Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2012-05-21-Speech-1-056-000"
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"en.20120521.14.1-056-000"2
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"Madam President, let me start by thanking Commissioner Barnier and all those colleagues who have spoken in this very interesting debate – all those who have, almost unconditionally, supported my report, as well as those who have expressed some reservations, in particular, about the amendment that is to be presented. I will come back to that in a moment.
At the very beginning of this debate, Commissioner Barnier said we are facing a paradox: on the one hand, we all – or almost all of us – understand the potential of the internal market; on the other hand, we know that the internal market often ends up as the first victim of a protectionist tendency when things are going badly. This is, indeed, a paradox and it is the hurdle that we need to overcome.
In my report, I mention three ways of overcoming this paradox. The first is through transposition. We need to transpose internal market legislation on time and correctly. If we do not do that, we have a problem. Secondly, we need to implement laws effectively. If we do not implement laws, it is no use having them in the first place. Thirdly, we need to provide citizens and enterprises with the tools to find remedies when things go wrong.
Some colleagues have mentioned their reservations on the amendment that is to be presented. Let me quickly go through it in order to put their minds at rest. The amendment reads as follows: ‘calls on the Commission to put in place a fast-track infringement procedure and to consider’ – I emphasise ‘consider’ – ‘establishing an independent body within the Commission responsible for prosecuting cases of internal market infringements and pursuing infringement proceedings after obtaining the approval of the College of Commissioners’.
This amendment seeks to develop the concept of fast-track infringement proceedings. We want to give concrete meaning to this proposal. It would free the Commission from the undue political pressure that we all know it often faces when it tries to negotiate better implementation, or better transposition, with Member States at the initial stages of infringement proceedings – often with the result that the infringement proceedings are delayed for too long. So this is not about sanctions – as Ms Rapti understood it to be – but rather about depoliticising the process and making it quicker. It is certainly not ominous: it is about making the internal market work.
As to the timing and the question ‘why now?’ – now is the right time because, if we do not act now, we really have lost the plot.
In conclusion, I agree with all those colleagues who say that Europe’s major strength is the internal market. The question is how to ensure that we make the internal market work for all of us. I believe that we should seize the opportunity of the 20th anniversary of the internal market to muster the political will to address the remaining weaknesses of the market, in order to achieve a truly single internal market that can deliver the growth and economic prosperity that all our citizens want."@en1
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