Tag: single market

It remains to be seen whether David Cameron's speech has answered questions about the long-term British strategy for the European Union, writes Jacek Saryusz-Wolski.

Sweden's decision to discriminate between consumers in the same country in order to avoid discriminating between consumers in two different EU member states raises several concerns about the single market, argue Joakim Nergelius and Gustav Lorentz.

This week offers us an opportunity to look back at the significant achievements that have been made in opening up Europe's markets. There is no doubt that it has provided new opportunities to businesses and consumers, who can take advantage of a market place that boasts over 500 million consumers, writes Malcolm Harbour.

If civil society  engage more actively in its development and implementation, a functioning internal market can help the EU get out of the financial crisis, EU lawmakers said, in a resolution celebrating 20 years of the single market.

Europe needs continuity and stability at the helm of government to make it stronger and more resilient, European Commission Vice President Viviane Reding said in an interview with EurActiv Italy, while also pushing for a third Barroso term at the Commission.

Commission Vice President Antonio Tajani, responsible for industry and entrepreneurship, came under fire from journalists yesterday (4 April) as he presented a proposal aimed at reducing administrative formalities for registering a vehicle in a different EU member state.

Internal Market Commissioner Michel Barnier yesterday (8 February) proposed creating a European foundation statute to allow public interest organisations to use the same legal framework across the EU.

As of 1 May 2011, citizens of the countries that joined the European Union in 2004 will finally have the right to live and work in all the bloc's member states. László Andor, the EU's employment commissioner, explains why workers' mobility is part of the solution to Europe's unemployment problem.

EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding wants to support small companies that engage in cross-border trade by introducing a European order to freeze the bank accounts of bad payers across borders.

The European Commission's proposal for a 'Single Market Act' must be debated across the EU so that citizens can learn about the internal market and get a taste for cross-border trade, Philippe Herzog, co-founder of the think-tank Confrontations Europe, told EurActiv France in an interview.

Fast-growing small firms will gain access to fresh sources of money by 2012 via a network of specialist stock exchanges under new European Commission proposals due next month.

The European Commission is studying ways to abolish contractual hurdles which prevent companies from doing business across borders, according to a paper seen by EurActiv. The most far-reaching option on the table includes ambitious plans to introduce a "full-fledged European Civil Code".

The EU's long-term economic targets for 2020 are "good and necessary," but more fundamental changes are needed to remove the "ton" of barriers that continue to hamper the completion of the single market, Nani Beccalli, president and CEO of GE International, told EurActiv in an interview.

"A Digital Single Market's economic impact would at least equal that created by the EU Internal Market for goods," writes the European Policy Centre (EPC) in an April paper.

Amid growing unemployment and increasing inequality in Europe, the new social provisions in the Lisbon Treaty will not immediately correct social imbalances, according to experts. But the crisis might trigger the right kind of social innovation and reform the market economy, they say.

"The financial crisis is transforming some longstanding British assumptions" about the EU, according to Philip Whyte, a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform.

A 'Small Business Act' and a 'researcher's passport' are among proposals put forward by the Commission in its wide-ranging review of the Single Market. The review also highlighted 23 "malfunctioning sectors" it plans to modernise over the coming years.

The Commission aims to make retail banking and insurance services cheaper for consumers, with the launch of a wide public consultation on retail financial services.

Finance ministers have backed proposals for an EU-wide payment services system, which aims to make it cheaper and easier to use payment cards throughout the 27-member bloc. New takeover rules in the banking sector were also given the green light.

Creating a more citizen-friendly Europe emerges as the top priority of Commission plans, presented on 21 February 2007, to modernise the single market.

Competition watchdog OCCP has declared the fees that banks charge on transactions made with major credit cards as unlawful, in an effort to reduce costs for consumers.

The European Central Bank (ECB) fears increased costs for consumers if the Single European Payments Area (SEPA) for cards is implemented, while the industry predicts major benefits for consumers.

On 18 October 2006, the Commission adopted a plan for opening up postal markets to unrestricted competition by 2009. The question now is not ‘when?’, but ‘how?’.

According to a new study, despite 20 years of policies aimed towards creating a single market, the majority of Europeans continue not only to work but also to shop and invest exclusively in their own country.