The Forum of Private Business (FPB) has welcomed a proposal from the European Commission (EC) to strengthen the enforcement of mutual recognition:
|
| FPB logo. |
|
The
FPB, which represents 25,000 small and medium-sized businesses in the UK, says the proposal will make business easier for companies that do not have the resources to examine the different regulatory requirements in different countries.
Mutual recognition is the principle in EU treaties that obliges member states to recognise product standards enforced in other member states, rather than imposing their own requirements on goods traded in the internal market. The FPB believes too many member states use the get-out clause of citing public interest reasons to avoid meeting this obligation, when in reality public interest is a cover for protectionism, which should be outlawed in the internal market.
The FPB's EU spokesman, Martin Smith, thought the initiative would especially benefit small businesses: "This not only affects businesses that trade in other member states, it also impacts on those that only operate domestically but source raw materials from other EU states."
Smith continued: "We had a comment from a member who tried to bring in raw materials from Italy but the UK's standards wouldn't allow him to. You may think this will lead to him buying British, but in reality this would, like most forms of protectionism, be false economy as it would cost him more to produce his goods. Small businesses operating on tight margins can't cope with such cost burdens, nor can those that do sell abroad cope with all the different regulatory requirements in the absence of mutual recognition."
'Much room to improve free movement of goods':
Commission Vice-President Günter Verheugen, responsible for enterprise and industry, including the internal market for goods, said: "The internal market is our biggest asset in view of promoting growth and jobs in the EU. There is still much room to improve the free movement of goods. That's why I'm proposing to unburden industry by placing more responsibility on the authorities of member states and encouraging dialogue and co-operation. We will do so in a way that consumers will be better protected as well. More freedom for business to trade within Europe needs to be balanced with more responsibility and risk management."
Mr. Smith recommended all those with an interest in completing the internal market to follow the debate with interest with regard to the precedents and parallels it will set. "The Services Directive obliges member states to remove any regulatory barriers to formation of service businesses by entrants from other EU states," he said. "But it does contain the dreaded 'overriding reason of public interest' to enable them to derogate from this in the appropriate circumstances. What we need is for the Commission and MEPs to send a message to member states that abuse of this privilege for purposes of protectionism will not be tolerated."
For more information, visit Mr. Verheugen's website at http://ec.europa.eu/commission_barroso/verheugen/index_en.htm.
|
If you like this article and want to share it with friends, please use the social links below:
|
Back