presented an interim document in February with a view to the Spring European Council (see EUROPE 9371).
Also at the top of the Portuguese agenda is the legislative package on improving the free movement of goods in the non-harmonised sector, and surveillance of the market in the harmonised sector (see EUROPE 9366). Mr Pinho noted the “weaknesses” of the current regulatory framework: “abuse of EU labelling, duplication in tests and certification, disparity of definition and procedures”. Highlighting the informal debates underway with the EP, he hoped the European institutions would be able to “reach a compromise by the end of 2007” after first reading. At the end of May, the Competitiveness Council had noted substantial progress on this dossier (see EUROPE 9429). One of the main measures of the legislative package on the internal market, a proposal for a regulation, aims to improve the free movement of goods based more on the principle of mutual recognition. According to this principle, a product lawfully placed on the market in a member state must be able to circulate freely within the EU internal market.
The regulation suggests that the member state of destination should shoulder the responsibility of proving why a product should be withdrawn from its market in accordance with its national rules. At present, it is up to exporting companies to demonstrate why their goods can be placed on the market in the country of destination.
Consumers. “Portugal hopes consumers will have better protection”, Mr Pinho assured. He spoke of the Council's political agreement on the directive relating to consumer credit (see EUROPE 9429), as well as the Green paper on revision of consumer policy. The Competitiveness Council of 27 - 28 September will discuss the recent Commission proposal on multi-ownership and time-sharing holidays (see EUROPE 9441). The Portuguese presidency will hold a conference in Lisbon on 9 - 10 November on the judicial and out-of-court settlement of disputes linked to consumer protection, such as mechanisms for collective appeal.
Answering questions put to him by Portuguese Socialist Joel Hasse Ferreira and British Conservative Malcolm Harbour on the Portuguese presidency's programme on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the minister set out the priorities for action in this area: - SME financing; - “Think Small First”, a principle that should guide SME-related action (see EUROPE 9150); - “internationalisation” of European companies in order to help them gain a foothold in international markets; - and the simplification of administrative procedures. In Portugal, it is possible to create a company in just 45 minutes thanks to the internet, Mr Pinho was pleased to point out. (mb)