10 Single Market Scoreboard
| (25858)
11566/04
SEC(04) 956
| Commission staff working paper: Internal Market Scoreboard No. 13
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| Legal base | — |
| Document originated | 14 July 2004
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| Deposited in Parliament | 27 July 2004
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| Department | Trade and Industry
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| Basis of consideration | EM of 31 August 2004
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| Previous Committee Report | None; but see (24544) 9354/03: HC 63-xxv (2002-03), para 13 (18 June 2003)
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| To be discussed in Council | 24 September 2004
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| Committee's assessment | Politically important
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| Committee's decision | Cleared
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Background
10.1 As part of the Internal Market Action Plan agreed in June
1997, the Commission undertook to produce a Single Market[17]
Scoreboard during each Presidency of the European Union. The purpose
of the Scoreboard is to monitor the functioning of the Single
Market and allow Member States to compare their performance in
certain key areas.
The document
10.2 This Scoreboard is the 13th edition. It is presented in three
parts. The first — "Implementing the Internal Market's
Legal Framework" — looks at progress in transposition
(the implementation of Directives through national legislation)
and action on transposition failure. The focus is on reducing
the proportion of Directives overdue for transposition (the transposition
deficit) to the 1.5% target set by the European Council in March
2002. The UK met the target then and in all subsequent Scoreboards.
In this Scoreboard the UK has achieved joint fourth place with
a transposition deficit of 1.2%. France has the worst transposition
record, followed by Greece and the other five founding Member
States. The EU average stands at 2.2%, which is a slight improvement
on the 2.4% average of the last Scoreboard.
10.3 The Commission uses infringement proceedings,
involving considerable resources, to try to enforce transposition.
So far such proceedings have not been started against new Member
States. The Scoreboard notes that the Internal Market Strategy
2003-2006 set a target of a 50% reduction in infringement proceedings
by 2006. But the Commission reports little improvement in the
last year. The position in relation to the two Member
States currently with the most cases against them — Italy
and France — has worsened.
10.4 The second part of the Scoreboard reports on
the two informal methods the Commission uses, before resorting
to infringement proceedings, to resolve Single Market problems
and ensure respect for Community law. One of these involves meetings
at which experts from Member States and the Commission informally
discuss a package of cases being considered by the Commission.
In 2003 46% of the cases so discussed were resolved, and discussions
continue on a further 38%. The other mechanism is SOLVIT, an online
system dealing with cases of misapplication of Single Market rules
by national and local administrations. The Commission says that
SOLVIT's performance is good, with an average success rate of
75% for all cases opened and closed between May 2003 and May 2004.
10.5 In the third and fourth parts of the Scoreboard
the Commission discusses the role of European standards in the
Single Market and the practical benefits of the Single Market
as measured by the Internal Market Index of indicators of market
integration and by price convergence.
The Government's view
10.6 The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for
Employment Relations, Competition and Consumers, Department of
Trade and Industry (Mr Gerry Sutcliffe) says:
"The primary aim of the Scoreboard is to monitor
a range of indicators which reflect the health of the Internal
Market. It has no direct policy implications but, has proved
extremely useful both as a means of evaluating developments in
the Internal Market and as a spur towards greater achievement.
The Government, therefore, supports the continued use and development
of the Internal Market Scoreboard."
Conclusion
10.7 The Scoreboard continues to be a useful source
of information on, amongst other things, the relative performance
of Member States in transposing Directives and on reducing infraction
cases. We note again that the UK is amongst those making good
efforts to improve its transposition record.
10.8 But we are dismayed again at the continuing
failure of some Member States to meet promptly and properly their
obligations in relation to the Single Market. This disadvantages
not only UK businesses and consumers but the interests of all
those who stand to benefit from a properly functioning Single
Market. We trust that the Minister will make plain in discussion
of this Scoreboard, particularly to recalcitrant Member States,
the cynicism engendered in ordinary European citizens by this
disregard for what is supposed to be a common enterprise.
10.9 We clear the document.
17 The Commission uses the term Internal Market, and
the subject of this paragraph is entitled the Internal Market
Scoreboard.However, the term Single Market is more commonly used
in the UK and therefore we use it except when referring to titles
or headings using Internal Market. Back
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