Interne markt zwengelt economie van de EU aan (en)

On 3^rd October representatives of EU administration and business met in Cracow.

‘We have identified 20 of the regulatory barriers more painful to entrepreneurs and employees which make functioning in the single market difficult. We wish to eliminate them in the near future,’ said Deputy Minister and Economy Minister Waldemar Pawlak during the Single Market Forum (SIMFO). The meeting of representatives of EU administration and business was held on 3^rd October 2011 in Cracow.

‘We must restrict a number of regulations and simplify the law, thereby creating the best conditions for conducting business activities’, Deputy Prime Minister Pawlak emphasised. He recalled the European Commission’s April Single Market Act containing a set of 12 specific activities which ease the effects of the crisis being experienced by EU citizens and entrepreneurs. ‘We wish to step up legislative work on the 12 “mainsprings” of the internal market so the necessary legal acts could be adopted during the Danish and Cypriot Presidencies in 2012,’ he stated.

Deputy Prime Minister Pawlak noted that the Polish Presidency i’s priority with regards to eliminating barriers from the common market is to create a uniform patent and a uniform patent court. ‘The absence of a common system in that area as well as the high costs of obtaining patent protection retard the development of innovations in small and medium-sized enterprises. We are therefore striving to, among other things, reduce those costs by 20 percent,’ he said. He added that the Polish Presidency would strive to maintain the hitherto robust political involvement of Member States in that area as well as the advancement achieved by efforts in that direction.

The chief of the Economy Ministry pointed out that the ‘Tell us your story’ and‘A Union without barriers’ contestshave also helped identify such barriers in the common market. ‘I am glad so many young people are approaching the question of European integration with such enthusiasm and involvement and are pinning their hopes on the development of a single market,’ he said while awarding prizes to the winners.

The President of the European Parliament Jerzy Buzek i emphasised that the Single Market Forum, organised by three EU institutions — the EU Council, the European Commission and European Parliament — showed that the EU is open to discussion with citizens and entrepreneurs, ‘We are creating European civil space which is a platform for debate and understanding,’ he said. ‘Thanks to that fact we are able to effectively identify and eliminate barriers from our common market,’ he added.

For his part, EU Commissioner for Internal Market and Services, Michel Barnier i, recalled the improvements introduced over the past 20 years. ‘Today we have got a diversity of products, services and prices and an open job market,’ he said. In his view the European economy can become more competitive in the international area if it develops production and industry even more. ‘That is an ambitious goal which we can achieve if we jointly create pro-active laws in the European Union together with entrepreneurs and citizens,’ he explained.

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The Single Market Forum is an event being organised for the first time in EU history by three EU institutions — the EU Council, the European Commission and European Parliament.