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Brussels – Czechia and Luxembourg are proposing to the European Commission ways to improve the European Union’s single market. The main priority should be to simplify and harmonize EU rules on goods and services and, where possible, apply the principle of mutual recognition. This follows from a document available to ČTK which has been supported by two dozen member states of the union. The Czechs and Luxembourgers want to present it at a meeting of EU industry ministers on September 26 in Brussels.
The so-called non-paper, an unofficial document intended for closed debate, also references the recently published reports by Enrico Letta and Mario Draghi, which deal precisely with the future of the internal market in the EU and the union’s competitiveness. The European Commission should publish a new Single Market Strategy by June 2025, as tasked by the EU summit and ministers responsible for competitiveness.
“The internal market is a fundamental competitive advantage of the EU. For the Czech Republic, it has always been crucial for it to be one of the European Commission’s main priorities. Europe faces significant challenges, and further deepening and streamlining of the internal market is one of the key tools to successfully address them,” commented Czech Industry Minister and future Czech European Commissioner Jozef Síkela on the Czech initiative. According to him, Prague, together with Luxembourg, addressed other bloc countries for support and eventually managed to send “a strong political message signed by 20 member states” regarding the need for a substantial strengthening of the internal market over the next five years, the Czech minister added.
“To improve the single market, we should focus on the quality, consistency, and implementation of rules rather than their quantity,” the material states. According to Czechia and Luxembourg, the European Commission should ensure that single market rules are simple, predictable, uniform, and strictly enforceable. (September 20)