NEWS | Wednesday, 21 November 2007

Commission unveils its vision for a modern single market

The European Commission has set out a package of initiatives to modernise the European single market and to bring more benefits to Europeans, building on past successes.
The single market has already helped create competitive companies, reduced prices, more choice for consumers and a Europe attractive for investors. The Commission's measures are based on extensive consultation. They will ensure that the single market does even more to take advantage of globalisation, empower consumers, open up for small businesses, stimulate innovation and help maintain high social and environmental standards.
Among the most important policy actions set out in the single market package adopted by the Commission today are initiatives to: help consumers to exercise their contractual rights and get redress across borders; provide better information for consumers and small businesses; respond to weaknesses in sectors where the single market should deliver more; propose a Small Business Act; and introduce a "researcher passport"; clarify how EU rules apply to services and social services of general interest; and promote the quality of social services across the EU Commission President José Manuel Barroso said: "The package puts consumers and small businesses first. It marks the start of a new cycle for the single market. We need to make the strong base we already have work even better. So we aim to empower consumers and small businesses through initiatives like the consumer scoreboard, the Small Business Act and the 'single market assistance service'. We will act to remove bottlenecks where single market benefits are not being fully passed on to customers, as we have done in the mobile phone roaming market. A single market for all means a strong social dimension, which is why we are also presenting today the Commission's social vision and a specific way forward on services and social services of general interest. This balanced package will mean a single market that does more to boost Europe's response to globalisation, to create growth and jobs, to ensure fair prices and to contribute to social and environmental protection."
The Commission wants to give consumers more rights and information, for their own benefit and to drive competitiveness and innovation. For example, it will propose in December improved food labelling rules. It will present in 2008 initiatives on consumer contractual rights and on collective redress - allowing a group of people from across the EU who have the same complaint about the same company to come together to pursue it. Measures to improve market surveillance for medicines and information on pharmaceuticals will be brought forward. The Commission will make proposals to further integrate retail financial services markets, to improve consumers' financial literacy and to facilitate switching bank accounts without a closing fee.
The Commission is determined that the benefits of globalisation cannot be "creamed off" by vested interests with disproportionate market power but reach all European citizens.
So the Commission will take action where markets do not deliver for consumers. The example of textiles has shown that the benefits of trade opening are not always passed on to end consumers due to bottlenecks and lack of competition. The Commission will examine a range of sectors in more detail and propose policies for markets not functioning effectively.
The Commission will propose a Small Business Act in 2008. It will aim to cut red tape, increase SMEs' access to European programmes, increase their share of public procurement contracts and reduce obstacles to cross border activity, including through a European small company statute. The Commission will examine how taxation policies affect SME growth.
A new standardisation strategy will aim to help the results of R&D to find their way to markets and to boost take up of energy saving technologies. Building on the electronic communications package presented last week (see IP/07/1677), a flagship of the new single market, the Commission will in 2008 present initiatives on universal service and on the interoperability of e-government systems. The Commission will seek progress on common EU patent protection and propose a "researcher passport" to boost mobility of researchers.