Regulation (EU) 2021/690 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 April 2021 establishing a programme for the internal market, competitiveness of enterprises, including small and medium-sized enterprises, the area of plants, animals, food and feed, and European statistics (Single Market Programme) and repealing Regulations (EU) No 99/2013, (EU) No 1287/2013, (EU) No 254/2014 and (EU) No 652/2014 (Text with EEA relevance)

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 43(2), Article 114, Article 168(4)(b) and Articles 173 and 338 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,

After transmission of the draft legislative act to the national parliaments,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee (1),

Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions (2),

Acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure (3),

Whereas:

(1) The internal market is a cornerstone of the Union. Since its inception, it has proved a major contributor to growth, competitiveness and employment and it should continue benefitting all citizens and businesses equally. It has generated new opportunities and economies of scale for Union businesses, notably micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and has strengthened their industrial competitiveness. The internal market has contributed to the creation of jobs and has offered greater choice of high-quality products and services at lower prices for consumers. It continues to be an engine for building a more integrated market and a stronger, more balanced and fairer economy. It is one of the Union’s major achievements and its best asset in an increasingly global world, as well as being a core element in achieving the green and digital transformation towards a sustainable economy, in response to the increasing pressures of climate change.

(2) It is necessary for the internal market to adapt continuously to a rapidly changing environment of digital revolution and globalisation. The new era of digital innovation continues to provide opportunities for businesses and individuals, creates new products, services, processes and business models, and opportunities for the efficient production of high-quality statistics. It equally constitutes a challenge to regulation, enforcement, consumer protection and safety.

(3) A substantial body of Union law underpins the functioning of the internal market. It concerns, in particular, competitiveness, standardisation, mutual recognition, conformity assessment, consumer protection and market surveillance. It also consists of rules on business, trade and financial transactions, on the plant, animal, food and feed area, on the production of European statistics and on the promotion of fair competition. That substantial body of Union law provides for the level playing field that is essential for the functioning of the internal market for the benefit of consumers and businesses.

(4) Nevertheless, discriminatory, unjustified or disproportionate barriers to the proper functioning of the internal market remain and new obstacles emerge. Adopting rules is only a first step and making them work is as important. Current challenges connected with the enforcement of existing rules, barriers to free movement of goods and services, and low levels of cross-border public procurement limit the opportunities for businesses and consumers. Addressing such obstacles is ultimately a matter of citizens’ trust in the Union, as well as in its capacity to deliver and its ability to create jobs and growth while protecting the public interest.

(5) Previously, there have been separate programmes for Union action in the fields of competitiveness of enterprises, especially SMEs, consumer protection, customers and end-users in financial services, policymaking in financial services and in the plant, animal, food and feed area. Some additional activities have been financed directly under the internal market budget lines. It is now necessary to streamline and exploit synergies between various actions and provide for a more flexible, transparent, simplified and agile framework to finance activities aiming to achieve a well-functioning sustainable internal market. Therefore, a new programme should be established bringing together activities financed previously under those other programmes and other relevant budget lines. That programme should also include new initiatives which aim to improve the functioning of the internal market, while avoiding duplication with related Union programmes and actions.

(6) The development, production and dissemination of European statistics pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council (4) have been subject to a separate European Statistical Programme established by Regulation (EU) No 99/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (5). In order to provide continuity of production and dissemination of European statistics, the new programme should also include activities covered by the previous European Statistical Programme by providing a framework for the development, production and dissemination of European statistics pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 223/2009. The new programme should establish the financial framework for European statistics to provide high-quality, comparable and reliable European statistics, in order to underpin the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of all Union policies. Professional independence is a necessary prerequisite for the development, production and dissemination of European statistics.

(7) It is therefore appropriate to establish a programme for improving the functioning of the internal market, the competitiveness and sustainability of enterprises, especially SMEs, standardisation, market surveillance and consumer protection, for the area of plants, animals, food and feed, and for European statistics (Single Market Programme) (the ‘Programme’). The Programme should be established for a period of seven years to align its duration with that of the multiannual financial framework for the years 2021 to 2027 laid down in Council Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2020/2093 (6).

(8) The Programme should support the design, implementation and enforcement of Union legislation underpinning the proper functioning of the internal market. The Programme should support the creation of the right conditions to empower all actors of the internal market, including businesses, citizens, including consumers, and employees, representatives of civil society and public authorities. To that end, the Programme should aim to foster the competitiveness, capacity building and sustainability of enterprises, especially SMEs, including those operating in the tourism sector. The sustainability of enterprises is important to maintain their long-term competitiveness and contributes to the transition to a more economically, environmentally and socially sustainable Union, which should go hand in hand with digitalisation and engagement in sustainable business practices. The Programme should also support the enforcement of consumer protection and safety rules. It should also raise the awareness of businesses and individuals of their rights by providing them with the right tools, appropriate information and assistance, to make informed decisions and strengthen their participation in Union policy-making. Furthermore, the Programme should aim to enhance regulatory and administrative cooperation, notably through training programmes, the exchange of best practices and the building of knowledge and competence bases, including the use of strategic public procurement. The Programme should also aim to support the development of high-quality Union and international standards and rule-making, including through broad stakeholder involvement, which underpin the implementation of Union legislation. This should cover the field of financial reporting and audit, thereby contributing to the transparency and good-functioning of the Union’s capital markets and to the enhancement of investor protection. The objective of the Programme should also be to support the implementation and enforcement of Union legislation providing for a high level of health for humans, animals and plants, protection of the well-being of people and the welfare of animals, food and feed safety whilst respecting the principles of sustainable development and ensuring a high level of consumer protection. Furthermore, the Programme should support the production of high-quality European statistics in accordance with the statistical principles set out in Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 and further elaborated in the European Statistics Code of Practice.

(9) A modern internal market that is based on principles of fairness, transparency and mutual trust promotes competition and benefits consumers, businesses and employees. Making better use of the ever evolving internal market in services should help Union businesses create jobs and grow across borders, offer a wider choice of services at better prices, and maintain high standards for consumers and workers. To achieve this, the Programme should contribute to the better monitoring of internal market developments, as well as to the identification and the removal of remaining discriminatory, unjustified or disproportionate barriers, and ensure that the regulatory framework can accommodate all forms of innovation, including new technological developments and processes, service innovation business models, collaborative and social economy models, social innovation and non-technological innovation.

(10) Regulatory obstacles in the internal market have been removed for many industrial products through prevention mechanisms, the adoption of common rules and, where no such Union rules exist, through the principle of mutual recognition. In areas where no Union legislation exists, the principle of mutual recognition applies, with the result that goods that are lawfully marketed in one Member State enjoy the right to free movement and can be sold in another Member State. Where the Member State concerned has grounds to oppose the marketing of the goods, it may impose a restriction, provided that such a restriction is non-discriminatory, justified by legitimate public interest objectives, as set out in Article 36 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), or recognised by the case-law of the Court of Justice of the European Union as an overriding reason of public interest, and proportionate to the aim pursued. The inadequate application of the principle of mutual recognition, consisting, for example, in imposing unjustified or disproportionate restrictions, makes it harder for companies to access markets in other Member States. Despite the high degree of market integration in the area of goods, that situation leads to lost opportunities for the economy at large. The adoption of Regulation (EU) 2019/515 of the European Parliament and of the Council (7), is expected to boost the economic benefits in this area. The Programme should therefore aim to improve the application of the principle of mutual recognition in the area of goods, realising its full potential. It should also aim to reduce the number of illegal and non-compliant goods entering the market through targeted awareness raising and training, support for Product Contact Points referred to in Regulation (EU) 2019/515 and better cooperation among competent authorities for mutual recognition.

(11) There are new regulatory and enforcement challenges relating to the rapidly changing environment of the digital revolution and concerning issues such as cybersecurity, data protection and privacy, internet of things or artificial intelligence and related ethical standards. Stringent rules on product safety and clarity with regard to liability are essential to ensure that Union citizens, including consumers, and businesses are able to benefit from appropriate protection in the event of damage. The Programme should therefore contribute to the rapid adaptation and better enforcement of a Union product liability regime which fosters innovation whilst ensuring the safety and security of users.

(12) The placing on the market of products that are not compliant with Union law, including products imported from third countries, puts Union citizens, including consumers, as well as other end-users, at risk. Economic operators selling compliant products by traditional or electronic means face distorted competition from those who do not comply with the rules due to lack of knowledge, intentionally in order to gain a competitive advantage or as a result of the fragmentation of market surveillance across the Union. Market surveillance authorities are often underfunded and constrained by national boundaries, while entrepreneurs trade at Union or even global level. In particular, in the case of e-commerce, market surveillance authorities have great difficulties in tracing non-compliant products imported from third countries in order to identify the responsible economic operators within their jurisdiction. They also have great difficulties in conducting risk assessments and tests due to the lack of physical access to products. The Programme should therefore seek to strengthen compliance of products by raising awareness of applicable Union product safety rules, by intensifying compliance checks in line with Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 of the European Parliament and of the Council (8) and by promoting closer cross-border cooperation among enforcement authorities. The Programme should also contribute to the consolidation of the existing framework for market surveillance activities, encourage joint actions of market surveillance authorities from different Member States, improve the exchange of information and promote convergence and closer integration of market surveillance activities. The Programme should do this in particular by ensuring that the new requirements introduced by Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 are strictly enforced so as to prevent the sale of non-compliant products to consumers, as well as other end-users. The Programme should therefore strengthen the capacity of market surveillance authorities across the Union, contribute to greater homogeneity in the enforcement of rules between Member States and enable Member States to benefit equally from the internal market in terms of economic growth and sustainability.

(13) While the Programme does not include objectives and actions supporting the protection of intellectual property rights, it should nevertheless be borne in mind that often counterfeit products do not comply with the requirements set out in the Union legislation on product safety and consumer protection, and present risks to the health and safety of consumers, particularly when such products are purchased online. The Programme should therefore increase synergies with other Union programmes in the field of the protection of intellectual property rights programmes, in particular the Customs Control Equipment Instrument, established under a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing, as part of the Integrated Border Management Fund, the instrument for financial support for customs control equipment.

(14) To facilitate the compliance of categories of harmonised products with higher inherent risk, the Union has put in place a system of accreditation for conformity assessment bodies, verifying their competence, impartiality and independence. It is essential that the conformity assessment bodies are reliable and competent, since they verify whether products meet the safety requirements before they are placed on the market. The main challenge now is to ensure that the accreditation system continues to represent the state of the art and that it is applied with the same stringency across the Union. The Programme should therefore support measures to ensure that conformity assessment bodies continue to fulfill their regulatory requirements, such as impartiality and independence, especially through the use of accreditation. Likewise, the Programme should also support measures to enhance the European accreditation system, in particular in new policy areas, by supporting the European cooperation for accreditation referred to in Regulation (EC) No 765/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council (9).

(15) Since, with the development of online trade and travel services, consumer markets recognise no borders, it is important to ensure that consumers residing in the Union can benefit from the same high level of protection when goods and services are imported from economic operators based in third countries, including when they are sold online. It should therefore be possible for the Programme, where necessary, to support cooperation with relevant bodies located in third countries, for example, with regard to the exchange of information on non-compliant products.

(16) Public procurement is used by public authorities to ensure good value for the public money spent and to contribute to a more innovative, sustainable, inclusive and competitive internal market. This includes the application of evaluation criteria that not only identify the most economic advantageous offer, but also the most advantageous offer in terms of the greatest public value delivered when awarding tenders according to the ‘best price-quality ratio’. Where this is in accordance with applicable Union law, environmental, fair trade and social aspects should be taken into account and a division of tenders into lots should be promoted for large infrastructure projects. Directives 2014/23/EU (10), 2014/24/EU (11) and 2014/25/EU (12) of the European Parliament and of the Council provide the legal framework for the integration and effective functioning of the public procurement markets representing 14 % of the Union’s gross domestic product, for the benefit of public authorities, businesses and citizens, including consumers. Properly implemented public procurement rules are a crucial tool for strengthening the internal market and for boosting the growth of Union companies and Union jobs. The Programme should therefore support measures to ensure a wider uptake of strategic public procurement, the professionalisation of public buyers, the facilitation and improvement of access to procurement markets for SMEs, in particular through advisory services and training, an increase in transparency, integrity and better data, the boosting of the digital transformation of procurement and the promotion of joint procurement, through strengthening a partnership approach with the Member States, the improvement of data gathering and data analysis, including through the development of dedicated IT tools, as well as to ensure support for the exchange of experiences and good practices, the referencing of European and international standards, the provision of guidance, the pursuit of beneficial trade agreements, the strengthening of cooperation among national authorities and the launching of pilot projects.