Toespraak eurocommissaris Barnier over geringe populariteit en noodzaak van de interne markt (en)

Thank you, Professor ROSAMOND, for this interesting introduction.

I am very pleased to be with you today. And I am happy to have this discussion with you and Eva KJER HANSEN,

Member of the Danish Parliament, Chair of Committee of European Affairs.

Let me also thank the University of Copenhagen, and its Rector Ralf HEMMINGSEN, for hosting this event.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

As you know, Europe is going through difficult times. The financial crisis which started 4 years ago took its high economic and social toll. European countries had to mitigate the cost by investing massive amount of public money. It was a necessary decision. But, in several countries, this huge public spending came on top of years of deficits. And this combination gave birth to the current sovereign debt crisis.

The economic recovery, which was well underway, has almost come to a halt. There are some positive signs but economic activity is generally expected to stagnate in the coming months.

This is bad news for all Europeans. But this is especially worrying for young people.

You are lucky enough to study at a good university. In a country where unemployment is limited compared to other Member states.

But you should keep in mind that, in some European countries, around 30% of young people are unemployed. In Spain and Greece, this figure even exceeds 40%.

So what can we do to give new perspectives to young people?

We need to kick-start the European economy.

And we cannot do that with new massive public money investment again.

We need to rely on our own assets.

One of our biggest assets is the single market.

Its 500 million consumers and 22 million companies are our biggest asset abroad. It is one of the reasons why major partners such as the US or China continue to respect us.

But the Single Market is also a great asset inside Europe.

Some of you may have been born in 1992, the same year as the Single Market.

Studies conducted that year show that citizens had expressed more hopes than fears. In particular, they hoped that the Single Market would help them work anywhere they wanted, make trade easier and bring more jobs.

Twenty years later, these hopes have become reality. New studies show that a majority of Europeans agree that the Single market provides for a biggest choice of products [74%] and for more jobs in the EU [52%].

However, let's not only see the glass half full.

According to the same studies, many Europeans think that the Single Market is only for the benefit of big companies [62%] and has flooded their country with cheap labour [58%].

Our achievements must not be denied. But progress towards a true single market has stalled. And the current crisis doesn't help.

For young Europeans of your generation, the Single Market might well be more anchored in the past than in the future

And yet, I am convinced that you have a lot to gain from the Single Market.

As Mario Monti put it in a recent report, the Single Market is "less popular" but "more needed" than ever.

Therefore, this twentieth anniversary is no time for nostalgia. We must use this celebration to set new goals for the Single Market. And to make sure that it offers new opportunities to citizens and businesses.

The Commission has already started to do just that with the Single Market Act, proposed in April 2011. It contains 12 key actions, of which 10 have are already being discussed in the European Parliament and the Council.

What are we concretely doing to improve the Single Market? Let me take four examples:

• 1. 

  First, the Single European patent. Today, if you want to protect an invention in the 27 Member States, you will have to translate and validate your patent country by country. And it will cost you 32.000 [thirty-two thousand] euros. These extra costs simply do not exist in the US or in Japan. After more than 30 years of discussions, we are now inches from an agreement. This will be an effective way to boost creativity and innovation in Europe.

• 2. 

  Second, we will also improve free movement of services. A proper application of the services directive could add 1.5% to the European GDP level in 2020. We will also go much further with mutual recognition of professional qualifications.

• 3. 

  Third: intellectual property rights. 500 legitimate music services worldwide offer libraries of up to 20 million tracks. The choice for individual consumers has never been bigger. Downloads or streaming - innovative business models respond to your choices and tasks. Consumers, creators, artists, service providers all stand to win.

This is the digital single market for music, books and films that I want for all of us.

But there is no place for free riders who make strongly on the back of hard working artists. That is unfair.

I will focus on financial circuits associated with piracy and to ease access to justice for right holders.

• 4. 

  Last example: we want to double the volume of e-commerce in Europe by 2015.

You are using the Internet in many aspects of your daily life: to communicate, to study, to buy and sell things. And I am pretty sure that you expect a new Single Market, more digital-based and more interactive. In short, a Single Market 2.0.

The Internet economy offers a better choice to consumers, including those in rural and isolated areas. It also represents a huge growth potential for businesses. I heard recently that a German SME increased its workforce from 3 to 20 by going online.

Overall, electronic commerce and online services could account for up to 20% of employment and growth over the next five years.

To achieve that, we are committed to remove obstacles to e-commerce. For citizens and for businesses. Rules applicable to e-commerce must be clearer. Offers must be more transparent and easier to compare. Payments and delivery must become less expensive and more reliable.

And governments can also benefit by moving on-line. For example, authorities which procure electronically report common savings of 5 to 20%.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

A Single Market 2.0 also means more interaction with citizens and businesses. In other words, we need to improve the governance of the Single Market. And take it closer to citizens' and businesses' day-to-day concerns.

That is why the Single Market Act started from a broad consultation.

One thousand citizens and stakeholders then joined in discussions on the first wave of actions at the Single Market Forum, held in Krakow last October.

At that occasion, I received a declaration from Polish Youth pointing out concrete day-to-day problems on roaming costs, free movement of services and e-payments. This type of contribution is a useful input to our work programme.

The next key milestone of this interactive approach will be the Single Market week. It will be organised in all Member States next October. And I look forward to your active participation in this event.

Thank you for your attention.