Potential for success
Ten EU ministers outline their hopes for the Single Market Act.
On Wednesday (13 April) the European Commission will publish the Single Market Act, a strategic initiative to reinvigorate the single market by the end of 2012.
In this context, and in the wake of the meeting of European heads of state and government on 24-25 March, it is essential to reiterate the key role the single market has to play in delivering growth, creating new jobs and promoting EU competitiveness.
The single market is Europe’s greatest economic achievement, but it should not be taken for granted. We must act to make sure that we deliver the full and untapped potential of the single market in support of our efforts to achieve strong and dynamic growth in Europe.
It is essential that we have a modern and effective regulatory framework for European companies to operate across the EU as easily as they can in their own national market. While we have come a long way towards achieving this by removing barriers, creating common regulations and opening up markets across the EU, much work remains to be done.
Rapid development
The world has changed since the single market was launched in 1992. This is true both in terms of increasing globalisation and the rapid development of new information and communication technologies. It is crucial to Europe’s future that we greet these changes with openness and confidence. We must take advantage of the opportunities they offer and not paint them as threats from which we must protect ourselves.
This has been the guiding principle in all our responses to the Commission’s consultation on the Single Market Act and was reiterated in an open letter sent last month to the José Manuel Barroso, the president of the Commission, and Herman Van Rompuy, the president of the European Council.
We believe that the Single Market Act must be used to prioritise measures that will make Europe more competitive and create sustainable growth and new jobs. If the Commission fails to set the right priorities for the single market now, it would represent a significant lost opportunity at a time when we must focus on creating the conditions for economic recovery.
We want to see a Europe that allows the increasingly important services sector to thrive and achieve its full economic potential. We must remove restrictions that inhibit access to the EU’s service markets, reduce the number of regulated professions within the EU and make a firm commitment to implementing and enforcing the services directive.
We want to embrace developments in information technology, create a truly digital single market and give businesses and consumers the means and confidence to trade online. We must overhaul the current arrangements for e-commerce, facilitate an efficient cross-border framework for copyright and establish clear and transparent consumer rights.
We want to support innovation within Europe by establishing a unitary patent protection including a unified litigation system as a matter of urgency and by developing the EU’s standardisation system.
We want to create greater opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises through regulatory simplification, including of the rules of public procurement, and where appropriate exempt them from regulations when they face disproportionate costs of compliance. In parallel, we will make all efforts to promote trade and investments across borders, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises, which play a fundamental role in creating jobs and growth.
Finally, we want to complete the internal energy market, move forward with energy-efficiency measures and continue the expansion of efficient, climate-smart transport networks.
Growth and jobs
We do not believe that there is a contradiction between the rights of the citizens, as workers and consumers, and growth and competitiveness oriented policies. On the contrary, growth and competitiveness are prerequisites for the creation of more jobs and increasing the opportunities and choices available to citizens. This, in turn, increases confidence in the single market.
We also emphatically reject the belief that growth and welfare can be built on protectionism and isolation from the rest of the world.
In today’s economy, where both production and consumption are global, trade is fundamental to both producers and consumers. Two-thirds of Europe’s goods imports go to the production of new goods in Europe. Consequently, reforming the single market must go hand in hand with an open trade policy towards the rest of the world.
Proposals such as those previously announced by the Commission to reduce the opportunities for companies from Brazil, China and South Africa to tender for public procurements in Europe should be strongly resisted. These proposals risk leading to fewer tenders, higher prices and increased costs for taxpayers in Europe.
The EU must now, more than ever, focus all its efforts on creating the conditions necessary for growth, competitiveness and job creation. Together, and with others in the EU who share our views, we will fight for a single market that supports these objectives and fight against all protectionist measures.
Martin Kocourek
minister of industry and trade
Czech Republic
Brian Mikkelsen
minister for economic and business affairs
Denmark
Juhan Parts
minister of economic affairs and communications
Estonia
Anni Sinnemäki
minister of labour
Finland
Richard Bruton
minister for jobs, enterprise and innovation
Ireland
Artis Kampars
minister of economics
Latvia
Rimantas Zylius
minister of economy
Lithuania
Maxime Verhagen
deputy prime minister and minister of economic affairs, agriculture and innovation
the Netherlands
Ewa Björling
minister for trade
Sweden
Edward Davey
minister for employment relations, consumer and postal affairs,
United Kingdom