Memo to the commissioner responsible for the internal market
Despite many attempts to improve implementation of single-market rules, significant barriers to intra-EU services trade and cross-border mobility of people persist. A further challenge is how to reconcile industrial policies with competition and the single market.
Addressing these challenges requires a two-pronged strategy. First, you should make a new legislative push to improve the rules rather than just enforce existing rules, backed by stronger single-market governance, including effects-based monitoring and evaluation. This should focus on the elimination of sector-specific barriers to services trade, recognition of professional qualifications, transferability of social security entitlements and the creation of a ‘28th regulatory regime’. Second, you should implement single market-friendly industrial policy at the EU level, including by using EU funds to top up Important Projects of Common European Interest that have benefits beyond the participating countries, and by expanding EU-level ‘Auctions as a Service’ with member state contributions but EU-wide criteria for allocating subsidies.
Key actions:
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Strengthen single-market governance
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Make a new push to break down single-market barriers
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Develop single market-friendly industrial policy instruments