Focused and strategic approach ahead of the Single Market Act (2011)?

What did the contemporaries think about the fifty proposals of the consultation paper (green paper):

Towards a Single Market Act

For a highly competitive social market economy

50 proposals for improving our work, business and exchanges with one another

Brussels, 11.11.2010 COM(2010) 608 final/2 (45 pages)?

SEC(2011) 467

The different language versions of the Commission’s Single Market Act pages - English here - offer us links to three distilled documents about the public consultation.

First: On eight pages the first overview of responses gives us a picture of the 840 respondents and highlights some of the preferences of different stakeholder groups: individual citizens, trade unions, industry federations, individual companies, consumer organisations, non-governmental organisations, other organisations and public authorities.

Second: The statistical charts of the public consultation (44 pages) dealt with the 740 responses given on the Commission’s form.

Potentially interesting with regard to internal market challenges would be the 366 who thought that the green paper proposed adequate measures only partly; likewise the 245, 228 and 151 respectively for the different chapters wishing for other issues to be addressed.

Third: We are not directly invited by the SMA page to study the individual contributions, and the access page promised by the Commission Staff Working Paper (CSW) can not be found. Thus, we are restricted to the 32 pages of the CSW published, in English only, on the same day as the Single Market Act (SMA) communication:

Overview of responses to the public consultation on the Communication ‘Towards a Single Market Act’; Brussels, 13.4.2011 SEC(2011) 467 final  

Beside the statistical basics covered in the earlier documents, the discussion about the wishes of member states, local authorities and European Economic Area (EEA) countries offers us some interesting nuggets.  

In addition to many positive calls from industry federations with regard to ongoing actions or promised proposals, we take note of this paragraph (page 15):

A large number of respondents in this category welcome the comprehensive approach of the SMA. Some of them invite the European Commission to adopt a more focused and strategic approach, and to seek coherence with the other policy areas and the EU 2020 flagship initiatives.

Single Market Act

I did not notice that the Commission would have elaborated on the theme of  strategic level in the SEC(2011) 467 document, but perhaps we can hope that the Commission’s proper potential strategic level response was the communication published in the official EU languages (here to the English version):

   

Single Market Act

Twelve levers to boost growth and strengthen confidence

"Working together to create new growth"

Brussels, 13.4.2011 COM(2011) 206 final (26 pages)

Ralf Grahn

Towards a Single Market Act (2010)

On this blog, we traced Mario Monti’s new strategy for the Single Market and the European Parliament’s resolution on delivering a single market to consumers and citizens (here and here).

For the first semester of 2010 we still needed to check on the collective views from the EU member states, namely the conclusions of the Council of the European Union and the European Council:

Economic and Financial Affairs (Ecofin) 16 February 2010 (6477/10)

Competitiveness (Internal Market, Industry and Research) 1-2 March 2010 (6983/1/10 REV 1)

European Council 17 June 2010 (EUCO 13/1/10 REV 1)

COM(2010) 608 final/2

It came to pass in those days , when José Manuel Barroso was president of the European Commission and Michel Barnier was commissioner for the internal market,  that the EU Commission responded to the strategy, the resolution and the conclusions  by publishing a communication on 27 October 2010.

However, about two weeks later the English language version was replaced by a new and corrected text:

Towards a Single Market Act

For a highly competitive social market economy

50 proposals for improving our work, business and exchanges with one another

Brussels, 11.11.2010 COM(2010) 608 final/2 (45 pages)   

The other language versions remain unaffected.

On page 2 we find a reminder that this is a text with relevance to the European Economic Area (EEA) and the Commission’s credo that during the past two decades, the creation of the single market and the opening of borders have been two of the main driving forces behind economic growth in Europe.

Consultation paper  

The European Commission presented this consultation paper (“Green Paper”) hoping that the relaunch of the single market would become the subject of a wide-ranging public debate for four months throughout Europe.

After this discussion, the Commission intended to invite the other institutions to give their formal agreement to the final version of the Act.

The Commission saw the future adoption of the Single Market Act as a dynamic way to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the single market at the end of 2012.

The Commission also recalled that the Single Market Act and the EU Citizenship Report 2010 were meant to complement each other (page 5), with the Citizenship Report dealing with non-economic rights (page 20).

The drawbacks of market fragmentation were among the problems the Commission underlined (page 6):

Businesses often cite the fragmentation of the single market as a handicap to their competitiveness and, indeed, the variety of different national regulations places a considerable burden on them, delaying investment, limiting economies of scale and synergies and raising barriers to market entry. It is therefore important for markets to be integrated and obstacles removed by precisely identifying the areas where a lack of coordination and harmonisation are hampering the proper functioning of the single market.

Fifty proposals!

Rereading the fifty proposals after all these years still makes me wonder if I see an emerging strategy or a mythological cornucopia. I still feel at a loss to present this loosely structured collection of good intentions, an inventory of actions for the internal market.

But reading continues to make sense as an immersion into the different aspects related to achieving a real single market in some distant future. If they keep going like this, a lot of patient grunt work is going to be needed from here to something close to eternity.

Eternal harmonisation or a real upgrade through unitary market rules of strategic importance, is the question that nags me.

With regard to the public consultation, the Commission asked for the contributions by 28 February 2011, in order to turn the 50 measures into a Single Market Act, comprising a definitive policy action plan for 2011-2012. (page 35). A second phase was promised for later (page 36).

Ralf Grahn

EU Green Paper on e-procurement

The European Commission has launched a consultation on expanding the use of electronic procurement in the internal market: European Commission acts to expand the use of e-procurement in the EU (18 October 2010, press release IP/10/1347; in English, French and German).

According to internal market and services commissioner Michel Barnier, the use of information and communication technology in public procurement increases the speed and efficiency of public purchasing while significantly cutting the costs when participating in tenders.

As often, the Commission offers background information in the form of FAQs: Frequently asked questions: e-Procurement (18 October 2010, MEMO/10/499; only in English).

The Public procurement main page of the Commission offers thematic links to various aspects of public purchasing in the internal market; also in French Marchés publics and in German Öffentliches Auftragswesen.


e-CERTIS database

The Commission is offering access to its e-CERTIS database which provides an on-line storehouse of the documents which are most frequently requested in the 27 Member States (for example, evidence of compliance with fiscal obligations or social security obligations or evidence of economic and financial standing). It allows users to identify such documents and match them with their local equivalent. The use of e-CERTIS helps business operators to reduce costs and uncertainty due to the lack of knowledge about the different certificates requested by the various national contracting authorities:

You can access the e-CERTIS webpage here. The User Guide is in English, but a brochure is available in 21 languages.


Consultation web page

The e-procurement consultation runs until 31 January 2011, and from the consultation web page you can access the Green Paper in 22 official EU languages. Here is a link to the English version:

Green Paper on expanding the use of e-Procurement in the EU; Brussels, 18.10.2010 COM(2010) 571 final (23 pages)

The consultation document is accompanied by the staff working document SEC(2010) 1214. On the consultation page it goes under the name of Evaluation Report and it can be accessed here (162 pages).

The COM and SEC documents have not yet been posted on Eur-Lex under Preparatory acts.


Target groups

Even if the consultation is open to all citizens and organisations, the Commission expects contributions particularly from member states, large procurement agencies and contracting authorities, the ICT industry, procurement specialists in the private and public sector and representatives of business trade associations.




Ralf Grahn

P.S. A Fistful of Euros describes itself as a webzine and a weblog, writing from a pan-European perspective. It is one of the best researched and most influential Euroblogs, widely read with a policy focus which engages many and affects everyone: the economy.

There are now 676 Euroblogs listed on the multilingual blog aggregator Bloggingportal.eu, where you find all the new posts on European affairs.

EU: Brussels I Regulation (new documents)

When we wrote about the Brussels I Regulation, we were unable to locate the report and the green paper referred to in the Commission’s press releases.

They have now been posted on the Eur-Lex pages dedicated to preparatory acts, among COM documents:

Brussels I Regulation report

Brussels, 21.4.2009
COM(2009) 174 final
REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL AND THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE on the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 44/2001 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters



Green paper Brussels I Regulation

Brussels, 21.4.2009
COM(2009) 175 final
GREEN PAPER ON THE REVIEW OF COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 44/2001 ON JURISDICTION AND THE RECOGNITION AND ENFORCEMENT OF JUDGMENTS IN CIVIL AND COMMERCIAL MATTERS



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Overview

IP/09/606

We have the Commission’s press release: European citizens and business to benefit from greater access to justice - strengthening co-operation in civil and commercial matters (21 April 2009; IP/09/606).



According to the press release, on 21 April, the Commission adopted a report and a green paper on the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 44/2001 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement in civil and commercial matters. This Regulation, widely known as the "Brussels I Regulation", is the matrix of European judicial cooperation in civil and commercial matters. It aims at providing the legal support for the good functioning of the internal market, addressing two key questions which arise in the event of a dispute involving natural or legal persons from different Member States:

• The courts of which Member States shall have jurisdiction to rule on the dispute;
• How the judgment given by that court will be recognised and enforced in the other Member States.


MEMO/09/169

Report and Green paper on the review and application of regulation (ec) no 44/2001 on jurisdiction, recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters (21 April 2009; MEMO/09/169)

On 21 April 2009, the Commission adopted a report and a green paper on the functioning of the existing rules on jurisdiction of the courts and the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments. It concludes that time has come to achieve a free circulation of judgments in civil and commercial matters in the European Union on the basis of mutual recognition of judgments among Member States.


Ralf Grahn

European Union: Justice abroad (Brussels I)

The Commission is moving on the so called Brussels I Regulation, officially Council Regulation (EC) No 44/2001 of 22 December 2000 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters, published in the Official Journal of the European Communities (OJEC) 16.1.2001 L 12/1.

The latest consolidated version is of 4 December 2008.




Report on Brussels I Regulation

Green Paper on Brussels I

For a quick overview, you can read the press release European citizens and business to benefit from greater access to justice – strengthening co-operation in civil and commercial matters (21 April 2009; IP/09/606).




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There were no links in the press release to the Report or to the Green Paper (consultation paper), and I was unable to locate them on the pages of the Directorate-General for Justice, Freedom and Security or the Pre-Lex pages, so interested readers have to try again later.


Ralf Grahn

EU freedom of movement: Overseas countries and territories

The Treaty establishing the European Community provides for the principle of free movement for workers (persons) between the associated overseas countries and territories (OCTs) and the EU member states, but to be governed by agreements requiring unanimous approval by the member states. Article 186 TEC:

Article 186 TEC

Subject to the provisions relating to public health, public security or public policy, freedom of movement within Member States for workers from the countries and territories, and within the countries and territories for workers from Member States, shall be governed by agreements to be concluded subsequently with the unanimous approval of Member States.



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Original ToL

The original Treaty of Lisbon (ToL) contained the explicit but small amendment to the current TEC that agreements are to be replaced by legislative acts:

152) At the end of Article 186, the words ‘shall be governed by agreements to be concluded subsequently with the unanimous approval of Member States’ shall be replaced by ‘shall be regulated by acts adopted in accordance with Article 187’


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TFEU consolidated

The unanimity requirement stands, although the procedure is described in other words, in Article 202 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), in the consolidated Lisbon Treaty published OJEU 9.5.2008 C 115/138:

(PART FOUR
ASSOCIATION OF THE OVERSEAS COUNTRIES AND TERRITORIES)



Article 202 TFEU
(ex Article 186 TEC)

Subject to the provisions relating to public health, public security or public policy, freedom of movement within Member States for workers from the countries and territories, and within the countries and territories for workers from Member States, shall be regulated by acts adopted in accordance with Article 203.


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Special territories generally

If you want an introduction to the geographical scope of the EU treaties and the various special territories in general, you could read the Wikipedia article Special Member State Territories and the European Union, which discusses the outermost regions, the overseas countries and territories (OCTs) we have looked at in the latest blog posts, as well as special cases (latest update 12 January 2009):


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_member_state_territories_and_the_European_Union


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OCTs and freedom of movement for workers


Article 17 TEC establishes EU citizenship for every person holding the nationality of a member state and Article 18 TEC, in principle, lays down the right to move and reside freely within the territory of the member states, subject to the treaty and secondary legislation. (More detail is provided by the so called Citizenship Directive 2004/38/EC for EU citizens and notably their family members, but excluding social security.)

This means that the free movement rights of OCT residents depend on their citizenship. If they are full citizens of the “mother country”, they enjoy the rights of EU citizens.


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Green Paper


The Commission’s Green Paper on the overseas countries and territories, COM(2008) 383 final, gives the following description of the situation (page 6 and 7):


In addition, unlike with third countries, all OCT nationals are in principle European citizens in the sense of Article 17 of the EC Treaty, which states that every person holding the nationality of a Member State is a citizen of the Union. More precisely, all nationals of Greenland and the French and Dutch OCTs also have the nationality of the related Member State automatically. As from 21 May 2002, the citizens of all the British OCTs are also British citizens, but they can renounce it in favour of remaining British overseas territories citizens only and are not obliged to have a passport describing them as a British citizen. As European citizens, OCT nationals are in principle also entitled to the rights conferred by Union citizenship (as laid down in Articles 18 to 22 of the EC Treaty), such as the right to move and reside (but not work) freely within the territory of the Member States. Moreover, OCT nationals can be granted the right to vote for and participate in the election of the European Parliament, subject to the conditions defined by the related Member States in compliance with Community law. This is, for example, the case for nationals of the French OCTs.


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Commission Staff Working Document


The Staff Working Document SEC(2008) 2067 with the Annexes, accompanying the Green Paper gave the following additional information (page 31):

It is important to recall that, though not third countries, the OCTs do not form part of the Community single market. Therefore, the related four freedoms (free movement of people, goods, services and capital) that apply within the Community do not cover the OCT-EC association, although this does not affect the rights conferred upon OCT inhabitants by citizenship of the Union within the meaning of the EC Treaty. Instead, the above-mentioned arrangements for trade in goods, establishment and the provision of services apply to trade and economic relations between the Community and the OCTs. The Overseas Association Decision also contains provisions on current payments and capital movements. Furthermore, the free movement of workers between the OCTs and the Member States is mentioned in the EC Treaty, but this issue is to be governed by agreements to be concluded subsequently with the unanimous approval of the Member States. However, given this very cumbersome procedure laid down in Article 186 of the EC Treaty, such agreements have never been adopted so far. In this respect, it should be noted that the Treaty of Lisbon of 13 December 2007 makes the regulation of the free movement of workers between the OCTs and the Member States subject to the common procedure of Article 187 of the EC Treaty for adopting the detailed rules and procedures for the OCT-EC association, which could facilitate regulation of this issue.


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Because no agreements have been concluded between the EU member states, citizenship determines the right to move and reside freely.


Ralf Grahn

EU overseas association framework

The associated non-European, overseas countries and territories (OCTs) are special. They do not form part of the European Community (European Union), but neither are they third countries from the EU’s point of view.

The relations between the European Community and the OCTs are both special and asymmetric.

Article 183 of the Treaty establishing the European Community lays down some basic principles concerning this special relationship. The framework covers the trade regime, investments for development, procurement (tenders) and the right of establishment.

Trade: The EU member states apply the same rules to their trade with the OCTs as to the other member states (paragraph 1). .

An OCT applies the same trade rules to other EU member states as it applies to its mother country (paragraph 2).

Development investments: The EU member states contribute to development investments in the overseas countries and territories (paragraph 3).

Tenders: As a counterweight to the financial obligations of EU member states, businesses from all member states or other OCTs can participate in procurement procedures concerning Community investments in OCTs on equal terms (paragraph 4).

Establishment: Non-discriminatory rights of establishment are to be set out (paragraph 5).


The wording of Article 183 of the Treaty establishing the European Community (TEC):



Article 183 TEC

Association shall have the following objectives.

1. Member States shall apply to their trade with the countries and territories the same treatment as they accord each other pursuant to this Treaty.

2. Each country or territory shall apply to its trade with Member States and with the other countries and territories the same treatment as that which it applies to the European State with which is has special relations.

3. The Member States shall contribute to the investments required for the progressive development of these countries and territories.

4. For investments financed by the Community, participation in tenders and supplies shall be open on equal terms to all natural and legal persons who are nationals of a Member State or of one of the countries and territories.

5. In relations between Member States and the countries and territories the right of establishment of nationals and companies or firms shall be regulated in accordance with the provisions and procedures laid down in the Chapter relating to the right of establishment and on a non‑discriminatory basis, subject to any special provisions laid down pursuant to Article 187.


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Consolidated Lisbon Treaty

Article 183 TEC underwent no specific amendments, so without looking at the intervening steps we present the consolidated version of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU, where the corresponding provision is Article 199 (OJEU 9.5.2008 C 115/137):

(PART FOUR
ASSOCIATION OF THE OVERSEAS COUNTRIES AND TERRITORIES)



Article 199 TFEU
(ex Article 183 TEC)

Association shall have the following objectives.

1. Member States shall apply to their trade with the countries and territories the same treatment as they accord each other pursuant to the Treaties.

2. Each country or territory shall apply to its trade with Member States and with the other countries and territories the same treatment as that which it applies to the European State with which is has special relations.

3. The Member States shall contribute to the investments required for the progressive development of these countries and territories.

4. For investments financed by the Union, participation in tenders and supplies shall be open on equal terms to all natural and legal persons who are nationals of a Member State or of one of the countries and territories.

5. In relations between Member States and the countries and territories the right of establishment of nationals and companies or firms shall be regulated in accordance with the provisions and procedures laid down in the Chapter relating to the right of establishment and on a non-discriminatory basis, subject to any special provisions laid down pursuant to Article 203.


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Scadplus

The Commission’s Scadplus web pages contain summaries of Community legislation. The page Association of the OCTs with the European Community is available here (latest update 20 February 2008):

http://europa.eu/scadplus/leg/en/lvb/r12301.htm



The web page European Development Fund (EDF) presents the main instrument for aid to African, Caribbean and Pacific states (ACP countries) and OCTs (last updated 14 June 2007):


http://europa.eu/scadplus/leg/en/lvb/r12102.htm


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Commission

The Commission’s Directorate-General Development offers additional information and links on the web page EU relations with its associated overseas territories:

http://ec.europa.eu/development/geographical/regionscountries/regionscountriesocts_en.cfm



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Future overseas association relations

The Commission has issued a Green Paper on future OCT relations. The Communication Future relations between the EU and the Overseas Countries and Territories, Brussels, 25.6.2008 COM(2008) 383 final, is available here:

http://ec.europa.eu/development/icenter/repository/1_EN_ACT_part1_v8.pdf


With the Green Paper the Commission launched a discussion on the future relations between the EU and the OCTs, in the longer term. The grounds, objectives and nature of the solidarity between the EU and the OCTs are discussed. More specific issues regarding the trade regime applicable to the OCTs and the OCTs’ specific characteristics are dealt with in a Commission staff working paper.

In addition to the questions about the future, the Green Paper presents the situation of the European Community, the member states and OCT nationals, especially if you read the Annexes contained in
The Commission Staff Working Document accompanying the Green Paöer Future relations between the EU and the Overseas Countries and Territories, Brussels, 25.6.2008 SEC(2008) 2067:

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=SEC:2008:2067:FIN:EN:PDF



In other words, if you regard one of the following OCTs as more than an exotic holiday destination, you might want to read the Commission papers:

Greenland, New Caledonia and Dependencies, French Polynesia, French Southern and Antarctic Territories, Wallis and Futuna Islands, Mayotte, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Aruba, Netherlands Antilles (Bonaire, Curaçao, Saba, Sint Eustatius, Sint Maarten), Anguilla, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Montserrat, Pitcairn, Saint Helena and Dependencies, British Antarctic Territory, British Indian Ocean Territory, Turks and Caicos Islands, British Virgin Islands, [Bermuda].



Ralf Grahn