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International Internet Magazine. Baltic States news & analytics Thursday, 28.03.2024, 18:47

Integration proceeds smoothly among the EU member states

Eugene Eteris, BC, Copenhagen, 18.07.2014.Print version
The EU member states are constantly increasing their integration efforts along EU Single Market. However, as recent European Scoreboard showed, about one third member states (exactly 11 EU countries) performed better than the EU average in areas monitored. The most impressive result was achieved by Estonia and Finland. Whereas on numerous sectors, e.g. on 31 Single Market spheres, the EU member states’ performance was below average.

Since summer 2013, EU countries have stepped up their efforts to make it easier to live, work or do business in another EU country, according to the latest European Commission edition of the Single Market Scoreboard released in July 2014. The Scoreboard indicates to what extent EU Member States and European Free Trade Area (EFTA) countries implement EU rules that are there to help citizens prosper in the single market; how Member States cooperate in a number of policy fields where coordination is essential; and how much information and assistance they provide to citizens and businesses on their opportunities within Europe.


Main conclusions

The Scoreboard provides country-specific information and analyses in detail how certain governance tools function and policies are applied in each country. The scope of the Single Market Scoreboard has been extended to two specific policy areas: public procurement and postal services.

 

A "traffic light” chart shows at a glance how individual Member States have performed in terms of the governance tools and policy areas monitored, including the correct transposition of EU directives, infringement proceedings, administrative cooperation networks and various information and problem-solving services. The Commission has given red, yellow and green 'cards' based on their performance in the given fields.

 

Of the 11 EU countries that performed better than the EU average in all areas monitored, the most impressive result was achieved by Estonia (8 "green cards") and Finland (7 "green cards"). 31 times Member States' performance was below average which resulted in "red cards".


EU countries have significantly improved their performance since the last edition of the Scoreboard (IP/14/205). The Commission has now given 109 green cards (compared to 99 in February 2014), 106 yellow (up from 94 in February 2014) and 20 red (down from 30 in February 2014). This does not include public procurement figures as they are published for the first time. 

Reference: European Commission – IP/14/844 “EU countries are dismantling barriers to the European Single Market”; July 17, 2014.  


Transposition

During the last six months the average transposition deficit – the percentage of Single Market Directives that have not been transposed into national law in time – has remained unchanged at 0.7%. Despite having joined the EU only recently, Croatia scores best with only 0.1% while Italy reached its best result ever (0.7%) by halving its previous deficit. Greece, Finland and the United Kingdom also reached their best result ever. On the negative side, five EU member states remain above the 1% target.


Infringements

On Single Market related infringement proceedings, the EU average number of pending cases has increased for the first time since November 2008, which shows that, after a constant decrease of this global number (mainly due to the establishment of early problem-solving systems like SOLVIT and EU-Pilot), the situation seems to have stabilised. The major concerns continue to be mainly in the areas of the environment, taxation and transport.




Public procurement

The Commission has compared several aspects of public procurement in the EU-28 and the European Economic Area (EEA) countries. It examined the participation rate of bidders, which gives an indication of levels of competition and red tape; the accessibility of tenders to bidders; and the efficiency of procurement procedures. The best EU performers in this regard were Sweden, Luxembourg and Finland; the worst were Italy, Greece, and Cyprus.

 

Overall, in the areas analysed, 8 of the 12 EU member states which joined the EU in 2004 and 2007 tend to underperform. The results also highlight significant differences in the quality of reporting by the EU member states.


Postal services

In the field of postal services it can be observed that domestic postal-transit times are still faster in the west and in south of Europe than in the east. Cross-border priority mail sometimes can cost twice as much as the domestic equivalent.


Prices for domestic and cross-border mail are quite divergent in nearly all EU states. Finland is the only country that does not make any difference between the price of delivery within the country or to another EU member state.



Further information:

= http://ec.europa.eu/single-market-scoreboard;

= http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-14-844_en.htm?locale=en 







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