APPENDIX 3: CALL FOR EVIDENCE
1. The Internal Market Sub-Committee (Sub-Committee
B) of the House of Lords Select Committee on the European Union
is undertaking an inquiry into issues raised by the European Commission's
Review of the Single Market.
2. On 10 May 2006 the Commission adopted a Communication
"A Citizens' Agenda—delivering results for Europe".
One of the major initiatives in the agenda is a fundamental and
forward looking review of the EU Single Market. An interim report
of the review was presented to the Spring European Council, and
a final report is anticipated in Autumn 2007.
3. The Communication which launched this review
called for the following four questions to be addressed:
- How can we build on what has already
been achieved?
- Where are the remaining gaps?
- How can we meet the challenges of
the future?
- Do we have the most effective mechanisms
for delivering the Single Market?
4. The Sub-Committee's inquiry will take evidence
from June 2007, and present a report in response to the publication
of the findings of the Commission's review. As well as conducting
an overview of the single market, the inquiry will focus on three
key sectors:
- Energy markets;
- Financial services; and
- Telecommunications.
5. The Sub-Committee seeks evidence in particular
in the following areas:
A. The Current State of the Single Market
- What has the impact of the recent enlargements
of the European Union been on the single market?
- Are there significant barriers to firms seeking
to offer their goods or services, or to consumers accessing these
goods or services, in other Member States of the European Union?
If so, what are the most important of those barriers? Are small
businesses more likely to encounter barriers when seeking to offer
their goods and services in other Member States? What measures
are needed to overcome those barriers?
- Do you consider further legislative measures
by the Commission to be necessary for the completion of the single
market? If so, what measures would you consider appropriate?
- Are the current provisions for monitoring market
functioning and performance effective? What evidence is there
that Member States are honouring their obligations equally?
- Is there a need for greater cooperation between
National Regulatory Authorities?
- Are the current remedies available to the Commission
to enforce single market legislation adequate; and are they used
effectively?
- What is your view of the Country of Origin Principle,
whereby a company registered to provide services in one Member
State is automatically qualified to provide those services in
any other Member State on the basis of home country regulation?
Does this Principle constitute the best basis for single market
measures? How is cross-border activity by small businesses helped
or hindered by the Country of Origin Principle?
- Do the concepts of the "national champion"
and "economic nationalism" pose a threat to the single
market?
- Should there be a greater role for technology
and research in facilitating the single market?
- What is the significance of the single currency
to the operation of the single market?
B. Sector-specific Questions
Energy
- Has there been sufficient unbundling of gas and
electricity markets in all Member States?
- Is there agreement on the fundamental importance
of a genuine single market to support a Common European strategy
for energy?
- What are the implications for the single market
of the Commission's commitments on climate change?
- Should there be a single EU energy regulator?
Telecommunications
- Is the EU telecommunications market genuinely
cross-border at present?
- Is the current EU regulatory framework for telecommunications
sufficiently technology neutral?
- Does this regulatory framework require modernisation?
Financial Services
- What has been the impact of the implementation
of the Financial Services Action Plan as a whole; and in particular
the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive?
- Do you support the Commission's Code of Conduct
on Clearing and Settlement?
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