Tuesday, 3 July 2012
Implementation of Services Directive 2006/123/EC
The EU Commission has reported on the implementation issues and sectors covered by the Services Directive 2006/123/EC, which have the most significant impact or potential in economic terms: business services, construction, real estate, retail and tourism.
Internal market in services
In the blog post EU performance checks: construction, business services and tourism we looked at the Commission staff working document SWD(2012) 147 regarding these internal market services.
[I checked to see, but the blog editor still refuses to accept paragraphs. Sad.]
Saturday, 31 March 2012
Migrating from Blogger – temporarily?
When I switched to the new Blogger (Google) profile, something strange happened. First on Eurooppaoikeus, then on Grahnblawg the breaks for new lines (paragraphs) in the article would disappear in the published post. I have tried to signal the problem, but as we see from the previous post here on Grahnlaw, the bug persists.
Thus, I see no other option than to migrate to Grahnlaw Suomi Finland for the time being. My three blogs on Blogger remain as an archive with a total of more than 2,700 articles plus feeds with news about EU affairs.
Sadly yours,
Ralf Grahn
EU growth and prosperity through EU2020?
Loss of competitiveness and export shares in world markets is the slippery road the member states of the European Union have been embarked on, but it is hardly the highway to growth and prosperity.
The EU actually has a comprehensive strategy for economic growth, Europe 2020, but how credible is the commitment of the national leaders if they keep forgetting their own EU2020 master plan, at least without prodding?
Just before each EU member state submits its National Reform Programme 2012, here are some Grahnlaw blog posts about relevant conclusions and statements concerning a return to growth, competitiveness and the creation of new jobs:
European Council and the quest for growth
European Council and Single Market: ambitious enough?
EUCO challenge: growth despite budget balancing
Breathing life into EU2020 necessary for growth, competitiveness and employment
EU2020 from failure to action
EU leaders: ”Oops, we forgot our strategy”
European Council endorsed Annual Growth Survey 2012 priorities
Is the Europe 2020 strategy jinxed?
Ralf Grahn
EU policy expert, speaker and lecturer
Tuesday, 27 March 2012
Sharpening the axes: EU Council long term budget discussion
What did the discussion about the EU's long term budget offer the public?
Yesterday the General Affairs Council (GAC) publicly debated the long term budget (officially, the multiannual financial framework MFF), which is going to determine the EU's annual budgets 2014-2020.
The MFF is how the EU member states control income and expenditure, despite the much touted new powers of the European Parliament regarding the annual budgets. The EP can only accept or reject the MFF.
Yesterday, the ministers did not discuss the long term budget, but a ”negotiating box” covering four categories of expenditure (known as "headings"): heading 1 “Smart and inclusive growth” (except for cohesion policy and the Connecting Europe Facility), heading 3 “Security and citizenship”, heading 4 “Global Europe” (EU's external action) and heading 5 (administration).
In other words, it was not like the discussion of a house, but of an important section of the blueprint of the building.
Openness
The Council press people have written an article about the GAC meeting and tried to make the MFF negotiating process comprehensible. There are helpful links to web pages concerning the Multiannual Financial Framwork 2014-2020 (and further news, proposals and videos) and the outline of the negotiating box.
The discussion was webcast directly, and those who are interested can watch the recording as an example of Council debate. The recording also serves, if you want to know the main negotiating aims of one or more countries. You can also see the emerging front lines.
When the interventions of the chairman and Commissioners are added to each of the 27 EU member states (plus Croatia) making its main points in three minutes, this ”tour de table” or series of monologues took about two hours and a quarter.
There is also the 30 min video recording of the press conference with the Danish minister Nicolai Wammen, who chaired the meeting, and the commissioners Maroš Šefčovič (inter-institutional relations and administration) and Janusz Lewandowski (financial programming and budget).
Even if this was an 'early stages' discussion, the press conference offers some distilled information and intelligent questions from journalists.
It is not easy to summarise the diverging opinions of the member states, but perhaps for the first time the GAC conclusions look as if someone had made an effort (without naming and shaming individual countries):
3158th Council meeting General Affairs; Brussels, 26 March 2012 (document 8129/12)
Read the conclusions, if you want to know the bones of contention at a general level.
Improvements
The General Affairs Council has been been a real disappointment with regard to openness, governance standards and effectiveness during the first two years of the Lisbon Treaty.
It is therefore worth noting that the quality of advance information (although very late) and the conclusions has improved during the Danish presidency.
As in the case of the eurozone (Eurogroup, Euro Summit), the Council press service has enhanced the quality of presentation lately, although the opaque nature of these coteries remains.
Media
About ten countries want to squeeze the Commission proposals by some EUR100 billion. Here are some media reports.
Eight countries want to scrap the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF), which spends about EUR500 million annually, according to the Swedish EU minister Birgitta Ohlsson (Europaportalen.se). No financial transaction tax (FTT) for the EU coffers to reduce the national contributions, according to Ohlsson.
Ten countries asked for macroeconomic conditionality to be extended to all forms of EU expenditure, Europolitics reported in a good summary of the contents of the GAC discussion.
Ahead of the annual budget for 2013, the Commission tells the institutions to limit expenditure (EUobserver). While member states want to cut expenses for administration, the Commission counters with problems to recruit officials from the rich member states or from fields where the private sector offers more for top talent (EUobserver).
Ralf Grahn
speaker and lecturer on EU affairs
P.S. The multilingual Bloggingportal.eu already aggregates the posts from 948 Euroblogs. They represent an integral part of the emerging European online public sphere, discussion across national and linguistic borders. Regards-citoyens is a highly productive French blog, which mixes own articles and analysis with selected writings from other media and news from the EU institutions.
Among the Euroblogs on Bloggingportal.eu you find my current blog trio, Grahnlaw (recently ranked fourth among political blogs in Finland), the Nordic Grahnblawg (written in Swedish) and Eurooppaoikeus (meaning European Law, in Finnish). I write and speak about democracy and openness in the European Union, but increasingly about the crucial challenges of the global era for Europe: growth (EU2020) and the (digital) single market in the making.
The other social media where I am active: Twitter, Facebook ja Google+
Yesterday the General Affairs Council (GAC) publicly debated the long term budget (officially, the multiannual financial framework MFF), which is going to determine the EU's annual budgets 2014-2020.
The MFF is how the EU member states control income and expenditure, despite the much touted new powers of the European Parliament regarding the annual budgets. The EP can only accept or reject the MFF.
Yesterday, the ministers did not discuss the long term budget, but a ”negotiating box” covering four categories of expenditure (known as "headings"): heading 1 “Smart and inclusive growth” (except for cohesion policy and the Connecting Europe Facility), heading 3 “Security and citizenship”, heading 4 “Global Europe” (EU's external action) and heading 5 (administration).
In other words, it was not like the discussion of a house, but of an important section of the blueprint of the building.
Openness
The Council press people have written an article about the GAC meeting and tried to make the MFF negotiating process comprehensible. There are helpful links to web pages concerning the Multiannual Financial Framwork 2014-2020 (and further news, proposals and videos) and the outline of the negotiating box.
The discussion was webcast directly, and those who are interested can watch the recording as an example of Council debate. The recording also serves, if you want to know the main negotiating aims of one or more countries. You can also see the emerging front lines.
When the interventions of the chairman and Commissioners are added to each of the 27 EU member states (plus Croatia) making its main points in three minutes, this ”tour de table” or series of monologues took about two hours and a quarter.
There is also the 30 min video recording of the press conference with the Danish minister Nicolai Wammen, who chaired the meeting, and the commissioners Maroš Šefčovič (inter-institutional relations and administration) and Janusz Lewandowski (financial programming and budget).
Even if this was an 'early stages' discussion, the press conference offers some distilled information and intelligent questions from journalists.
It is not easy to summarise the diverging opinions of the member states, but perhaps for the first time the GAC conclusions look as if someone had made an effort (without naming and shaming individual countries):
3158th Council meeting General Affairs; Brussels, 26 March 2012 (document 8129/12)
Read the conclusions, if you want to know the bones of contention at a general level.
Improvements
The General Affairs Council has been been a real disappointment with regard to openness, governance standards and effectiveness during the first two years of the Lisbon Treaty.
It is therefore worth noting that the quality of advance information (although very late) and the conclusions has improved during the Danish presidency.
As in the case of the eurozone (Eurogroup, Euro Summit), the Council press service has enhanced the quality of presentation lately, although the opaque nature of these coteries remains.
Media
About ten countries want to squeeze the Commission proposals by some EUR100 billion. Here are some media reports.
Eight countries want to scrap the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF), which spends about EUR500 million annually, according to the Swedish EU minister Birgitta Ohlsson (Europaportalen.se). No financial transaction tax (FTT) for the EU coffers to reduce the national contributions, according to Ohlsson.
Ten countries asked for macroeconomic conditionality to be extended to all forms of EU expenditure, Europolitics reported in a good summary of the contents of the GAC discussion.
Ahead of the annual budget for 2013, the Commission tells the institutions to limit expenditure (EUobserver). While member states want to cut expenses for administration, the Commission counters with problems to recruit officials from the rich member states or from fields where the private sector offers more for top talent (EUobserver).
Ralf Grahn
speaker and lecturer on EU affairs
P.S. The multilingual Bloggingportal.eu already aggregates the posts from 948 Euroblogs. They represent an integral part of the emerging European online public sphere, discussion across national and linguistic borders. Regards-citoyens is a highly productive French blog, which mixes own articles and analysis with selected writings from other media and news from the EU institutions.
Among the Euroblogs on Bloggingportal.eu you find my current blog trio, Grahnlaw (recently ranked fourth among political blogs in Finland), the Nordic Grahnblawg (written in Swedish) and Eurooppaoikeus (meaning European Law, in Finnish). I write and speak about democracy and openness in the European Union, but increasingly about the crucial challenges of the global era for Europe: growth (EU2020) and the (digital) single market in the making.
The other social media where I am active: Twitter, Facebook ja Google+
Sunday, 25 March 2012
Is the Europe 2020 strategy jinxed?
In the article EU action plan to improve access to finance for SMEs I mentioned the information note from the Danish Council presidency:
European Council - Follow-up by the Council; Brussels, 19 March 2012 (document 7824/12)
The content is described on the front page:
Peer pressure
So what did paragraph 16 of the conclusions of the spring (March) 2012 European Council say? The EUCO conclusions are available in all 23 official EU languages; here the English text, under Economic policy, which highlights some aspects of single market reform and compliance (although the single market has been mentioned in these and other conclusions as well):
Follow-up note
The follow-up note deals with the growth agenda, including:
* the single market, Single Market Act,
* acces to finance for SMEs, the COSME programme,
* the forthcoming employment package,
* the reduction of the administrative and regulatory burden,
* innovation and Horizon 2020,
* the digital single market,
* the internal energy market
Under Economic policy, the following themes were among those mentioned:
* the next steps within the European Semester leading to recommendations on the National Reform Programmes and the Stability or Convergence Programmes of the member states as well as the prevention of macroeconomic imbalances revealed by the Alert Mechanism Report,
* the regulation of financial services,
* the two-pack proposals on euro area surveillance,
* the contribution of taxation to fiscal consolidation and growth,
* piloting European project bonds
Additional themes were the long term budget (Multiannual Financial Framework MFF), Justice and Home Affairs (including Schengen enlargement and governance, the Common European Asylum System), Climate (low-carbon 2050 strategy), Trade and Enlargement.
Jinxed Europe 2020?
Only a few weeks ago the spring European Council reminded itself and others that:
However, yet again we see a paper from one or more member states skillfully evading the main EU2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth, despite dealing with certain concrete aspects of it.
It looks improbable that an EUCO president or EU member state can – in good faith - write an eight-page issues paper or equally long information note [edited] about the EU's growth agenda and economic policy, or the five pages of a twelve-country plan for growth in Europe without mentioning the Europe 2020 strategy.
Is EU2020 jinxed, or what?
Europe 2020 is supposed to be the main uniting economic reform strategy for all levels of government in the European Union and its member states, as the heads of states or government reiterated at the beginning of this month.
Have we ever seen or heard an intelligent explanation from the governments of the EU member states, or have the EU members shown us a diagnosis of amnesia?
General Affairs Council
Monday, 26 March 2012, the coordinating General Affairs Council (GAC) meets to discuss two main items, of which the second one is: Follow-up to the European Council 1-2 March 2012 (agenda).
In this respect, the background note for the GAC meeting offers practically nothing in addition to the presidency note 7824/12:
The follow-up discussion is not public, so if the General Affairs Council does not make drastic improvements to its conclusions, the presidency note is probably the best thing the public is left with regarding growth and economic policy for a while.
Ralf Grahn
public speaker on EU affairs
P.S. The multilingual Bloggingportal.eu already aggregates the posts from 944 Euroblogs. They represent an important part of the emerging European online public sphere, discussion across national and linguistic borders. Erkan's Field Diary is more than a Turkish delight. The anthropologist, Dr Erkan Saka follows and links to global, European and Turkish politics and events, not forgetting human rights, cyberculture and social media. Some of the posts are in English. Recommended reading.
Among the Euroblogs on Bloggingportal.eu you find my currently active blog trio, Grahnlaw (recently ranked fourth among political blogs in Finland), the Nordic Grahnblawg (written in Swedish) and Eurooppaoikeus (meaning European Law, in Finnish). I write and speak about democracy and openness in the European Union, but increasingly about the crucial challenges of the global era for Europe: growth (EU2020) and the (digital) single market in the making.
European Council - Follow-up by the Council; Brussels, 19 March 2012 (document 7824/12)
The content is described on the front page:
In order to ensure that the General Affairs Council can fully play its general coordinating role as well as its specific role in ensuring the follow-up to European Council meetings, the Presidency has prepared the attached information note. The note outlines steps taken in implementation of the orientations agreed by the European Council at its meetings of December 2011 and March 2012, as well as at in the declaration of the Heads of State and Government of 30 January 2012. This note also sets out how these orientations will be taken forward by the Presidency within the Council until the end of the Presidency period, notwithstanding upcoming discussions to be held in Coreper and Council in respect to the orientations set out by the March 2012 European Council, in particular as regards paragraph 16 of its conclusions.
Peer pressure
So what did paragraph 16 of the conclusions of the spring (March) 2012 European Council say? The EUCO conclusions are available in all 23 official EU languages; here the English text, under Economic policy, which highlights some aspects of single market reform and compliance (although the single market has been mentioned in these and other conclusions as well):
16. The European Council considers that enhanced "peer pressure" can help raise the ownership and responsibility at the level of Heads of State or Government as regards the Council's and individual Member States' role in developing the Single Market and complying with its rules. To this effect, the European Council invites :
− the Commission to provide transparent scoreboards as a basis for appropriate benchmarking;
− the President of the European Council to promote regular monitoring by the European Council of progress achieved on key Single Market proposals in the various Council formations.
Follow-up note
The follow-up note deals with the growth agenda, including:
* the single market, Single Market Act,
* acces to finance for SMEs, the COSME programme,
* the forthcoming employment package,
* the reduction of the administrative and regulatory burden,
* innovation and Horizon 2020,
* the digital single market,
* the internal energy market
Under Economic policy, the following themes were among those mentioned:
* the next steps within the European Semester leading to recommendations on the National Reform Programmes and the Stability or Convergence Programmes of the member states as well as the prevention of macroeconomic imbalances revealed by the Alert Mechanism Report,
* the regulation of financial services,
* the two-pack proposals on euro area surveillance,
* the contribution of taxation to fiscal consolidation and growth,
* piloting European project bonds
Additional themes were the long term budget (Multiannual Financial Framework MFF), Justice and Home Affairs (including Schengen enlargement and governance, the Common European Asylum System), Climate (low-carbon 2050 strategy), Trade and Enlargement.
Jinxed Europe 2020?
Only a few weeks ago the spring European Council reminded itself and others that:
2. "Europe 2020" is Europe's strategy for jobs and growth and its comprehensive response to the challenges it is facing. In particular, the five targets set out for 2020 remain fully relevant and will continue to guide the action of Member States and the Union to promote employment; improve the conditions for innovation, research and development; meet our climate change and energy objectives; improve education levels and promote social inclusion in particular through the reduction of poverty.
However, yet again we see a paper from one or more member states skillfully evading the main EU2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth, despite dealing with certain concrete aspects of it.
It looks improbable that an EUCO president or EU member state can – in good faith - write an eight-page issues paper or equally long information note [edited] about the EU's growth agenda and economic policy, or the five pages of a twelve-country plan for growth in Europe without mentioning the Europe 2020 strategy.
Is EU2020 jinxed, or what?
Europe 2020 is supposed to be the main uniting economic reform strategy for all levels of government in the European Union and its member states, as the heads of states or government reiterated at the beginning of this month.
Have we ever seen or heard an intelligent explanation from the governments of the EU member states, or have the EU members shown us a diagnosis of amnesia?
General Affairs Council
Monday, 26 March 2012, the coordinating General Affairs Council (GAC) meets to discuss two main items, of which the second one is: Follow-up to the European Council 1-2 March 2012 (agenda).
In this respect, the background note for the GAC meeting offers practically nothing in addition to the presidency note 7824/12:
Follow-up to the [December] European Council
The Council will take stock of the follow-up to be given to the European Council meeting held on 1-2 March, on the basis of a presidency note (7824/12).
The meeting focus[ed] in particular on the growth agenda and on economic policy.
The follow-up discussion is not public, so if the General Affairs Council does not make drastic improvements to its conclusions, the presidency note is probably the best thing the public is left with regarding growth and economic policy for a while.
Ralf Grahn
public speaker on EU affairs
P.S. The multilingual Bloggingportal.eu already aggregates the posts from 944 Euroblogs. They represent an important part of the emerging European online public sphere, discussion across national and linguistic borders. Erkan's Field Diary is more than a Turkish delight. The anthropologist, Dr Erkan Saka follows and links to global, European and Turkish politics and events, not forgetting human rights, cyberculture and social media. Some of the posts are in English. Recommended reading.
Among the Euroblogs on Bloggingportal.eu you find my currently active blog trio, Grahnlaw (recently ranked fourth among political blogs in Finland), the Nordic Grahnblawg (written in Swedish) and Eurooppaoikeus (meaning European Law, in Finnish). I write and speak about democracy and openness in the European Union, but increasingly about the crucial challenges of the global era for Europe: growth (EU2020) and the (digital) single market in the making.
Thursday, 22 March 2012
EU action plan to improve access to finance for SMEs
The article Access to finance for small businesses – EU Single Market Act brought us to the SMA related Communication from the European Commission:
An action plan to improve access to finance for SMEs; Brussels, 7.12.2011 COM(2011) 870 final
(15 pages; available in 22 EU languages)
In a nutshell (page 1):
The Action Plan promises regulatory, financial and other measures to improve the access to finance for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
SEC(2011) 1527
The action plan was accompanied by:
Commission staff working paper Accompanying the document An action plan to improve access to finance for SMEs; Brussels, 7.12.2011 SEC(2011) 1527 final (13 pages; only in English)
The paper discusses the conditions: SMEs' access to lending, venture capital and equity. It then presents EU financial measures for SMEs 2007-2013, before conveniently listing current and planned actions to improve access to finance.
Next steps
The Danish presidency of the EU Council has prepared a note on the follow-up to the recent meetings of the European Council (summits), including the growth agenda, where issues related to the single market are seen as top priorities:
European Council - Follow-up by the Council; Brussels, 19 March 2012 document 7824/12
Paragraph 3 on page 2 offers the following view:
Here is some introductory information about the proposed Programme for Competitiveness of enterprises and SMEs (COSME) 2014-2020, with further links for those interested.
Ralf Grahn
public speaker on EU affairs
P.S. The multilingual Bloggingportal.eu already aggregates the posts from 944 Euroblogs. They represent an important part of the emerging European online public sphere, discussion across national and linguistic borders. In addition to its other activities, the economic think tank Bruegel runs the collective quality Bruegel blog, divided into thematic sections. Recommended reading.
Among the Euroblogs on Bloggingportal.eu you find my current blog trio, Grahnlaw (recently ranked fourth among political blogs in Finland), the Nordic Grahnblawg (written in Swedish) and Eurooppaoikeus (meaning European Law, in Finnish). I write and speak about democracy and openness in the European Union, but increasingly about the crucial challenges of the global era for Europe: growth (EU2020) and the (digital) single market in the making.
An action plan to improve access to finance for SMEs; Brussels, 7.12.2011 COM(2011) 870 final
(15 pages; available in 22 EU languages)
In a nutshell (page 1):
The Commission is presenting in this Action Plan the various policies that it is pursuing to make access to finance easier for Europe's 23 million SMEs and to provide a significant contribution to growth.
The Action Plan promises regulatory, financial and other measures to improve the access to finance for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
SEC(2011) 1527
The action plan was accompanied by:
Commission staff working paper Accompanying the document An action plan to improve access to finance for SMEs; Brussels, 7.12.2011 SEC(2011) 1527 final (13 pages; only in English)
The paper discusses the conditions: SMEs' access to lending, venture capital and equity. It then presents EU financial measures for SMEs 2007-2013, before conveniently listing current and planned actions to improve access to finance.
Next steps
The Danish presidency of the EU Council has prepared a note on the follow-up to the recent meetings of the European Council (summits), including the growth agenda, where issues related to the single market are seen as top priorities:
European Council - Follow-up by the Council; Brussels, 19 March 2012 document 7824/12
Paragraph 3 on page 2 offers the following view:
3. The COMPET Council will report in May, as requested by the members of the European Council at their informal meeting of 30 January 2012, on implementation of measures to be taken at European level for boosting the access to finance for SMEs. In this context he COSME programme will be discussed at the May COMPET Council and work will be taken forward rapidly on the legislative proposal for the creation of a EU-wide venture capital regime (part of the twelve priority levers of the Single Market Act).
Here is some introductory information about the proposed Programme for Competitiveness of enterprises and SMEs (COSME) 2014-2020, with further links for those interested.
Ralf Grahn
public speaker on EU affairs
P.S. The multilingual Bloggingportal.eu already aggregates the posts from 944 Euroblogs. They represent an important part of the emerging European online public sphere, discussion across national and linguistic borders. In addition to its other activities, the economic think tank Bruegel runs the collective quality Bruegel blog, divided into thematic sections. Recommended reading.
Among the Euroblogs on Bloggingportal.eu you find my current blog trio, Grahnlaw (recently ranked fourth among political blogs in Finland), the Nordic Grahnblawg (written in Swedish) and Eurooppaoikeus (meaning European Law, in Finnish). I write and speak about democracy and openness in the European Union, but increasingly about the crucial challenges of the global era for Europe: growth (EU2020) and the (digital) single market in the making.
Wednesday, 21 March 2012
Access to finance for small businesses - EU Single Market Act
In the article Single Market Act COM(2011) 206 we looked at the twelve levers for growth and the key action for each.
Access to finance for SMEs
The first lever in the Single Market Act (SMA) (page 6-7) is Access to finance for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). One of the promises was:
SMEs' access to finance
We fast-forward to 7 December 2011, when the DG Enterprise and Industry of the European Commission and the European Central Bank (ECB) published the latest SMEs' Access to Finance Survey 2011: short summary and full analytical report.
Action plan for SME finance
On the same day the Commission published (MEMO/11/879) EU Action Plan: helping SMEs access more financial resources, which offers a quick overview of the proposed actions.
For more detail there is the communication from the Commission:
An action plan to improve access to finance for SMEs; Brussels, 7.12.2011 COM(2011) 870 final
(15 pages; available in 22 EU languages), as well as the
Commission staff working paper Accompanying the document An action plan to improve access to finance for SMEs; Brussels, 7.12.2011 SEC(2011) 1527 final
Ralf Grahn
public speaker on EU affairs
P.S. The multilingual Bloggingportal.eu already aggregates the posts from 943 Euroblogs. They represent an important part of the emerging European online public sphere, discussion across national and linguistic borders. One of the most promising fresh entrants is the LSE European Politics and Policy EUROPP blog, where Gareth Harding stated that the European Union is losing the battle for the hearts and minds of its citizens, but also handed out advice on how to turn the tide.
Among the Euroblogs on Bloggingportal.eu you find my current blog trio, Grahnlaw (recently ranked fourth among political blogs in Finland), the Nordic Grahnblawg (written in Swedish) and Eurooppaoikeus (meaning European Law, in Finnish). I write and speak about democracy and openness in the European Union, but increasingly about the crucial challenges of the global era for Europe: growth (EU2020) and the (digital) single market in the making.
Access to finance for SMEs
The first lever in the Single Market Act (SMA) (page 6-7) is Access to finance for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). One of the promises was:
SME financing will be the subject of an action plan. It will cover not only access to different financing sources but also SME financing tools directly and the creation of an environment that is conducive to development and growth for SMEs.
SMEs' access to finance
We fast-forward to 7 December 2011, when the DG Enterprise and Industry of the European Commission and the European Central Bank (ECB) published the latest SMEs' Access to Finance Survey 2011: short summary and full analytical report.
Action plan for SME finance
On the same day the Commission published (MEMO/11/879) EU Action Plan: helping SMEs access more financial resources, which offers a quick overview of the proposed actions.
For more detail there is the communication from the Commission:
An action plan to improve access to finance for SMEs; Brussels, 7.12.2011 COM(2011) 870 final
(15 pages; available in 22 EU languages), as well as the
Commission staff working paper Accompanying the document An action plan to improve access to finance for SMEs; Brussels, 7.12.2011 SEC(2011) 1527 final
Ralf Grahn
public speaker on EU affairs
P.S. The multilingual Bloggingportal.eu already aggregates the posts from 943 Euroblogs. They represent an important part of the emerging European online public sphere, discussion across national and linguistic borders. One of the most promising fresh entrants is the LSE European Politics and Policy EUROPP blog, where Gareth Harding stated that the European Union is losing the battle for the hearts and minds of its citizens, but also handed out advice on how to turn the tide.
Among the Euroblogs on Bloggingportal.eu you find my current blog trio, Grahnlaw (recently ranked fourth among political blogs in Finland), the Nordic Grahnblawg (written in Swedish) and Eurooppaoikeus (meaning European Law, in Finnish). I write and speak about democracy and openness in the European Union, but increasingly about the crucial challenges of the global era for Europe: growth (EU2020) and the (digital) single market in the making.
Monday, 19 March 2012
Single Market Act COM(2011) 206
The article Public consultation on EU Single Market Act (SMA) brought us close to the final version of the Commission's reform programme 2011-2012. Archimedes would have been happy to see most of the 22 language versions of the communication employ the concept ”lever” in some form. Heureka!, here is the English version (pdf):
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)
Single Market Act COM(2011) 206
Here, as a reminder, are the twelve levers, each with a key action (source: Annex 1, page 24-25):
Access to finance for SMEs (4th quarter 2011)
Mobility for citizens (4th quarter 2011)
Intellectual property rights (2nd quarter 2011)
Consumer empowerment (4th quarter 2011)
Services (2nd quarter 2011)
Networks (4th quarter 2011, 3rd quarter 2011)
Digital single market (1st quarter 2012)
Social entrepreneurship (4th quarter 2011)
Taxation (2nd quarter 2011)
Social cohesion (4th quarter 2011)
Business environment (2nd quarter 2011)
Public procurement (4th quarter 2011)
Success criteria
The Commission saw four conditions as necessary for the success of the single market programme (page 20):
Ralf Grahn
public speaker on EU affairs
P.S. The multilingual Bloggingportal.eu already aggregates the posts from 941 Euroblogs. They represent an important part of the emerging European online public sphere, discussion across national and linguistic borders. One of the most promising fresh entrants is the LSE European Politics and Policy EUROPP blog, where Ronny Patz recently wrote about the EU blogosphere and called for more specialists and academics to widen the debate closer to real life.
Among the Euroblogs on Bloggingportal.eu you find my current blog trio, Grahnlaw (recently ranked fourth among political blogs in Finland), the Nordic Grahnblawg (written in Swedish) and Eurooppaoikeus (meaning European Law, in Finnish). I write and speak about democracy and openness in the European Union, but increasingly about the challenges of growth (EU2020) and the (digital) single market in the making.
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)
Single Market Act COM(2011) 206
Here, as a reminder, are the twelve levers, each with a key action (source: Annex 1, page 24-25):
Access to finance for SMEs (4th quarter 2011)
1 Legislation designed to make it easier for venture capital funds established in a Member State to invest freely in any other Member State, without obstacles or additional requirements
Mobility for citizens (4th quarter 2011)
2 Legislation modernising the system for recognising professional qualifications
Intellectual property rights (2nd quarter 2011)
3 Legislation setting up a unitary patent protection for the greatest possible number of Member States and a unified patent litigation system with the objective of issuing the first EU patents in 2013
Consumer empowerment (4th quarter 2011)
4 Legislation on Alternative Dispute Resolution. This action will also include an electronic commerce dimension.
Services (2nd quarter 2011)
5 Revision of the legislation on the European standardisation system, to extend it to services and make standardisation procedures more effective, efficient and inclusive
Networks (4th quarter 2011, 3rd quarter 2011)
6 Energy and transport infrastructure legislation serving to identify and roll out strategic projects of European interest and to ensure interoperability and intermodality
Digital single market (1st quarter 2012)
7 Legislation ensuring the mutual recognition of electronic identification and authentication across the EU and revision of the Directive on Electronic Signatures
Social entrepreneurship (4th quarter 2011)
8 Legislation setting up a European framework for social investment funds
Taxation (2nd quarter 2011)
9 Review of the Energy Tax Directive in order to ensure consistent treatment of different sources of energy, so as to better take into account the energy content of products and their CO2 emission level
Social cohesion (4th quarter 2011)
10 Legislation aimed at improving and reinforcing the transposition, implementation and enforcement in practice of the Posting of Workers Directive, together with legislation aimed at clarifying the exercise of the freedom of establishment and the freedom to provide services alongside fundamental social rights
Business environment (2nd quarter 2011)
11 Simplification of the Accounting Directives
Public procurement (4th quarter 2011)
12 Revised and modernised public procurement legislative framework
Success criteria
The Commission saw four conditions as necessary for the success of the single market programme (page 20):
For the proposed actions to produce the effects expected in terms of growth and jobs, the conditions for their development and efficient implementation must be met. There are four such conditions: (1) a better dialogue with civil society as a whole; (2) a close partnership with the various market participants; (3) efficient provision of information for citizens and enterprises; and (4) closer monitoring of the application of single-market legislation.
Ralf Grahn
public speaker on EU affairs
P.S. The multilingual Bloggingportal.eu already aggregates the posts from 941 Euroblogs. They represent an important part of the emerging European online public sphere, discussion across national and linguistic borders. One of the most promising fresh entrants is the LSE European Politics and Policy EUROPP blog, where Ronny Patz recently wrote about the EU blogosphere and called for more specialists and academics to widen the debate closer to real life.
Among the Euroblogs on Bloggingportal.eu you find my current blog trio, Grahnlaw (recently ranked fourth among political blogs in Finland), the Nordic Grahnblawg (written in Swedish) and Eurooppaoikeus (meaning European Law, in Finnish). I write and speak about democracy and openness in the European Union, but increasingly about the challenges of growth (EU2020) and the (digital) single market in the making.
Sunday, 18 March 2012
EU trade ministers communicating ACTA
The trade ministers met in the EU Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) 16 March 2012 (agenda). According to the background note:
We know that few issues have engaged as many EU citizens as intensely as the anti-piracy treaty ACTA, so we want to share with the public what Mr Didier REYNDERS, Mr Ivo MARINOV, Mr Martin TLAPA, Ms Pia Olsen DYHR, Ms Anne Ruth HERKES, Mr Matti MAASIKAS, Mr Rory MONTGOMERY, Mr Ioannis DRIMOUSSIS, Mr Konstantinos PAPADOPOULOS, Mr Jaime GARCÍA-LEGAZ PONCE, Mr Pierre LELLOUCHE, Mr Ferdinando NELLI FEROCI, Ms Praxoula ANTONIADOU-KYRIACOU, Mr Daniels PAVĻUTS, Mr Egidijus MEILŪNAS, Mr Christian BRAUN, Mr Péter GYÖRKÖS, Mr Tonio FENECH, Mr Henk BLEKER, Mr Walter GRAHAMMER, Mr. Andrzej DYCHA, Mr Miguel MORAIS LEITÃO, Mr Mihnea MOTOC, Mr Rado GENORIO, Mr Peter JAVORČÍK, Mr Jan STORE, Ms Ewa BJÖRLING and Mr Norman LAMB were able to come up with together with the commissioner, Mr Karel DE GUCHT, in order to enlighten the people:
Quite enlightening!
Ralf Grahn
public speaker on EU affairs
P.S. The multilingual Bloggingportal.eu already aggregates the posts from 941 Euroblogs. They represent an important part of the emerging European online public space, discussion across national and linguistic borders. One of the most promising fresh entrants is the LSE European Politics and Policy EUROPP blog, where Ronny Patz recently wrote about the EU blogosphere and called for more specialists and academics to widen the debate closer to real life.
Among the Euroblogs on Bloggingportal.eu you find my current blog trio, Grahnlaw (recently ranked fourth among political blogs in Finland), the Nordic Grahnblawg (written in Swedish) and Eurooppaoikeus (meaning European Law, in Finnish). I write and speak about democracy and openness in the European Union, but increasingly about the challenges of growth (EU2020) and the (digital) single market in the making.
Under “any other business” the Council will be briefed on the situation regarding the signature and ratification of the anti-counterfeiting trade agreement (ACTA) between the EU and Australia, Canada, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Singapore, Switzerland and the United States.
ACTA is aimed at establishing an international framework for improving the enforcement of intellectual property right laws and creating improved international standards for actions against large-scale infringements of intellectual property. Negotiations were concluded in November 2010.
We know that few issues have engaged as many EU citizens as intensely as the anti-piracy treaty ACTA, so we want to share with the public what Mr Didier REYNDERS, Mr Ivo MARINOV, Mr Martin TLAPA, Ms Pia Olsen DYHR, Ms Anne Ruth HERKES, Mr Matti MAASIKAS, Mr Rory MONTGOMERY, Mr Ioannis DRIMOUSSIS, Mr Konstantinos PAPADOPOULOS, Mr Jaime GARCÍA-LEGAZ PONCE, Mr Pierre LELLOUCHE, Mr Ferdinando NELLI FEROCI, Ms Praxoula ANTONIADOU-KYRIACOU, Mr Daniels PAVĻUTS, Mr Egidijus MEILŪNAS, Mr Christian BRAUN, Mr Péter GYÖRKÖS, Mr Tonio FENECH, Mr Henk BLEKER, Mr Walter GRAHAMMER, Mr. Andrzej DYCHA, Mr Miguel MORAIS LEITÃO, Mr Mihnea MOTOC, Mr Rado GENORIO, Mr Peter JAVORČÍK, Mr Jan STORE, Ms Ewa BJÖRLING and Mr Norman LAMB were able to come up with together with the commissioner, Mr Karel DE GUCHT, in order to enlighten the people:
The Council took stock of the situation regarding the signature and ratification of the anti-counterfeiting trade agreement (ACTA) between the EU and Australia, Canada, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Singapore, Switzerland and the United States.
ACTA establishes an international framework for improving the enforcement of intellectual property right laws and creating improved international standards for actions against large-scale infringements of intellectual property. Negotiations were concluded in November 2010 and the agreement was signed by the EU and 22 member states in Tokyo on 26 January 2012.
On 22 February, the Commission decided to refer ACTA to the Court of Justice to verify its compatibility with the EU treaties and in particular with the Charter of Fundamental Rights.
Quite enlightening!
Ralf Grahn
public speaker on EU affairs
P.S. The multilingual Bloggingportal.eu already aggregates the posts from 941 Euroblogs. They represent an important part of the emerging European online public space, discussion across national and linguistic borders. One of the most promising fresh entrants is the LSE European Politics and Policy EUROPP blog, where Ronny Patz recently wrote about the EU blogosphere and called for more specialists and academics to widen the debate closer to real life.
Among the Euroblogs on Bloggingportal.eu you find my current blog trio, Grahnlaw (recently ranked fourth among political blogs in Finland), the Nordic Grahnblawg (written in Swedish) and Eurooppaoikeus (meaning European Law, in Finnish). I write and speak about democracy and openness in the European Union, but increasingly about the challenges of growth (EU2020) and the (digital) single market in the making.
Friday, 16 March 2012
EU recommendation on smart metering systems
If we go to the EU Commission web page Energy > Internal market > Smart grids, we find the following enthusiastic text announcing new regulation:
Background information is also offered on the web page of the Digital Agenda for Europe: Action 73: Member States to agree common additional functionalities for smart meters Member States to agree by the end of 2011 on common additional functionalities for smart meters (advanced measuring devices, usually for electricity).
Official publication
The recommendation has been published in the Official Journal of the European Union:
COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION 2012/148/EU of 9 March 2012 on preparations for the roll-out of smart metering systems; OJEU 13.3.2012 L 73/9
The Commission recommendation deals with different issues in the separate sections:
I. DATA PROTECTION AND SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS
1. This section provides guidance to Member States on the design and operation of smart grids and smart metering systems ensuring the fundamental right to protection of personal data.
2. This section also provides guidance on measures to be taken for the deployment of smart metering applications in order to ensure that national legislation implementing Directive 95/46/EC is, where applicable, respected when such technologies are deployed.
II. METHODOLOGY FOR THE ECONOMIC ASSESSMENT OF THE LONG-TERM COSTS AND BENEFITS FOR THE ROLL-OUT OF SMART METERING SYSTEMS
30. This section provides guidance to Member States along with a framework for cost-benefit analysis as a foundation for conducting a consistent, credible and transparent economic assessment of the long-term costs and benefits of the roll-out of smart metering.
III. COMMON MINIMUM FUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR SMART METERING SYSTEMS FOR ELECTRICITY
39. This section is based on best practice from early CBAs for smart metering of electricity carried out in 11 Member States. It provides guidance on measures to be taken to ensure that Member States make due use of appropriate interoperability and standards for smart metering systems currently being developed under Mandates M/441, M/468 and M/490 and of best practice.
Ralf Grahn
public speaker on EU affairs
P.S. Already multilingual Bloggingportal.eu aggregates the posts from 940 Euroblogs. They represent an important part of the emerging European online public space, discussion across national and linguistic borders. One of the most promising fresh entrants is the LSE European Politics and Policy (EUROPP) blog, where Ronny Patz recently wrote about the EU blogosphere and called for more academics to spread the word about their research and to discuss their findings closer to real life.
Among the Euroblogs on Bloggingportal.eu you find my current blog trio, Grahnlaw (recently ranked fourth among political blogs in Finland), the Nordic Grahnblawg (written in Swedish) and Eurooppaoikeus (meaning European Law, in Finnish). I write and speak about democracy, institutional issues and EU politics, but increasingly about the challenges of growth (EU2020) and the (digital) single market in the making, including issues at policy level.
9 March 2012
Preparations for the roll-out of smart metering systems
Commission paves the way for massive roll-out of smart metering systems. When consumers can follow their energy consumption in real time they can better control their energy bills. Smart metering systems will make this possible. Today only 10% of EU households have some sort of smart meter installed. Where economically worthwhile, 80% of all electricity meters in the EU have to be replaced by smart meters by 2020. To facilitate the take-up of this new technology the European Commission has published today a Recommendation to prepare the roll-out of smart-metering systems. It provides step-by-step guidelines for Member States on how to conduct cost-benefit analysis by 3 September 2012. It also sets common minimum functionalities of smart metering systems and addresses data protection and security issues.
Background information is also offered on the web page of the Digital Agenda for Europe: Action 73: Member States to agree common additional functionalities for smart meters Member States to agree by the end of 2011 on common additional functionalities for smart meters (advanced measuring devices, usually for electricity).
Official publication
The recommendation has been published in the Official Journal of the European Union:
COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION 2012/148/EU of 9 March 2012 on preparations for the roll-out of smart metering systems; OJEU 13.3.2012 L 73/9
The Commission recommendation deals with different issues in the separate sections:
I. DATA PROTECTION AND SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS
1. This section provides guidance to Member States on the design and operation of smart grids and smart metering systems ensuring the fundamental right to protection of personal data.
2. This section also provides guidance on measures to be taken for the deployment of smart metering applications in order to ensure that national legislation implementing Directive 95/46/EC is, where applicable, respected when such technologies are deployed.
II. METHODOLOGY FOR THE ECONOMIC ASSESSMENT OF THE LONG-TERM COSTS AND BENEFITS FOR THE ROLL-OUT OF SMART METERING SYSTEMS
30. This section provides guidance to Member States along with a framework for cost-benefit analysis as a foundation for conducting a consistent, credible and transparent economic assessment of the long-term costs and benefits of the roll-out of smart metering.
III. COMMON MINIMUM FUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR SMART METERING SYSTEMS FOR ELECTRICITY
39. This section is based on best practice from early CBAs for smart metering of electricity carried out in 11 Member States. It provides guidance on measures to be taken to ensure that Member States make due use of appropriate interoperability and standards for smart metering systems currently being developed under Mandates M/441, M/468 and M/490 and of best practice.
Ralf Grahn
public speaker on EU affairs
P.S. Already multilingual Bloggingportal.eu aggregates the posts from 940 Euroblogs. They represent an important part of the emerging European online public space, discussion across national and linguistic borders. One of the most promising fresh entrants is the LSE European Politics and Policy (EUROPP) blog, where Ronny Patz recently wrote about the EU blogosphere and called for more academics to spread the word about their research and to discuss their findings closer to real life.
Among the Euroblogs on Bloggingportal.eu you find my current blog trio, Grahnlaw (recently ranked fourth among political blogs in Finland), the Nordic Grahnblawg (written in Swedish) and Eurooppaoikeus (meaning European Law, in Finnish). I write and speak about democracy, institutional issues and EU politics, but increasingly about the challenges of growth (EU2020) and the (digital) single market in the making, including issues at policy level.
Public consultation on EU Single Market Act (SMA)
In the article EU Towards a Single Market Act we looked at the basic choices of the communication 27.10.2010 COM(2010) 608 and the fifty proposals it sketched.
Public consultation
A number of events were organised during the consultation period, often with the commissioner Michel Barnier.
The results of the consultation on the Single Market Act (SMA) have been published, including an undated first overview of the 840 responses submitted in all, both online responses to the query and position papers (8 pages). The brief overview highlights priorities among different groups of respondents.
SEC(2011) 467
More information is offered by the Commission staff working paper:
Overview of responses to the public consultation on the Communication ‘Towards a Single Market Act'; Brussels, 13.4.2011 SEC(2011) 467 final (32 pages; published only in English)
The numbers are crunched with regard to the responses using the online consultation tool, but the separate position papers where included in the qualitative assessments.
In principle, the more detailed assessment follows the structure of the first overview, by looking at the responses from the different respondent groups and their varying priorities.
50 proposed SMA actions
As a quick reminder of the proposals outlined in the communication Towards a Single Market Act, the overview of the consultation responses offers an annex (pages 31-32) where the actions are listed in short form.
Our next destination, I think, should be the final Single Market Act (SMA).
Ralf Grahn
public speaker on EU affairs
P.S. Already multilingual Bloggingportal.eu aggregates the posts from 940 Euroblogs. They represent an important part of the emerging European online public space, discussion across national and linguistic borders. One of the most promising fresh entrants is the LSE European Politics and Policy (EUROPP) blog, where Ronny Patz recently wrote about the EU blogosphere and called for more academics to spread the word about their research and to discuss their findings closer to real life.
Among the Euroblogs on Bloggingportal.eu you find my current blog trio, Grahnlaw (recently ranked fourth among political blogs in Finland), the Nordic Grahnblawg (written in Swedish) and Eurooppaoikeus (meaning European Law, in Finnish). I write and speak about democracy, institutional issues and EU politics, but increasingly about the challenges of growth (EU2020) and the (digital) single market in the making, issues at policy level.
Public consultation
A number of events were organised during the consultation period, often with the commissioner Michel Barnier.
The results of the consultation on the Single Market Act (SMA) have been published, including an undated first overview of the 840 responses submitted in all, both online responses to the query and position papers (8 pages). The brief overview highlights priorities among different groups of respondents.
SEC(2011) 467
More information is offered by the Commission staff working paper:
Overview of responses to the public consultation on the Communication ‘Towards a Single Market Act'; Brussels, 13.4.2011 SEC(2011) 467 final (32 pages; published only in English)
The numbers are crunched with regard to the responses using the online consultation tool, but the separate position papers where included in the qualitative assessments.
In principle, the more detailed assessment follows the structure of the first overview, by looking at the responses from the different respondent groups and their varying priorities.
50 proposed SMA actions
As a quick reminder of the proposals outlined in the communication Towards a Single Market Act, the overview of the consultation responses offers an annex (pages 31-32) where the actions are listed in short form.
ANNEX: THE 50 PROPOSED ACTIONS OF THE SINGLE MARKET ACT***
1. EU patent
2. Copyright
3. Counterfeiting and piracy
4. Internal market for services
5. Electronic commerce
6. Standardisation
7. Integrated transport system
8. Energy taxation
9. Business-to-business services
10. Ecological footprint of products
11. Energy efficiency
12. SME access to finance
13. Small Business Act review
14. Accounting rules
15. Project bonds
16. Private investment and venture capital
17. Public procurement
18. Services concessions
19. Common consolidated corporate tax base (CCCTB)
20. VAT
21. Interconnection of business registers
22. E-identification/authentication
23. International trade
24. International public procurement
25. Services of general economic interest (SGEI)
26. Transport infrastructures
27. Energy infrastructures
28. European radiospectrum
29. Respect for fundamental social rights and social impact analysis of legislation
30. Posting of workers to other Member States
31. Pensions
32. Industrial restructuring
33. Recognition of professional qualifications
34. Student mobility
35. Recognising skills and training
36. Social business
37. Social innovation
38. Corporate governance
39. Product safety
40. Access to basic banking services
41. Responsible lending and borrowing
42. Tax obstacles for citizens
43. Passenger rights
44. Evaluating implementation of rules with Member States
45. Information exchange between public authorities (IMI)
46. Alternative dispute resolution and collective redress
47. National transposition of EU rules
48. Consultation and dialogue with civil society
49. One-stop-stop for information and assistance
50. Informal problem-solving tools
Our next destination, I think, should be the final Single Market Act (SMA).
Ralf Grahn
public speaker on EU affairs
P.S. Already multilingual Bloggingportal.eu aggregates the posts from 940 Euroblogs. They represent an important part of the emerging European online public space, discussion across national and linguistic borders. One of the most promising fresh entrants is the LSE European Politics and Policy (EUROPP) blog, where Ronny Patz recently wrote about the EU blogosphere and called for more academics to spread the word about their research and to discuss their findings closer to real life.
Among the Euroblogs on Bloggingportal.eu you find my current blog trio, Grahnlaw (recently ranked fourth among political blogs in Finland), the Nordic Grahnblawg (written in Swedish) and Eurooppaoikeus (meaning European Law, in Finnish). I write and speak about democracy, institutional issues and EU politics, but increasingly about the challenges of growth (EU2020) and the (digital) single market in the making, issues at policy level.
Wednesday, 14 March 2012
EU transparency and democracy: From bad to worse
Here I am speaking about how transparency and democracy in the European Union (eurozone) have been going from bad to worse. On YouTube.
Ralf Grahn
public speaker on EU affairs
P.S. Multilingual Bloggingportal.eu aggregates the posts from 940 Euroblogs, which represent an important part of the emerging European online public space, across national and linguistic borders. Among them you find my current blog trio, Grahnlaw (recently ranked fourth among political blogs in Finland), Grahnblawg (in Swedish) and Eurooppaoikeus (meaning European Law, in Finnish). Besides democracy, institutional issues and EU politics, I increasingly write and speak about the challenges of growth (EU2020) and the (digital) single market in the making.
Ralf Grahn
public speaker on EU affairs
P.S. Multilingual Bloggingportal.eu aggregates the posts from 940 Euroblogs, which represent an important part of the emerging European online public space, across national and linguistic borders. Among them you find my current blog trio, Grahnlaw (recently ranked fourth among political blogs in Finland), Grahnblawg (in Swedish) and Eurooppaoikeus (meaning European Law, in Finnish). Besides democracy, institutional issues and EU politics, I increasingly write and speak about the challenges of growth (EU2020) and the (digital) single market in the making.
Tuesday, 13 March 2012
EU Towards a Single Market Act
After looking at Your Single Market? and other introductory material, we turn to the communication (available in 22 languages) prepared under the responsibility of the internal market commissioner Michel Barnier. The English language version of the consultation 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, 27.10.2010 COM(2010) 608 final (45 pages)
Social market economy
The Lisbon Treaty defines the EU aim of a ”highly competitive social market economy” and the Monti report wanted to broaden the support for a relaunch of the single market, so it is hardly surprising that the Commission's discussion paper is presented as (page 3):
Single Market and EU2020
The internal market (single market) did not become an integral part of the Europe 2020 growth strategy (EU2020), nor was it labeled as a flagship initiative. So how does the communication deal with the relationship between the Single Market Act under construction and the EU2020 strategy? The page 4 fudge:
Public consultation
The Commission announced a consultation period of four months, asking for contributions by 28 February 2011 (page 35). This would then lead to the next step, the definitive Single Market Act (SMA):
For the convenience of readers, the proposals sketched in the text are also listed at the end for a quick overview (pages 37-45).
EEA relevance
Naturally, the 50 individual proposals presented in the communication are of interest not only to the citizens and enterprises in the European Union, but to the rest of the European Economic Area (EEA) as well, 30 countries in all, with a total population of about 507 million.
Ralf Grahn
public speaker on EU affairs
P.S. Multilingual Bloggingportal.eu aggregates the posts from 940 Euroblogs, which represent an important part of the emerging European online public space, across national and linguistic borders. Among them you find my current blog trio, Grahnlaw (recently ranked fourth among political blogs in Finland), Grahnblawg (in Swedish) and Eurooppaoikeus (meaning European Law, in Finnish). Besides democracy, institutional issues and EU politics, I increasingly write and speak about the challenges of growth (EU2020) and the (digital) single market in the making.
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, 27.10.2010 COM(2010) 608 final (45 pages)
Social market economy
The Lisbon Treaty defines the EU aim of a ”highly competitive social market economy” and the Monti report wanted to broaden the support for a relaunch of the single market, so it is hardly surprising that the Commission's discussion paper is presented as (page 3):
This is a social market economy approach, based on the assumption that a single market needs to enjoy the support of all market players: businesses, consumers and workers. In this way, the single market will allow Europe to become collectively competitive.
Single Market and EU2020
The internal market (single market) did not become an integral part of the Europe 2020 growth strategy (EU2020), nor was it labeled as a flagship initiative. So how does the communication deal with the relationship between the Single Market Act under construction and the EU2020 strategy? The page 4 fudge:
The relaunch of the single market is therefore an essential element of the EU 2020 strategy, which proposes seven flagship initiatives: (i) an innovation Union, (ii) youth on the move, (iii) a digital agenda for Europe, (iv) a resource-efficient Europe, (v) an industrial policy for the globalisation era, (vi) an agenda for new skills and jobs and (vii) a European platform to tackle poverty. An up-to-date single market is the common foundation of all these structures. It is the tool that will help them create growth and employment and in so doing give new impetus to intelligent, sustainable and inclusive growth, thereby increasing synergies between the various flagship initiatives. Certain elements of the flagship initiatives will help to structure the operation of the single market and are therefore measures for its relaunch. These measures are therefore included both in this Communication and the flagship initiatives, in particular the digital agenda for Europe, the Union of innovation and an industrial policy for the globalisation era.
Public consultation
The Commission announced a consultation period of four months, asking for contributions by 28 February 2011 (page 35). This would then lead to the next step, the definitive Single Market Act (SMA):
After this public debate, and based on the conclusions drawn from it, the Commission hopes that all of the European institutions will undertake, at the start of 2011, to make this Act and its 50 measures into the definitive policy action plan for 2011-2012. This will serve as a dynamic commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the single market at the end of 2012.
For the convenience of readers, the proposals sketched in the text are also listed at the end for a quick overview (pages 37-45).
EEA relevance
Naturally, the 50 individual proposals presented in the communication are of interest not only to the citizens and enterprises in the European Union, but to the rest of the European Economic Area (EEA) as well, 30 countries in all, with a total population of about 507 million.
Ralf Grahn
public speaker on EU affairs
P.S. Multilingual Bloggingportal.eu aggregates the posts from 940 Euroblogs, which represent an important part of the emerging European online public space, across national and linguistic borders. Among them you find my current blog trio, Grahnlaw (recently ranked fourth among political blogs in Finland), Grahnblawg (in Swedish) and Eurooppaoikeus (meaning European Law, in Finnish). Besides democracy, institutional issues and EU politics, I increasingly write and speak about the challenges of growth (EU2020) and the (digital) single market in the making.
Monday, 12 March 2012
EU: Your Single Market?
Mario Monti (Wikipedia) did not serve European integration only as the commissioner for the internal market and later competition. Recently he participated in the reflection group chaired by Felipe González, which produced the report: Project Europe 2030 – Challenges and opportunities. In parallel Monti prepared a report of his own, commissioned by José Manuel Barroso: A new strategy for the Single Market – At the service of Europe's economy and society.
Towards a Single Market Act
On the basis of the Monti report the European Commission, where Michel Barnier is responsible for the internal market and services, prepared a consultation paper. The communication is available in 22 languages; in English:
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, 27.10.2010 COM(2010) 608 final (45 pages)
Your Single Market?
If you want a quick introduction, you can read the 27 October 2010 press release (IP/10/1390) and the background information in Single Market Act – Frequently Asked Question(s) (MEMO/10/528).
With Your Single Market?, a 40-page booklet aimed at a wide public, the Commission presented some of the planned reforms and tried to get citizens (consumers, workers and professionals) as well as small and medium-sized enterprises on board.
The proposed actions outlined for the coming Single Market Act (SMA) fell into three groups:
Ralf Grahn
public speaker on EU affairs
P.S. Multilingual Bloggingportal.eu aggregates the posts from 940 Euroblogs, which represent an important part of the emerging European online public space, across national and linguistic borders. Contributing is my current blog trio, Grahnlaw (recently ranked fourth among political blogs in Finland), Grahnblawg (in Swedish) and Eurooppaoikeus (meaning European Law, in Finnish). Besides democracy, institutional issues and EU politics, I increasingly write and speak about the challenges of growth (EU2020) and the (digital) single market in the making.
Towards a Single Market Act
On the basis of the Monti report the European Commission, where Michel Barnier is responsible for the internal market and services, prepared a consultation paper. The communication is available in 22 languages; in English:
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, 27.10.2010 COM(2010) 608 final (45 pages)
Your Single Market?
If you want a quick introduction, you can read the 27 October 2010 press release (IP/10/1390) and the background information in Single Market Act – Frequently Asked Question(s) (MEMO/10/528).
With Your Single Market?, a 40-page booklet aimed at a wide public, the Commission presented some of the planned reforms and tried to get citizens (consumers, workers and professionals) as well as small and medium-sized enterprises on board.
The proposed actions outlined for the coming Single Market Act (SMA) fell into three groups:
* How to re-launch strong, sustainable and equitable growth
* How to put citizens at the heart of the single market.
* How to foster better governance and dialogue in the single market.
Ralf Grahn
public speaker on EU affairs
P.S. Multilingual Bloggingportal.eu aggregates the posts from 940 Euroblogs, which represent an important part of the emerging European online public space, across national and linguistic borders. Contributing is my current blog trio, Grahnlaw (recently ranked fourth among political blogs in Finland), Grahnblawg (in Swedish) and Eurooppaoikeus (meaning European Law, in Finnish). Besides democracy, institutional issues and EU politics, I increasingly write and speak about the challenges of growth (EU2020) and the (digital) single market in the making.
Saturday, 10 March 2012
European Council endorsed Annual Growth Survey 2012 priorities
The European Semester was kicked off by the Annual Growth Survey 2012 (AGS) Brussels, 23.11.2011 COM(2011) 815 final VOL. 1/5 (and the four annexes, Volumes 2-5).
EUCO conclusions
The conclusions of the spring European Council (EUCO) were brief and general in the fourth cornerstone paragraph:
Synthesis report
When the European Council conclusions endorse the priorities proposed by the Commission, there is - if not a whole mountain - at least a molehill of views and conclusions behind each paragraph to inspire more detailed future policy work.
The Danish presidency prepared a shortcut: Implementation of the European Semester - Synthesis report (22 February 2012, Council document 6662/12).
However, the Synthesis report did not offer links to the various documents. Some readers may need to revisit the original and more detailed contributions submitted to the spring European Council, in order to find out what the five priorities set out in the Commission's Annual Growth Survey (AGS) and its annexes actually mean and require in the form of action.
Ralf Grahn
speaker on EU affairs, especially digital policy and law
P.S. Between the global issues and the national level, with a tenuous hold on democracy, the European Union institutions and the eurozone coteries shape our future. At the same time we see a European online public sphere emerging. Grahnlaw (recently ranked fourth among political blogs in Finland), Grahnblawg (in Swedish) and Eurooppaoikeus (meaning European Law, in Finnish) are among the more than 900 euroblogs aggregated by multilingual Bloggingportal.eu. Are you following the debates which matter for your future? Is your blog already listed on Bloggingportal?
EUCO conclusions
The conclusions of the spring European Council (EUCO) were brief and general in the fourth cornerstone paragraph:
4. For 2012, the European Council endorses the five priorities set out in the Commission's Annual Growth Survey for action taken at the EU and national level to:
– pursue differentiated, growth-friendly, fiscal consolidation,
– restore normal lending to the economy,
– promote growth and competitiveness,
– tackle unemployment and the social consequences of the crisis, and
– modernise public administration.
Synthesis report
When the European Council conclusions endorse the priorities proposed by the Commission, there is - if not a whole mountain - at least a molehill of views and conclusions behind each paragraph to inspire more detailed future policy work.
The Danish presidency prepared a shortcut: Implementation of the European Semester - Synthesis report (22 February 2012, Council document 6662/12).
However, the Synthesis report did not offer links to the various documents. Some readers may need to revisit the original and more detailed contributions submitted to the spring European Council, in order to find out what the five priorities set out in the Commission's Annual Growth Survey (AGS) and its annexes actually mean and require in the form of action.
Ralf Grahn
speaker on EU affairs, especially digital policy and law
P.S. Between the global issues and the national level, with a tenuous hold on democracy, the European Union institutions and the eurozone coteries shape our future. At the same time we see a European online public sphere emerging. Grahnlaw (recently ranked fourth among political blogs in Finland), Grahnblawg (in Swedish) and Eurooppaoikeus (meaning European Law, in Finnish) are among the more than 900 euroblogs aggregated by multilingual Bloggingportal.eu. Are you following the debates which matter for your future? Is your blog already listed on Bloggingportal?
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