The European Parliament adopted by 568 votes to 107, with 11 abstentions, a resolution on Single Market governance within the European Semester 2015. Noting the Commission communication of 28 November 2014 entitled Annual Growth Survey 2015, Parliament stressed the need to put a stronger focus on the Single Market in the context of the European Semester in order to better exploit its growth and employment potential and place its enhancement at the heart of the European industrial strategy.
The Single Market pillar of the European Semester: Members stressed the need to use the Single Market as the third pillar of the European Semester in order to cover a clear set of priorities related to the real economy. They called on the Commission to improve governance of the Single Market by developing a set of analytical tools to more properly measure the economic and regulatory performance of the Single Market within the framework of the Single Market pillar of the European Semester. In this regard, the Commission was asked to:
· present a mandatory report every year aimed at monitoring the functioning of the Single Market within the European semester process and presenting an analysis of the state of Single Market integration in key areas with the greatest growth potential;
· take full account of the key growth and quality job-creation areas for building an EU Single Market fit for the 21st century, as previously identified by the Commission and further specified in the study of September 2014 entitled The Cost of Non-Europe in the Single Market and including: (i) services, (ii) the Digital Single Market, (iii) the consumer acquis, (iv) public procurement and concessions, (v) the free movement of goods; (vi) transport and (vii) energy.
· introduce a methodology for quantitative targets for the reduction of administrative burdens at European level.
The resolution emphasised that the procedures should provide for appropriate involvement of the European Parliament in the economic governance cycle. It also stated that the ownership of the CSR by national parliaments needs to be strengthened. Members reiterated, furthermore, their request that the Commission report to the competent committee of Parliament on the measures taken to ensure progress in the implementation of the CSRs and the progress achieved thus far.
Untapped potential of the Single Market in key growth areas: concerned at falling levels of private investment in Europe, Members called on the Member States to support the Investment Plan and to contribute to the European Fund for Strategic Investment, supplementing the amounts provided through the EU budget and by the EIB, in order to guide and encourage investment by the private sector.
Taking into account the priorities set out in the Europe 2020 strategy, the Member States, the Commission and all the relevant stakeholders were asked to:
· focus on the real economy in designing and developing investment policies which will attract private investment in return;
· invest in training for both individuals and companies for the digital era, including in the latest technologies in the energy sector ensuring a global digital network;
· improve the regulatory framework for SMEs, given its job creation capacity;
· link investment with innovation and entrepreneurship, maximising the opportunities offered by the digital economy and society and developing a smart European industrial policy;
· reignite the entrepreneurial spirit in Europe;
· gear their economies towards innovation and growth, since this will prepare us for the tasks and demands of the future in the digital age.
Assessment instruments and governance tools: Parliament stressed the importance of improving dialogue with and between Member States in order to identify and address the complexities they were experiencing in implementing Single Market legislation. The Commission was asked to consider including in the body of its proposals for legal instruments in the Single Market area the obligation to carry out a systematic review of transposition, compliance, effectiveness and fitness for purpose of the legal instruments, including a methodology and criteria for such a review.
Noting that proper implementation and enforcement of EU legislation was crucial for the completion of the Single Market, Members called on the Commission to make determined use of all its powers to reach this goal, and urged Member States and the Commission to step up their efforts to enforce Single Market legislation and to monitor this enforcement.