28 Amendments of Evelyne GEBHARDT related to 2021/2043(INI)
Amendment 1 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 1 a (new)
Citation 1 a (new)
— having regard to Article 3 of the Treaty on European Union,
Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
Amendment 12 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas any assessment of the barriers to the single market should be based on the experiences and perceptions of businesses and consumers who engage to some degree with the single market every day as well as on the purpose of the existing rules; whereas single market barriers disproportionately affect SMEs and microenterprises, and hinder their cross- border activities;
Amendment 28 #
E. whereas the current Commission has not yet come forward with a comprehensive legislative package addressing failures in the exercise of the core freedoms of the single market beyond enforcement, other than digital initiativeselaboration and implementation of internal market legislation must always ensure the proper involvement of social partners and civil society organisations, thereby promoting fair and rules-based markets, where high social and environmental standards, quality goods and services and fair competition constitute paramount considerations; whereas the Commission has prioritised the need for a better enforcement of existing single market legislation next to a number of digital and green initiatives paving the way for the twin-transition; whereas the Parliament and the Council failed to adopt the core initiativerejected some of the proposals of the 2016 Services Package;
Amendment 39 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G a (new)
Recital G a (new)
G a. whereas for the single market framework it is vital to correctly balance economic freedoms, social rights, the interests of consumers, workers and businesses as well as the general interest;
Amendment 51 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Welcomes the Single Market Governance Package of March 2020, which aims to improve the implementation and enforcement of European legislation; considers that it is only a partial answer to theas well that there are still remaining legislative and law enforcement deficiencies hampering the proper functioning of the commonsingle market;
Amendment 54 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Underlines that the single market remains the European Union’s greatest achievement; urges the Commission, therefore, to refocus resources at issues plaguing the single market, in particular unjustified non-tariff barriers (NTBs), which continue to limit opportunities for consumers, workers and businesses; acknowledges that stronger monitoring also by the Member States, and increased political emphasis on the single market are likely to be needed to effectively remove such barriers and in order to further deepen the single market integration;
Amendment 65 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Underlines that the achievement of the objectives in the Green Deal and European digital agendas is also based on the effective functioning of the single market, which is a key enabler of market efficiency and innovation and one of several tools for modernising European economies; believes, therefore, that the single market’s shortcomings deserve at least the same level of attention as the Green Deal and the European digital agenda; underlines that European policies should also cope with the rules of the single market and must respect principles such as "what is illegal offline should be illegal online"; reaffirms its own commitment to developing and safeguarding a robust, consumer- and business-friendly internal market;
Amendment 73 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Acknowledges that certainsome non- discriminatory NTBs canmight be justified and originate from multi- level governance; urges the Member States, where such NTBs are absolutely essential, to ensure their proportionality and strict alignment with legitimate public policy objectives such as the protection of workers, consumers, public health, the environment, public services and the general interest;
Amendment 82 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 – point a
Paragraph 6 – point a
a) regulatory disparities and inconsistent implementation or enforcement of EU law, which force companies to commit resources to the laborious process of analysing provisions that are harmonised at EU level, diverting investments away from activities that create jobs or support growthmake cross-border exchanges more complicated;
Amendment 88 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 – point b
Paragraph 6 – point b
b) burdensome and complex administrative requirements, and inaccessible information and limited lines of communication with public administration, including through points of single contact, which also limit the possibilities for new or competing services in new locations that would improve consumer choicegrant more possible choices for consumer;
Amendment 92 #
Amendment 94 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 – point d
Paragraph 6 – point d
d) a lack of harmonised technical standards increasing the compliance cost for companies operating cross-border;
Amendment 105 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Emphasises that the NTBs severelymay also impact the services sector and thereby other segments of the economy underpinned by the services sector; highlights that in its report, the Commission was able toclaims to have identifyied 24 specific restrictions across 13 sectors which breach rules established by the Services Directive, including some which are discriminatory or are requirements on establishment or nationality4 ; _________________ 4 Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, Mapping and assessment of legal and administrative barriers in the services sector, summary report, Brussels, April 2021.
Amendment 114 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Recalls that a considerable number of problems with the cross-border provision of services stem from administrative practices introduced by the country of destinationand linguistic barriers of the different Member States, and not from incompatibility with EU law;
Amendment 116 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Recognises the insufficient use of the notification procedure under the Services Directive; calls on the Commission to reflect on improving this framework, possibly by means of a new initiative which would increase clarity and transparency on the measures that need to be notified, while remaining cautious in order to not undermine the Services Directive and avoiding the situation which led to the withdrawal of the previous proposal;
Amendment 121 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9 a. Agrees with the assessment of the European Commission that several provisions of the Hungarian Law of 15 June 2021 on 'Taking more severe action against paedophile offenders and amending certain Acts for the protection of children' are at risk of violating several provisions of EU law, in particular Articles 34 and 56 TFEU, the Audio- Visual Media Services Directive and the e-commerce Directive as well as the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights; finds unacceptable any state-sponsored LGBTIQ-phobia, as it paves the ground for political censorship and highlights that such provisions also prevent consumers from benefitting from the achievements of the single market, therefore, must be considered also as a non-tariff barrier as it prevents goods producers and service providers from delivering the same goods and services equally to all EU customers;
Amendment 123 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Stresses that barrTakes note of the assessment of the Commission that cross-border activitiers also derive frommight be reduced due to limited national administration capabilities to provide services in other languages, and from shortages of skillsrelevant training and infrastructure;
Amendment 128 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 a (new)
Paragraph 11 a (new)
11 a. Underlines the existence of the anti-competitive effect of persistent territorial supply constraints (TSCs) which can materialise through different practices such as refusing to supply or threatening to stop supplying a particular distributor, limiting the quantities available for sale, inexplicable differences in product ranges and prices between Member States, or limiting language options for product packaging; underlines that TSCs are hampering the development of the single market and its potential benefits to consumers; calls on the Commission to come forth with adequate measures to eliminate TSCs and thereby reduce barriers to cross-border trade in view to achieve a fully functioning single market;
Amendment 133 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Considers that mutual recognition of professional qualification is seriously affected by administrative barriers imposed by Member States; Welcomes again the fact that the harmonisation of qualifications through mutual recognition has already been successful in relation to several professions, but still stresses the need to improve the comparability of levels of professional qualifications; recalls the specific status that regulated professions have within the single market and their role in protecting the public interest, but also underlines that this specific status should not be used to maintain unjustified barriers resulting in the fragmentation of the single market;
Amendment 144 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Is concerned by the insufficient access to information on labour mobility of services, as well as by the burdensome procedures to obtain essential documents such as the A1 form; underlines that access to information, such as on minimum wages and domestic collective agreements where applicable and relevant, should be improved to facilitate information for workers and compliance for businesses;
Amendment 165 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. StresseRecalls that the international road haulage sector is subject to a number of NTBs restricting access to national markets, which limit its competitiveness, discriminate against transport companies from certain Member States and increase emissions; calls on Commission and Member States to abolish unnecessary restrictions on cabotage, and calls for the opening of the freight and passenger transport services sector within the EU;
Amendment 174 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Welcomes in principle the Single Market Enforcement Taskforce (SMET), which aims to assess compliance of national law with single market rules and to prioritise the most pressing barriers; points out that the SMET should not just identify problems, but also provide pose possible solutions;
Amendment 177 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Recalls that so far the Commission’s plan to step up enforcement of EU law by means of the SMET has only delivered limited results; calls on the Commission to improve the transparency of the SMET and present in due time concrete outcomes of the work of SMET, including information on barriers that have been abolished as a result of its actions;
Amendment 182 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Calls on the Commission to present an annual report on NTBs and establish an opeto expand the existing Single Market Scoreboard in and transparent database compiling specific national NTBs together with ongoing infringement proceduresmanner, to list the infringement procedures and the national regulations suspected to contravene EU law;
Amendment 186 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to consistently, speedily and rigorously assess whether national rules hinder the internal market, and where they do, to assess if they are necessary, proportional and justified; recalls that economic freedoms cannot be put on an equal footing with fundamental rights, but rather represent just one of many factors to consider in this assessment;
Amendment 202 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24
Paragraph 24
24. Stresses the importance of monitoring, and therefore welcomes the Single Market Scoreboard as a performance monitoring tool; emphasises the need for a recurring debate on the outcomes of the Scoreboard at the highest political levels, ensuring political commitment to tackling the obstacles identified, not only from a business perspective, but also with regard to the challenges experienced by workers, consumers and citizens, taking due account of social and environmental policy considerations;
Amendment 217 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27
Paragraph 27
27. Calls on the Commission and Member States to proactively use the lessons learned and to develop a response plan for emergencies, which should aim to safeguard as far as possible the free movement of workers, services and goods;