SINGLE MARKET SCOREBOARD
(21316)
8856/00
SEC(00) 879
|
Commission staff working paper
— Single Market Scoreboard
— May 2000 — No. 6.
|
| Legal base:
| — |
| |
| Document originated:
| 22 May 2000 |
| Forwarded to the Council:
| 22 May 2000 |
| Deposited in Parliament:
| 12 June 2000 |
| Department: |
Trade and Industry |
| Basis of consideration:
| EM of 22 June 2000 |
| Previous Committee Report:
| None |
| Discussed in Council:
| 25 May Council |
| Committee's assessment:
| Politically important |
| Committee's decision:
| Cleared |
Introduction
8.1 The aim of the Scoreboard is to monitor
the functioning of the Single Market and to allow Member States
to compare their performance in key areas on a six-monthly basis.
We reported on the fifth Scoreboard on 16 February 2000[22].
This is the sixth.
The sixth Scoreboard
8.2 This edition includes the Commission's
first annual review and update of target actions set under the
Strategy for the Internal Market agreed in November 1999[23].
These aim to improve the lives of EU citizens, increase the efficiency
of capital and product markets and make other improvements to
the business environment.
8.3 The paper is divided into five parts.
8.4 In Part A, the new Strategy for the
Internal Market and the Financial Services Action Plan are reviewed.
The Scoreboard notes that, because of the ambitious deadlines
set, of 53 target actions with a deadline of 30 June 2000, only
26 are likely to be completed on time. A number of important measures
are on schedule, for instance the Public Procurement Package,
the Community Patent Regulation, the Electronic Communications
Package and the General Product Safety Directive. However, other
significant measures, such as Directives on Tobacco Products,
Airport Charges, Rail Infrastructure, Insolvency, Commercial Communications
and Sales Promotions, are now more likely to be adopted towards
the end of the year. Detailed analysis of progress towards completing
each of the target actions identified under the new Internal Market
Strategy and the Financial Services Action Plan is included in
an Annex.
8.5 Part B of the Scoreboard looks in detail
at the regulatory environment of the Single Market, particularly
the transposition of EC directives and work on standardisation.
For the first time, the so-called "fragmentation factor",
that is the percentage of directives not transposed in at least
one Member State, has increased, to 13% from 12.6% last November.
The UK's transposition deficit stands at 3% and it is ranked joint
fifth. Finland continues to perform best, with a deficit of just
1.4%, while Greece is worst with a deficit in excess of 7%. France
shows the longest delay in notifying overdue legislation (18 months
compared to 6 months for Denmark and 11 for the EU as a whole).
8.6 As far as infringements are concerned,
276 letters of formal notice and 190 Reasoned Opinions were sent
out by the Commission during the year beginning 1 March 1999,
compared with 334 letters of formal notice and 219 Reasoned Opinions
sent out the year before. Reasoned Opinions are a useful indicator
of current problem areas in the application of Internal Market
rules. The delivery of a Reasoned Opinion by the Commission means
that the Commission considers that a breach of Community law has
occurred. The largest number of infringement procedures relate
to the establishment and free movement of services, free movement
of goods and the environment. Most of the Reasoned Opinions in
the field of taxation relate to the incorrect application of VAT
and excise duty directives.
8.7 France has by far the largest number
of cases followed by Italy, Germany and Spain. These four countries
together account for close to 50% of Reasoned Opinions issued
during this period. France accounts for the highest share of alleged
infringements concerning goods and Belgium for establishment and
provision of services.
8.8 Part C provides feedback from Member
States on enquiries from citizens and businesses. The Scoreboard
suggests that more could be done by Member States to raise awareness
of Contact Points and Co-ordination Centres which advise EU citizens
about their rights in the Single Market and which remain underused
after two years in operation. Spain, the UK, Sweden and the Netherlands
together accounted for three-quarters of cases handled by Co-ordination
Centres and Contact Points in 1999. Most complaints (55%) concerned
the free movement of goods.
8.9 Part D provides feedback from the "Dialogue
with Citizens and Business". This is derived from analysis
of the enquiries received by the EU Signpost service. Nearly a
third (30.5%) of enquiries involve working in another Member State.
Otherwise, living in another Member State accounted for 16.5%
of enquiries, buying goods and services in another Member State
14.4% and studying in another Member State 14.4%. Citizens' general
awareness of their rights, however, remains low and more than
three- quarters still do not feel well informed about their right
to work, live and study in another Member State.
8.10 Part E of the Scoreboard looks at Internal
Market Price Monitoring. It notes that the trend towards price
convergence is continuing, although price differentials remain
wide between the most and least expensive countries. While relative
prices have declined in countries such as the Netherlands, Austria,
Finland, Sweden and France, they have increased in the UK, thanks
largely to the strength of sterling, and in Ireland because of
strong economic expansion. Price dispersion is generally higher
for services than for goods, primarily because they are less likely
to be traded across borders. The Scoreboard highlights prices
in the digital sector, which it identifies as likely to be the
main driver of growth in the EU over the next decade. Its findings
indicate that penetration of the Internet and mobile communications
is growing rapidly and that prices are converging downward in
this area.
The Government's view
8.11 In her Explanatory Memorandum of 22
June 2000, the Minister of State for Energy and Competitiveness
in Europe (the Rt. Hon. Helen Liddell) comments that the Scoreboard
continues to be:
"...a very useful source
of data on the operation of the Single Market and helps to identify
areas of weakness and priorities for action to be taken forward
by the Internal Market Council and in the Commission's Internal
Market Strategy. The Commission would like to see greater efforts
made towards carrying out the actions identified in the Strategy
and Financial Services Action Plan. It would also like momentum
towards transposing Single Market directives to be maintained.
The Government is in broad agreement with these priorities".
Conclusion
8.12 We echo the comments of the Minister
and of the Internal Market Council of 25 May[24]
on the usefulness of the Scoreboard. We also note that the Council
endorsed the overall approach of the Commission in reviewing the
Internal Market Strategy and called for future reviews to be aligned
with the work on the Cardiff economic reform process and the Spring
European Council on economic and social issues. We agree that
this would enable full consideration to be given to the Commission's
updated target actions.
8.13 We now clear this document.
22 (20829) 14090/99; see HC 23-ix (1999-2000), paragraph
8 (16 February 2000). Back
23 (20795)
13522/99; see HC 23-ix (1999-2000), paragraph 11 (16 February
2000). Back
24 Page
6 of Council Secretariat Press Release: 8829/00 (Presse 18- -
G) . Back
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