Member states scolded for poor performance

Date: 16/11/1995

EURO MPs have chastised member states for not doing enough to keep the single market up and running.

A report by UK Liberal Graham Watson, criticising EU governments for dragging their feet on a number of issues, won the backing of the full Parliament yesterday (15 November).

“While it is fair to count the European Union's programme to complete the single European market by 1 January 1993 as broadly successful, there are still many areas of activity where the concept of the single market is far from being realised,” states the report. It also calls on the European Commission to police the running of the single market more effectively and not to “be afraid to take member states to court”.

The report, which its author hopes will bring “a heavy dose of realism” to evaluations of the internal market, catalogues a number of hurdles which it says must be overcome.

Notably, it criticises member states for not dropping their border controls, for keeping public procurement practices closed and for failing to harmonise taxes. It claims environmental regulations in the Union, high legal costs which discourage small businesses from defending their rights and excessive bureaucracy have all slowed down the completion of the single market.

Also high on the list of complaints is the failure of member states to transpose EU law into national legislation by the agreed deadlines and to recognise each others' standards and certificates.

“There are also still far too many cases of non-implementation of single market measures which have been adopted by the Union,” says the report, which names Greece and Germany as the worst offenders, adding that those member states who break single-market law should be punished by the Commission.

“The single market is working, but not yet very smoothly: the gears need oiling and the engine needs tuning. The Commission should make the single market work. Billions of pounds of trade are at stake and with it millions of jobs. Quite literally, we cannot afford to fail,” warned Watson.