17 December 2013
The European Parliament’s Internal Market Committee is one of the key parliamentary committees, with responsibility for the development of the single market.
The European Parliament’s Internal Market Committee is one of the key parliamentary committees, with responsibility for the development of the single market. The committee ensures that the single market leads to adequate consumer protection and minimal red tape for businesses.
ECR MEPs want to unlock the opportunities of our digital world in delivering jobs and growth. The potential savings for EU consumers is in excess of EUR 11 billion per year if a full range of EU goods and services were available to them when shopping online. SMEs would also benefit from lower prices and increased choice while being able to expand more easily online. It is very important for ECR MEPs that rural communities are not excluded.
The ECR believes there is a need for being more rigorous in assessing the impact of future and existing regulation on SMEs and competitiveness. The impact on competitiveness should form a significant part of the EU Impact Assessment process and proposals with a negative impact on competitiveness shouls be rejected, unless evidence supporting significant unquantifiable benefits is presented. The ECR proposes that the Commission aims for a 30% reduction in the cost of red tape by the end of 2020.
The committee continues to support measures which curb unfair commercial practices, such as providing untruthful information to consumers or using aggressive marketing techniques to influence their choices. Consumers must be properly protected in the Single Market and the ECR believes consumers should have access to proper redress mechanisms and an online dispute resolution system.
