All posts tagged: Single Market

EU eyes tougher penalties for single market rule-breakers – POLITICO

EU eyes tougher penalties for single market rule-breakers – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

Eliminating the ‘Terrible Ten’ The EU’s goal is to eliminate by March 2027 the main barriers to the EU single market — the so-called “Terrible Ten.” These include complex EU rules, overlapping national legislation and complicated business establishment laws. Brussels already launches legal proceedings against countries that obstruct trade across the single market. But these cases often drag on for years before fines are imposed. Commission officials have long encouraged quicker and more biting sanctions. In a further attempt at increasing delivery by EU countries, the EU executive plans to link payouts under its next €1.8 trillion long-term budget to executing reforms to strengthen the single market.  The document also opens the door to smaller groups of countries joining forces to push forward reforms if there is no unanimous agreement among the bloc’s 27 states.  The plan highlights simplification as the first of five pillars that member countries should work on together with the EU institutions. These will include favoring agile legislative instruments and keeping tabs on rules that are making slow progress or not …

Former von der Leyen aide’s new role reflects EU competition policy shift – POLITICO

Former von der Leyen aide’s new role reflects EU competition policy shift – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

Speaking with POLITICO, Whelan denied that his role was to build a bridge between von der Leyen and the competition department. “I don’t think the president and the EVP are in need of bridges,” he said. Ribera — who as the top socialist in the Commission is a foil to Christian Democrat von der Leyen — also framed the department’s future mandate through a philosophical lens, calling for enforcement grounded in fairness and protecting the vulnerable.  “In these uncertain times, our responsibility is more important than ever: to enforce rules firmly, to remain free from any distorting pressures, to act with integrity,” Ribera wrote. European Commission Executive Vice-President for Clean, Just and Competitive Transition Teresa Ribera arriving at the European Pulse Forum in Barcelona on April 10. | David Zorrakino/Europa Press via Getty Images Bridge builder or not, competition bubble insiders say Whelan has the bureaucratic and political chops to both manage that relationship and execute on the new competition agenda. “Highly intelligent, politically savvy, pragmatic, open-minded, and a strong believer in vigorous enforcement,” is …

EU poised to slash up to €1.5B in funding to Serbia over democracy fears – POLITICO

EU poised to slash up to €1.5B in funding to Serbia over democracy fears – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

Tensions flared further in December when President Vučić snubbed an EU-Western Balkans summit. Vučić, who has maintained close ties with Moscow throughout its war with Ukraine, bemoaned the sluggish pace of negotiations for EU membership. In a joint article with his Albanian counterpart in February he said he would prefer to pursue closer economic alignment with the EU, such as joining the single market and free travel zone, rather than full political membership. Kos rejected those proposals, arguing that significant reforms would still need to be delivered to make that happen. Then, last month, Serbia came under fire over reports of violence and irregularities during local elections, along with a police raid on a university that saw hundreds of students clash with law enforcement. An EU official said those recent events, along with Serbia’s continued cooperation with Moscow, had proven to be a tipping point for Brussels’ relations with Belgrade and had triggered a toughening of the EU executive’s stance. “As a candidate country, we also expect Serbia to stand with us on foreign policy …

Montenegro wants to join EU for security, PM says – POLITICO

Montenegro wants to join EU for security, PM says – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

“The key for us, why we want to join the EU, is obviously common values that we all believe in, and secondly, it’s the single market, it’s half a billion people versus half a million Montenegrins,” Spajić said. “And the third thing is it’s a peace project, maybe even the last peace project on Earth now these days, so this is the value of the European Union.” Across Europe, non-EU countries from Iceland to Moldova have increasingly expressed interest in joining the bloc for security and safety rather than simply trade and economic benefits following Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine and Donald Trump’s threats to seize Greenland. Montenegro is by far the most advanced candidate country in accession negotiations, having closed 14 of 33 negotiating chapters, the criteria required to join the EU. But some member countries are skeptical about adding new members and first want to reform the bloc’s decision-making process. Spajić said Podgorica, which has set an ambitious target of joining the EU by 2028, was “80, 90 percent there” when it …

‘Volatile’ world requires Britain to get close to EU, Starmer says – POLITICO

‘Volatile’ world requires Britain to get close to EU, Starmer says – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

But buoyed by a largely positive domestic reception, Starmer has since the new year hinted that he wants to expand negotiations to take in more areas — and potentially bring the U.K. back into large areas of the EU single market through aligning with regulations. “Brexit did deep damage to our economy, and the opportunities to strengthen our security and cut the cost of living are simply too big to ignore,” he told reporters. “So in the coming weeks, we will announce a new summit with our EU partners, and I can tell you that at that summit, the U.K. will not just ratify existing commitments made at last year’s summit. “We want to be more ambitious, closer economic cooperation, closer security cooperation, a partnership that recognizes our shared values, our shared interest and our shared future, a partnership for the dangerous world that we must navigate together, a world where this government will be guided at all times by the interests of the British people.” No date has been set for the next U.K.-EU …

Keir Starmer’s pick-and-choose Brexit deal faces uphill battle – POLITICO

Keir Starmer’s pick-and-choose Brexit deal faces uphill battle – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

Even in cases where U.K. participation has been agreed as fine in principle, it can sometimes be blocked in practice by making difficult-to-meet demands of London: usually financial. A plan for the U.K. to join the first phase of the EU’s SAFE rearmament loan scheme was entirely scuppered by an insistence that London pay billions of euros to participate. Talks ended without agreement by mutual consent. Running out of road There may also be trouble already on other files. Already, EU capitals have attached new conditions to the electricity trading deal conceived at last year’s summit, setting a new requirement that Britain pay into EU “cohesion” funds in exchange for access. Whether the two sides can agree a number remains to be seen. For these reasons, some observers are skeptical Starmer’s pick ‘n’ mix approach can be taken much further. “We’re kind of running out of the approach of ‘what more could we get through little bits of single market access,’” David Henig, U.K. director of the European Centre for International Political Economy (ECIPE), told …

Competitive Europe Summit — live updates – POLITICO

Competitive Europe Summit — live updates – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

Europe’s competitiveness agenda is in full swing. Cutting red tape for business is now a central mantra of EU policymaking, Brussels is digesting new plans to accelerate Europe’s industrial capacity, and the single market is getting new political momentum as well as a rebrand. But as a new war in the Middle East adds to existing geopolitical turmoil and economic disruption, calls are growing for the EU to become more self-sufficient in areas such as tech, energy and defense. Against this backdrop, how is the EU’s competitiveness push shaping up so far? Is it moving quickly enough? Are the right policy levers being pulled? And how can European policymakers balance the push for growth without compromising priorities such as environmental protection and regulatory certainty? Follow all the discussions and news from our spring edition of POLITICO’s Competitive Europe Summit as we discuss these questions with politicians, policymakers and experts. See the full program here and follow along here from 9 a.m. Source link

5 fights to watch out for at summit of EU leaders – POLITICO

5 fights to watch out for at summit of EU leaders – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

Poland, Czechia, Slovakia, Romania, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Bulgaria, Austria and Croatia are urging the EU executive to reexamine the scheme by the end of May at the latest, arguing it harms their industries and is contributing to rising energy prices.  But not everyone agrees, with two EU officials from ETS-supporting countries saying the cap-and-trade system must remain in place. The first official argued it is not contributing to the energy crisis and is actually helping Europe’s economy, with its revenues needed for the green transition.   On the topic of energy, the Commission’s proposed gas price cap is also likely to be raised, though not all countries are likely to get on board with that either, according to a senior German government official. According to the draft conclusions, EU leaders will instruct the Commission to “present without delay a toolbox of targeted temporary measures” to bring down energy prices.  Competitiveness, anyone? EU vs. itself Despite the crises crowding the agenda, leaders will still try to push forward plans to revive Europe’s economy, building on talks at a February summit at Alden Biesen in Belgium. Most of the proposals fall under the “One Europe, One Market” push to deepen the single market — easing the movement of goods, services, capital and people across the bloc. The draft conclusions …

Labour wants closer ties with the EU. The result would be disastrous

Labour wants closer ties with the EU. The result would be disastrous

Published by Sam Flores

Labour’s 2024 election manifesto promised that Britain would not rejoin the EU Customs Union or Single Market. People voted Labour on that belief. Yet, it is already clear that these words were never to be relied upon. The Prime Minister and his colleagues are becoming increasingly open about that fact. In his speech at the Munich security conference last month – that is, in carefully considered words, not casual remarks – he said “we must look at where we can move closer to the Single Market”. Rachel Reeves said in the same week that “deeper economic integration is in all of our interests”. Peter Kyle, the Business Secretary, said last week that “having two sides that are aligned, that’s where the magic happens”. David Lammy and Wes Streeting have both told us we should look again at the customs union. They really aren’t hiding it. The words in the manifesto are in fact not a promise but a distraction. They are intended to get us to look the other way while the Government gets on …

Britain told to stop being so ‘secretive’ about its Brexit reset – POLITICO

Britain told to stop being so ‘secretive’ about its Brexit reset – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

The government is yet to say exactly which sectors it would prioritize, however — and Starmer has said he wants the U.K.-EU relationship to be “iterative” with new cooperation added on an annual basis at regular summits. Scrutiny The new report also calls for the re-establishment of a dedicated European Scrutiny Committee in the House of Commons, to oversee the Brexit reset and Britain’s wider relationship with the continent. A version of the specialized EU affairs committee had existed since 1972, but it was disestablished by Starmer’s new government in 2024 — with responsibility for the topic passing to Thornberry’s Foreign Affairs Committee, as well as a group of unelected lawmakers in the House of Lords. Thornberry told POLITICO: “The truth is that there are only 11 of us … we had, at one stage, ten reports open, which sounds ridiculous, but then you think about the state of the world, and you think, well, yeah, of course. “We haven’t properly done a study into China yet. And how can we not have done an …