Activities of Maria GRAPINI related to 2021/2043(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Tackling non-tariff and non-tax barriers in the single market (debate)
Amendments (27)
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 4 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 9 a (new)
Citation 9 a (new)
— having regard to the Commission staff working document of 08 September 2020 entitled ‘Evaluation of the Vertical Block Exemption Regulation’ (SWD(2020) 172 final),
Amendment 5 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 9 b (new)
Citation 9 b (new)
— having regard to the study of July 2020 by the European Commission Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs entitled ‘Territorial supply constraints in the EU retail sector’,
Amendment 6 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 9 c (new)
Citation 9 c (new)
— having regard to the study of February 2018 by the Benelux Union entitled ‘Territorial Supply Constraints in the Retail Trade in Belgium, The Netherlands and Luxembourg’,
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 18 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas many barriers affecting the single market derive from incorrect or incomplete application of EU legislation or from unilateral political decisions with direct or indirect impact on intra-EU movement of goods and services taken by Member States;
Amendment 26 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas insufficient or incorrect implementation and lack of enforcement have damaging consequencenegative effects both at EU and national level for citizens and businesses;
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 57 #
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 non-tariff barriers (NTBs), which continue to limit opportunities for consumers and the possibility of running and developing businesses and are liable to create conditions that differ between businesses;
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 69 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Regrets that overlooked NTBs underminesome NTBs might impede upon the EU’s industrial strategy goals, especially reshoring of production and strengthening the resilience of the European economy;
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 86 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 – point b
Paragraph 6 – point b
b) burdensome and complex administrative requirements, and inaccessible or non-existent 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 choice;
Amendment 89 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 – point b a (new)
Paragraph 6 – point b a (new)
b a) Territorial Supply Constraints (TSCs) which are clearly hampering the development of the single market and its potential benefit to consumers;
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 113 #
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 destination, and not from incompatibility with EU law, and that it is therefore necessary to dispense with unwarranted and needless administrative practices so as to facilitate the provision of services and the accessibility of businesses throughout the internal market;
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 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 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 188 #
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; where these rules are shown to be unnecessary, the Commission should encourage Member States to dispense with them;
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;