The annual Single Market Report and the Single Market Scoreboard published by the European Commission (hereinafter the EC) are dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the free movement of goods, services, people and capital in the EU. In its reports, the EC has concluded that it is important to continuously improve the functioning of the single market as it remains the main instrument for removing various obstacles in Europe. The published reports will form the basis for further discussions between EU Member States on strengthening the single market and further work on economic resilience and competitiveness.
Improving the EU Single Market
The EC notes the challenges of resilience of supply chains and the need to address strategic dependences, in particular with regard to critical raw materials. In order to achieve this objective, it is important to further improve the free movement of services and to ensure a sufficient level of technology and skills in the EU. At the same time, the reduction of barriers to professional services, recognition of professional qualifications, improvement of public and private investment, SME and state support for green and digital transitions are appreciated.
The EC has assessed in detail the benefits of the single market and trade integration since its creation in 1993. In June 2022, trade in the EU accounted for 60% of total EU trade evidencing of increased trade after the COVID-19 pandemic.
The growth in trade was also affected by the rapid digital transition. At the same time, the EC sees significant potential for the use of digital tools and data to improve the governance of the single market. New approaches to digital technologies and e-government solutions will reduce the burden on businesses and public administrations and foster mutual trust.
Progress in the green transition is also being observed in the EU. Overall, the usage rate of secondary raw materials in the EU has increased by 11% while the EC aims to double this indicator by 2030. In addition, more than 87,000 eco-labelled products were placed on the EU market (or by 13% more than in 2019). This shows that more and more environmentally friendly products are entering the market.
Support for cooperation between entrepreneurs, public institutions and residents in Latvia
The single market is based on commonly agreed rules. However, EU rules only provide benefits if they are correctly applied. Therefore, it is important for the Ministry of Economics that tools that ensure correct implementation of EU law are successfully used in Member States and that the single market enables Latvian companies and residents to work, travel, shop, invest and do business safely.
The EC has appreciated the activities of the SOLVIT centre of Latvia. As it is known, the SOLVIT centre is an alternative dispute resolution mechanism established by the EC and the Member States for entrepreneurs and the population. It addresses problems arising from the recognition of professional qualifications, mutual recognition of goods, freedom of establishment, and other complaints related to the actions of a public authority of the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein or Norway. In 2022, the SOLVIT centre of Latvia accepted 29 cases from entrepreneurs and residents and for the fifth year in a row, all of them were resolved 100%. According to the information provided in the report, cross-border problems in the EU as a whole were related to the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, recognition of professional qualifications, social insurance, maintenance rights and discrimination.
The EC also highly appreciated the functioning of the Internal Market Information System (IMI). IMI is an electronic system that facilitates the exchange of information between national authorities. Latvia has one of the best results in three indicators: satisfaction with the answer (95%), time of receipt of the reply (93%) and meeting the set deadlines (89%). There are currently 67 administrative cooperation procedures in 17 different policy areas available in the IMI. Although the end-users of IMI are public authorities, companies and residents benefit from improved cooperation between public authorities as it helps to reduce administrative burden.
Over the past two years, the COVID-19 pandemic, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the rapid adoption of new and complex EU laws with short deadlines for their transposition have prevented EU Member States from taking over EU law in a timely manner. While Latvia is among TOP-5 Member States (Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Croatia) with the lowest number of infringement proceedings, at the same time the EC has concluded that the number of non-transposed EU laws in Latvia increased by 2% (compared to 0.8% in 2020), while the average EU indicator is 1% (adopted by the Council of Europe in 2002). Latvia’s goal until next year’s report is to improve the number of non-transposed EU laws in Latvia, not to exceed the indicator of 1%.
The Single Market Report is an annual EC document assessing the integration of the EU single market and analysing how it helps Europe overcome current geopolitical tensions, improve EU competitiveness and support the green and digital transition of the economy.
Furthermore, the Single Market Scoreboard is an annual EC review which gives an insight into the practical management of the single market. It makes it possible not only to obtain information on all EU Member States, but also to reflect the results achieved, the feedback received, and the conclusions made, providing a basis for further development.
The Single Market report can be consulted here.
The Single Market Scoreboard can be consulted here.
The EC press release can be consulted here.