European Union News - Internal Market

The European Commission presented a proposal for allowing the 10 member states that wish to apply an EU financial transaction tax (FTT) through enhanced cooperation to do so, because all the legal conditions for such a move are met. The proposal must be adopted by a qualified majority of Member States, and receive the Parliament's consent, in order for the 10 Member States to move forward.

The European Commission launched a public consultation in order to gather views and information on the use of electronic invoicing in public procurement, i.e. in the B2G sector, and on the perceived need of action at EU level. Public authorities, citizens, enterprises, and organisations are welcome to contribute to this consultation before 14 January 2013.

The government deficit to GDP ratio decreased from 6.2% in 2010 to 4.1% in 2011 in the euro area, and in the EU from 6.5% to 4.4%. In the euro area the government debt to GDP ratio increased from 85.4% at the end of 2010 to 87.3% at the end of 2011, and in the EU from 80.0% to 82.5%. In 2011 the lowest government deficits relative to GDP were recorded in Luxembourg, Finland and Germany while seventeen Member States had deficits higher than 3% of GDP. Among them, the highest were recorded in Ireland (-13.4%), Greece and Spain (both -9.4%), and the United Kingdom (-7.8%).

The EU and OECD countries jointly launched the ‘Global Recalls Portal’ which allow authorities across the world to exchange information about unsafe products that have been taken off the market. According to the European Commission, the Portal will contribute to boosting consumer safety across the world and will enhance consumers' awareness and confidence in buying global.

The European Commission proposed to update the Radio Equipment Directive to make sure all market players comply with the rules regarding the avoidance of interference. The Commission also proposes to clarify and simplify the Directive, to facilitate its application and to eliminate unnecessary burden ultimately increasing all stakeholders' confidence in the regulatory framework.

The European Commission focuses this year's SME Week in promoting women entrepreneurship. According to the Commission, women's entrepreneurial potential is underexploited and the EU needs more women entrepreneurs to create growth and new jobs.

The new special committee on organised crime in the European Parliament proposed to include a Union-wide definition of mafia-related crimes, the possibility of seizing criminal assets and using them to benefit the community, new rules on public procurement and the creation of an EU prosecutor, among other things, to tackle the mafia.

The European Commission launched a public consultation with a view to updating the current list of relevant wholesale and retail telecoms markets subject to the Commission's "Article 7" procedure under EU telecoms rules. In particular, the purpose of the questionnaire is to identify major relevant trends and to consult stakeholders on the revision of the current list of relevant markets and their scope, as well as on markets to be possibly added to the list, including markets regulated at national level and trans-national markets.

20 young people, all 20 years of age, are the winners of the ‘Generation 1992’ creative competition. Young people from all over Europe born in 1992 (the year in which the European single market was launched) were asked to show what this vast open market meant to them. This competition is celebrated to mark the 20th anniversary of the European single market.

The SME Performance Review 2012 report shows that Europe's Small and Medium Sized enterprises (SMEs) continue to strive for recovery. According to the Review, further policy is needed to help SMEs in recovery. The report also argues that the creation of more such enterprises should be an integral part of any growth strategy and suggests appropriate policies measures.