Marché intérieur: un projet en faveur des citoyens?[en] 

The Commission, in May 2006, launched a major review of the single market, in consultation with citizens and stakeholders, in order to assess the following: what has been achieved, how it can be built upon and what the remaining gaps are to meet the challenges of the future, such as remaining competitive in a globalised economy and boosting job creation.

It is expected to present a Communication on the subject in November 2007. 

Strengthening the single market 

An improvement in the functioning of the Single Market is still necessary in order to deliver additional benefits to business and consumers, according to a report by French EPP-ED MEP Jacques Toubon and adopted by a large majority of MEPs on 4 September.

The report seeks to provide recommendations for the Commission's review of the Single Market. 

Getting citizens' backing for the European project 

The report highlights, in particular, the importance of increasing stakeholders' confidence in the internal market, notably by promoting more social and environmental objectives, such as quality jobs, equality of opportunity, and protection of health and the environment. Related to this, MEPs called on the Commission to clarify the legal situation of public services - in particular health services and social services of general interest - and set out common principles. 

The need for further reform

MEPs agreed on a number of areas where improvements are needed, including:  

• The opening of network industries, such as transport, telecommunications, postal services and energy transport; 
• Greater harmonisation of tax systems, with a need for the Commission to push ahead with proposals for a common consolidated corporate tax base; 
• Establishing a Community Patent; 
• Encouraging free movement of workers within the internal market; 
• Improving public procurement rules so that public contracts can more easily be accessed by SMEs and better promote innovation, while responding to environmental and social concerns, including accessibility for disabled people. 

Cutting red tape

MEPs adopted four reports on better regulation in the EU, calling on the Commission to stop using "unclear and redundant expressions", "incomprehensible acronyms" and "needless recitals" in its legislative proposals. 

They also insisted that they would not take into consideration any proposals that are not accompanied by a full 'Single Market Test', including an independently-scrutinised impact assessment, with an evaluation of the existence of unnecessary administrative burdens. 

MEPs further criticised the use of "soft law" instruments such as the "Open Method of Coordination", which is used in setting policies in the fields of employment and social inclusion. They said these type of instruments should be used only in exceptional cases because they are "ambiguous", "ineffective" and "legally dubious" as they operate "without sufficient parliamentary participation and judicial review". 

Lastly, MEPs warned the Commission that its plans to slash the administrative burden placed on businesses by 25% must target only unnecessary burdens and not result in deregulation or a change in the level of ambition regarding health, environment or social standards. 

French EPP-ED MEP Jacques Toubon, who drafted the report on the single market, stressed the need to get citizens back on board: "From now on, it will be impossible to develop the Single Market if our citizens do not support it." 

He added: "We have to adopt a political approach during this period of European turbulence. The deepening of the Single Market clashes with the scepticism and hostility of European public opinion which often considers the Single Market and competition to be at the origin of social problems. Every strategy of the Single Market must therefore strive to transform this myth and mistrust by on one hand underlining the advantages of the Single Market and on the other hand by pursuing, at the same time, the opening-up of competition and social cohesion within the different components - the environment, employment, culture, access for vulnerable people..." 

On better regulation, the Chairman of the Legal Affairs Committee, Giuseppe Gargani MEP, said: "We will continue exerting further pressure so that the laws are drafted in a clearer way and are able to achieve agreed policy goals efficiently." 

Dutch EPP-ED MEP Bert Doorn MEP added: "Many administrative burdens are generated by information obligations. The trick is to make a clear distinction between cases of obsolete, redundant or over-prescriptive information obligations and cases where, for reasons relating to the protection of public health, health, safety, quality of work and workers rights, the environment or the EU financial interests, information obligation remains necessary." 

Socialists also insisted on the need to address the legal uncertainty regarding the status of services of general interest, saying the defence of public services must be placed at the heart of the European project. "We must ensure that the economy is at the service of mankind and not the other way around," stressed German MEP Evelyne Gebhardt. 

"The common market is more than a pure economical construction. Without an enhanced social component the citizens will lose out, because competition and social security do not exclude each other but depend on each other", added German socialist Wolfgang Bulfon. 

He lamented the fact that an amendment from the socialist group, calling for the establishment of a binding clause on social security in all legislation relating to the internal market, was rejected. "This would ensure that legislation does not conflict with labour law and legislation on social security, or with the right of collective bargaining and the right to strike," he explained.