European Union News - Internal Market

The Green Paper presented by the European Commission aims to gather stakeholders’ views on the modernisation of the Professional Qualifications Directive (Directive 2005/36/EC). In the light of the results published in the paper, the Commission has decided to update the Directive with the possible ways forward that build on past achievements while developing new approaches to enhance mobility.

The Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee in the European Parliament believes that the latest proposals from EU finance ministers for the EU economic governance package are insufficient. Committee chair Sharon Bowles stated that the Committee leaves the door opened for a farther vote in July, so the Council can come back with an improved offer.

The agreement reached by transport ministers on new EU rules setting out how competition on the rail market must work in practice has been welcomed by the Commission. According to the Commission Vice-President and responsible for transport Siim Kallas, the new rules will ensure that opportunities to compete exist not just in theory but in practice and passengers and companies will get more choice and better quality services.

On its first formal response to the Commission's draft budget for 2012, EP Budgets Committee stated that essential investments must go ahead without delay to support education and social inclusion, reduce poverty and develop a knowledge-based society.

To extend the temporary crisis-related derogation that allows European Globalisation Fund (EGF) to be used for workers as a result of the current financial and economic crisis in addition to those losing their job because of changes in global trade patterns, has been proposed by the European Commission.

The Schengen Agreement has made passport-free travel possible for over 400 million Europeans. Cecilia Malmström, European Commissioner for Home Affairs stated that the creation of the Schengen area is one of the most tangible, popular and successful achievements of the European Union. Moreover, for European economy as well, free movement is central to the success of the Single Market.

The EU27 external current account recorded a deficit of 32.8 billion euro in the first quarter of 2011, compared with a deficit of 27.7 billion in the first quarter of 2010 and a deficit of 18.2 billion in the fourth quarter of 2010. The current account shows flows of goods, services, income and current transfers between resident and non-resident entities.

In a resolution voted at the Parliament's Plenary Session, MEPs called for new rules for credit rating agencies in order for them to clarify their working methods, boost competition and reduce reliance on their ratings. This resolution also suggests the creation of a European Credit Rating Foundation, completely independent and whose funding would come from finance sector.

The MEPs refused to freeze the next long-term budget and challenge to the Member States who want to freeze it to spell out which priorities they would drop as a consequence of this measure. According to the European Parliament, a minimum increase of 5% is needed compared to the 2013 budget, if all the objectives and policies agreed for the EU are to be completed.

The European Court of Auditor’s (ECA) has published the results of its audit on the effectiveness of the Small and Medium Enterprise Guarantee facility, in terms of the effectiveness of its design and planning. Among the conclusions the ECA found that the framework for the management of the daily operations was considered appropriate, but no scoring standards and no minimum requirements were set for the selection of financial intermediaries.

In order to help Member States gear up their economic and social policies to deliver on growth, jobs and public finances, the European Commission has adopted 27 sets of country-specific recommendations, plus one for the euro area as a whole. This should help each country to focus on strategic levers in the next 12 to 18 months, and thus boost EU economy as a whole.