With a broad initiative, the Commissioner for Industry Stefan Cézourne wants to make the EU’s internal market for European competitiveness. Because the export markets of the US and China are under pressure due to international trade conflicts, Brussels want to re -concentrate on their main mission: the expansion of the European market by removing trade barriers between the Member States.
A strategy document that Handelsblatt is available and is expected to be published on May 21, heralds the removal of obstacles in the EU internal market caused by national laws or businesses. To this end, there will be rapid procedures for violating the Member States and a law against territorial restrictions on supply by large brand manufacturers. A digital license to use products is also intended to facilitate companies to comply with bureaucratic requirements.
According to the Commission, even a moderate increase in trade within the EU single market would be enough to offset a massive decline in exports to third markets: “To offset a decline in exports of goods to the US by 20%, it is sufficient to increase the trade of goods within the EU by 2.4%.” In particular, small and medium -sized businesses (SMEs) will be able to operate even more easily than the national borders across the EU in the future.
The EU wants to interfere with national legislation in some cases
The Commission has announced that it would take targeted action with “coordinated procedures for violating” against Member States delaying the application of internal market requirements or undermine the requirements of excessive national rules. This also concerns the so -called “gold plating”, that is, national laws that go beyond what is required by EU law and thus create substantially new market obstacles. According to the document, this is often concerned with professional qualifications, services, product licenses and tax administration.
In addition, the Commission is planning a new “act of preventing barriers in the single market”, which should allow the Member States to intervene in the legislative process so that new barriers are not introduced from the outset.
Treatment of the Big Business Power
The Commission is also aimed at the power of large trademark manufacturers. A new law against so -called “territorial restrictions” aims to facilitate retail companies, such as supermarkets, to buy products where they are cheaper in the EU and to resell them cross -border. Companies often block this and instead charge different prices for the same products in different EU countries.
The European organization-bobbiers and retailers of Eurocommerce, for example, has long criticized “the deliberate fragmentation of the internal market from large companies”, such as Coca-Cola, so that they can charge higher prices in some areas. Coca-Cola denies the category. However, it is a fact that supermarkets in Belgium, for example, cannot simply buy branded products in Germany, even if they are often cheaper there.
China’s overwhelming production duties
Globally, the EU wishes to protect the internal market stronger than unfair competition, in order to ensure this sales market for domestic manufacturers. The Commission announces stricter measures against state subsidized surplus production capacity – for example from China – and against diversion of trade as a result of the trade conflict with the US. “In such cases, the EU will use all means of trade defense – including justified duties,” the document said.
To facilitate the access of EU companies to their market, the Commission announced that it will abolish the obligation to submit a paper compliance certificates. Instead, manufacturers should be able to switch to digital solutions to make market supervision more effectively. The Commission creates a new special mechanism for products for which there are no harmonized EU standards yet.
Digital marking of products becomes standard
The central medium of the planned modernization is the digital product card, which is intended to provide “marking, compliance documents, instructions, security information and technical information, as well as all other legal data” in digital format.
It will be introduced first for the batteries, and other product categories will follow from 2027.
The Commission also announced a legislative initiative for cross -border access to the market for construction and facilities for 2026. The construction sector is today one of the most fragmented internal markets in the EU – with highly nationalized regulations and almost no freedom for suppliers from other Member States.
The German mechanical construction industry welcomes the committee’s plans as “hopeful” and German companies have long been demanding the deepening and simplification of the internal market.
The EU Commission is finally facing bureaucratic problems, especially with regard to the posting of workers, “which causes our companies a lot of headaches when it comes to cross -border labor assignments,” said VDMA leader Thilo Brodtmann. “The harmonized and uniform rules at the EU level must be the standard!”