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COMMISSION OFTHEEUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
COM(82)735final
Brussels,15november19°2
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COMMISSIONCOMMUNICATION TOTHECOUNCIL</
ONRE-ACTIVATING THEEUROPEAN INTERNAL MARKET
COM(82)735final

Commission Communication totheCouncil
onRe-activating theEuropeanInternalMarket
1.InJune1981theEuropeanCouncilagreedthat"aconcerted ,effortneeded
tohemadetostrengthenanddevelopthefreeinternalmarketwhichconstitutes
theveryfoundationoftheEuropeanCommunityandthelaunchingpadforthe
directionofitscommoncommercialpolicy".
2.AstheCommissionhasneverceasedtoaffirm(includingrecentlyinits
communication onprojectstostimulateinvestment),Europeanundertakings
mustbeassuredthattheiractivitieswill"beabletodevelopinaneconomic
unitsimilarinsizetotheAmericanmarketanddistinctlybiggerthanthe
Japanesemarket:asufficiently largetechnological development ,financing
andsalesbaseisessentialinordertobeabletofaceworldcompetition .
3.Todate,thishasnotbeenachieved.Althoughtheproblemissueshavebeen
clearlyidentifiedandfullydiscussed,thedecisionshavenotyetbeentaken.
ItisobviousthateffortstoimprovetheoperationoftheEuropeaninternal
areawithaviewtoutilizingittothebestpossibleeconomicadvantagewould
bepointlesswithoutacommoncommercialpolicycapableofdefendingthe
legitimateinterestsofCommunityindustry.Enhancement oftheinternal
marketmustbeconceivedfirstandforemostasthebasisfromwhichthe
competitivity ofEuropeanundertakings canbeincreased.Therearethree
sectorsofpriorityimportance,ripeforadecision,wheresome30proposals
arepending,namely:
(i)thetreatmentofproductsfromthirdcountriesinrelationtothe
Communitycertificate arrangements stemmingfromthetechnical
harmonization directives ,
(ii)theinformationprocedurewheretechnicalrulesarelaiddownby
MemberStateauthorities andindustrialstandardsbynational
standardsinstitutes,
(iii)thesimplification offrontierformalities.

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4.Thequestionofthetreatmentofproductsoriginatinginthirdcountries
whentheybecomesubjecttothecertificate arrangements is"boundup
closelywiththeestablishment oftheinternalmarket.Itisblocking
sometwentyproposalsfordirectivesreadyforadoptionatCOREPERlevel
andmanyotherdraftsatCouncil-group level.Inthesecircumstances the
workonremovingtechnicalbarrierstotradeislikelytohavetobe
suspended.Whatislackingisagreementontheinternalmarket'simportance
inrelationtothecommoncommercialpolicy.
5.Similarly,noprogresshasactuallybeenmadeontheCommissionproposal
foraninformation procedureinthefieldoftechnicalstandardsandrules.
Themaindifficultyisapparentlyinconnectionwiththenotification
procedure,thesystemsappliedbytheMemberStatesnotbeingequivalent.
RapidagreementwouldmakeitpossibletoreducetheCommunityinstitutions'
work-load,thecreationofsituationsrequiringharmonization beingaverted,
andtokeepcontrolovertheadvanceofindustrialstandardization .
6.Thehalf-dozenproposalsforsimplifyingformalitiesattheCommunity's
internalfrontiershavealsoencounteredresistance ,althoughfrontier
checkscauseconsiderable expenditure andimpedetheintegration offrontier
regions,whichremainartificially peripheral.Iftheimpressionweregiven
thatallinternalfrontierswillremainindifinitely inexistenceintheir
currentform,thiswouldunderminethebusinessworld'sconfidenceand
fosterawait-and–seeattitudetowardsaEuropeofthepeople.
7.Inpointoffact,noneofthedecisionsawaitedinthethreepriority
sectorscontainsanythingreallycontrarytotheeconomicinterestsof
oneorotheroftheMemberStates;noneofthemwouldentailadditional
expenditure ,onthecontrary.Ontheotherhand,theyallcallforan
expressionofpoliticalwill.
8.TheCouncil'spresentindecisioncontrastswiththeproliferation of
measurestakenbynationalauthorities ,thesecondaryeconomiceffects
ofwhichthreatentosplituptheinternalmarket.Backin1974"the
EuropeanCouncilwasalreadyreconmending thatgreaterusebemadeofthe

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possibilities affordedbyArticle155»fourthparagraph,oftheEECTreaty
torelievetheCouncil.TheCouncilandParliament shouldconcentratetheir
attentiononframeworkregulations anddirectivesofobviouspolitical
importanceandleaveittotheCommissiontosettlethequestionsofdetail
arisingfromthem.Proposalssirethere,pending "beforetheCouncil,for
productsintendedforconstruction workandmeasuringinstruments.
9.TheCouncilofForeignMinistersshouldthereforereachagreementby
30June1983onthepossibilityofmakinguseofEECArticle155»paragraph4»
andshouldalsotakeacertainnumberofdecisionsinsuitablebatches,
whichwouldhelpreducethenumberofproposalsrelatingtotheinternal
marketwhicharestillpending.Furthermore ,theCouncilshouldgivean
undertakingtoterminateotherlegislative workofpoliticalandeconomic
importance ,particularly inthefieldofcompanylaw,bytheendof
1984(i.e.beforeenlargementatthelatest).
10.Decision-making wouldbefacilitatedifareturnweremadetothefollowing
basicprinciples :
(a)Europeanintegrationcannotsucceedunlessitisacceptedthat
traditional systemsofadministration andsupervision mustbe
adaptedtomeetnewsituationsandrequirements ;
(b)acommonmarketcannotbeviablewithoutconfidenceinthecommon
institutions ;
(c)theCommunitymustbeabletomakeitspresencefeltinthefield
oftechnicalbarrierstoo.Acertaindifferentiation inthetreatment
ofCommunityproductsandthird-country productsispossibleandis
indeedinherentintheverynatureoftheCommunity.
11.InnotgivingitselfabiginternalmarkettheCommunityisdepriving
itselfofthebestmeansitcouldhavetocureitseconomyandlaythe
foundationsforalastingrevival.

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TheCommissionproposalsconcerningeconomic,industrial,research
anddevelopment andinnovationpoliciesareall,withoutexception,
dependentfortheirsuccessontheproperfunctioningofacontinent-
wideinternalmarket.
12.TheCommissionproposesthattheCouncilshould:
(i)decidetogiveprioritytotheadoptionoftheproposalsconcerning
thetreatmentofproductsfromthirdcountriesinrelationtothe
Communitycertificate arrangements stemmingfromthetechnical
harmonization directives,theinformation procedurewheretechnical
rulesarelaiddown"byMemberStatesauthorities andindustrial
standardsbynationalstandardinstitutesandthesimplification
offrontierformalities .
(ii)takestepsasamatterofurgencytoorganizeitsworkinsucha
waythatsufficientprogresscanbemadewithinnotmorethantwo
monthsonthoseissuesstillposingproblemsastoenableit,
withoutfurtherdiscussion ,totakedecisionsonthethreeissues
mentioned above.
Inviewoftheurgencyandpoliticalimportanceofthematter,the
Councilmight,whileabidingbythedecision-making procedures
laiddownintheTreaty,beguidedbythe"SpaakCommittee"formula
usedduringthenegotiations preparatorytothecreationoftheEEC
andmakesomeeminentpersonageresponsibleforpreparingitswork
herewiththehelpofdelegatesspeciallychosenbytheindividual
MemberStates.
(iii)agreetoprepareforadoptionothersuitablebatchesofCommission
proposalsrelatingtotheinternalmarketwhicharestillpending
/
beforetheCouncilby30June19«3andtoterminatecertainlegislative
workofpoliticalandeconomicimportance,particularly inthefield
ofcompanylaw,bytheendof1984*