Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions - Delivering the benefits of the single market through enhanced administrative cooperation {SEC(2008)2743}
Date: 2008-11-06
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: action programme, administrative cooperation, information society, information system, information technology, single market

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COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 6.11.2008 
COM(2008) 703 final 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL 
COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS 

Delivering the benefits of the single market through enhanced administrative 
cooperation 

{SEC(2008)2743} 

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COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL 
COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS 

Delivering the benefits of the single market through enhanced administrative 
cooperation 

Progress Report on the Internal Market Information System (IMI) 

(Text of EEA relevance) 

1. 

INTRODUCTION 

European  citizens  and  businesses  benefit  every  day  from  the  many  attractive 
opportunities  offered  by  the  single  market.  They  can  sell  their  services  or  products 
across borders, or to set up local establishments in other markets. Citizens can have 
access  to  and  benefit  from  services  offered  in  other  Member  States.  A  citizen  may 
want to work in another EU Member State as a pharmacist, a dentist or a teacher and 
can do so, because their professional qualifications are recognised. 

This  is  what  the  single  market  is  all  about  –  an  area  without  barriers  in  which 
business can prosper, people are able to achieve their ambitions, and where effort and 
dynamism bring rewards. The single market is one of the key building blocks of the 
European  economy.  It  has  delivered  benefits  linked  to  growth  and  employment,  as 
well as consumer choice and competitiveness. But the single market can only make 
its full contribution if the legislation works as intended. 

Free  movement  of  goods,  services,  people  and  capital  rests  on  a  legal  framework 
consisting  of  direct  application  of  Treaty  rules,  harmonised  European  rules,  and 
national  rules.  The  task  of  implementing  and  ensuring  compliance  with  these  rules 
lies,  in  practice,  with  a  large  number  of  public  and  other  authorities  in  the  27  EU 
Member  States  and  the  3  EFTA  countries  participating  in  the  European  Economic 
Area (EEA). 

Lack  of  trust  and  confidence  in  the  legal  framework  and  in  supervision  in  other 
Member States has resulted in a multiplication of rules and a duplication of controls 
for  cross-border  activities.  This  has  been  one  of  the  main  challenges  to  the  smooth 
functioning of the single market to date. 

Member  State  authorities  need  to  cooperate  closely  and  to  build  trust  in  each 
others'  systems.  This  would  ensure  not  only  the  effective  supervision  of  service 
providers  but  also  help  to  avoid  the  multiplication  of  controls  many  citizens, 
businesses  and  service providers encounter. Effective cooperation and mutual trust, 
however, can only be established on the basis of regular contact and easy access to 
information. 

Organising  the  network  needed  to  fully  exploit  the  benefits  of  internal  market 
legislation  is  a  big  challenge  because  there  are  a  wide  variety  of  competent 

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authorities  operating  at  local,  regional  and  national  level.  The  increased  number  of 
languages  and  complexity  following  enlargement  have  made  this  challenge  even 
greater  and  increased  the  need  for  an  information  system  to  support  networking 
between Member States. 

It  is  up  to  Member  States  to  ensure  that  internal  market  law  works  effectively  on 
their territories. But they need the tools to work together and with the Commission in 
order to ensure that the full benefits of the legal framework are delivered for citizens 
and  businesses.  The  Internal  Market  Information  system  (IMI)  has  been  developed 
both  in  response  to  that  need  and  to  the  legal  obligation  set  out  in  the  Services 
Directive to establish an electronic system for the exchange of information between 
Member States.1 

IMI  will  enable  Member  States  to  fulfil  their  legal  obligations  to  exchange 
information. It will also allow new forms of administrative cooperation which would 
not  be  possible  without  the  support  of  an  electronic  information  system.  It  is 
designed  to  be  an  efficient  and  effective  means  to  lower  the  unit  cost  of  the 
communication  between  Member  States  which  needs  to  take  place  in  order  to 
implement internal  market legislation properly. IMI  will  thus  contribute  to creating 
the  environment  of  trust  and  confidence  needed  to  ensure  that  the  single  market 
functions smoothly and delivers its benefits. 

2. 

LEGAL AND POLITICAL CONTEXT 

In  March  2006  Member  States  endorsed  a  proposal  to  develop  IMI.  This  decision 
was taken in the light of the importance of administrative cooperation for a dynamic 
single  market,  as  recognised  in  the  Lisbon  Strategy  which  states  that  "[….]  these 
measures  taken  together  with  [….]  the  directive  on  services  and  enhanced 
administrative  co-operation  between  Member  States,  would  help  to  create  a  new 
business and employment dynamic in the EU".2 

IMI  will  also  help  to  improve  the  application  of  Community  law  at  national  level, 
and thus contribute to the EU Better Regulation agenda.3 IMI should also be seen in 
the  context  of  the  i2010  eGovernment  Action  Plan4  and  its  objective  of  "making 
efficiency and effectiveness a reality". 

IMI  is  a  multilingual  tool  built  for  an  EU  with  27  Member  States  and  23  official 
languages.  Whilst  multilingualism  can  be  a  source  of  benefits  and  richness,  it  also 

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See: Directive 2006/123/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2006 on 
services in the internal market, OJ L 2006/376, p. 36, Article 34(1). 
See: Communication from the European Commission to the Spring European Council COM (2006) 30 
final "Time to move up a gear – the new partnership for growth and jobs", p. 18. 
See:  Communication  from  the  European  Commission  to  the  Council,  the  European  Parliament,  the 
European  Economic  and  Social  Committee  and  the  Committee  of  the  Regions  COM  (2006)  689  "A 
strategic review of Better Regulation in the European Union", p. 3. 
See:  Communication  from  the  European  Commission  to  the  Council,  the  European  Parliament,  the 
European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, COM (2006) 173 "i2010 
eGovernment Action Plan: Accelerating eGovernment in Europe for the Benefits of All", p. 6. 

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presents  a  number  of  challenges.5  By  using  new  technologies  supported  by  human 
and automatic translation services, IMI is a good example of concrete measures that 
the  EU  can  take  to  minimise  these  obstacles  and  to  close  the  communication  gap 
between administrations in Europe. 

In the context of modernising the governance of the single market to match the needs 
of  the  21st  century,  as  set  out  in  the  Single  Market  Review  presented  by  the 
Commission in November 2007, IMI will support a more effective, decentralised, 
networked-based approach to cross-border cooperation.6 

IMI has been designed as a tool to support administrative cooperation for the body of 
internal  market  legislation  in  general.  In  a  first  stage  it  will  be  used  for  the  new 
Professional  Qualifications  Directive  (2005/36/EC)7  and  the  Services  Directive 
(2006/123/EC) 8. 

The  development  of  IMI  as  well  as  the  required  accompanying  measures  such  as 
training workshops and e-learning material are financed by the IDABC programme, 
which  promotes  European  eGovernment  services.9  The  total  financing  which  has 
been allocated by the programme to IMI amounts to € 1.82 million. 

3. 

HOW IT WORKS 

The  Internal  Market  Information  system  (IMI)  is  an  electronic  tool  that  provides  a 
system for the  exchange  of information so that Member States can engage in more 
effective  day-to-day  co-operation  in  the  implementation  of  Internal  Market 
legislation.  IMI  supports  competent  authorities  in  Member  States  by  helping  them 
overcome  important  practical  barriers  to  communication  such  as  differences  in 
administrative  and  working  cultures,  different  languages  and  a  lack  of  clearly 
identified  partners  in  other  Member  States.  Its  aim  is  to  increase  efficiency  and 
effectiveness in day-to-day co-operation between Member States. 

IMI is a secure internet application available to all 30 EEA country administrations. 
It  supports  all  official  EU  languages  and  provides  a  means  of  exchanging 
information between administrations throughout the EEA. No prior knowledge of the 
administrative structure in another Member State is required in order to use IMI. 

IMI makes available to competent authorities in Member States a simple tool to find 
authorities  in  other  Member  States  and  to  send  them  a  request  for  information 

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See:  Communication  from  the  European  Commission  to  the  Council,  the  European  Parliament,  the 
European  Economic  and  Social  Committee  and  the  Committee  of  the  Regions,  COM  (2008)  566 
"Multilingualism: an asset for Europe and a shared commitment". 
See: Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the Economic and 
Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, "A single market for 21st century Europe", COM 
(2007) 724, p. 12-14. 
Directive  2005/36/EC  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  7  September  2005  on  the 
recognition of professional qualifications, OJ L 2005/255, p. 22. (Art 8, 50 and 56 in particular). 
Directive  2006/123/EC  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  12  December  2006  on 
services in the internal market, OJ L 2006/376, p. 36. (Art 28-36 in particular). 
Decision  2004/387/EC  of  the  European  Parliament  and  the  Council  of  21  April  2004  on  the 
interoperable delivery of pan-European eGovernment services to public administrations, businesses and 
citizens (IDABC), OJ L 2004/144 as corrected by OJ 181, (18.5.2004) p. 25. 

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through  a  structured  set  of  questions,  which  are  based  on  specific  areas  of  EU 
legislation. The questions have been pre-translated into all official languages by the 
European Commission translation services, thus providing reliable and legally valid 
language support. 

4. 

KEY PRINCIPLES 

The development of IMI is based on three key principles: 

•  It  does  not  impose  additional  administrative  cooperation  obligations  on  Member 
States beyond those already contained in the relevant Internal Market legislation; 

•  It  provides  the  flexibility  to  respect  the  diverse  administrative  structures  and 

cultures in Europe; 

•  It is a single system based on reusable building blocks. It is designed to be able to 
support  many  pieces  of  Internal  Market  legislation  and  will  thus  avoid  a 
proliferation of information systems. 

5. 

BENEFITS 

IMI  helps  to  deliver  the  benefits  of  the  single  market  through  enhanced 
administrative cooperation in the following ways: 

•  Member  States  manage  a  single  relationship  with  a  network  instead  of  29 

bilateral relationships; 

•  Member  States  communicate  using  a  clear,  transparent  and  agreed  working 

method; 

•  Member  States  can  locate  the  relevant  discussion  partner  in  another  Member 

State; 

•  Language  problems  are  reduced  through  structured  and  pre-translated  screen 
information  combined  with  informal  assistance  through  automatic  translation  of 
free text10; 

•  Areas  of  administrative  cooperation  which  were  previously  impossible  now 

become feasible; 

•  Resources  and  time  are  saved  in  exchanging  information  with  other  Member 

States; 

•  Service quality is improved through increased transparency and predictability; 

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IMI offers a link to the European Commission automatic translation service (ECMT). This tool offers 
some assistance to users in understanding any free text comments entered in relation to an IMI request. 
ECMT supports a limited number of language pairs. ECMT translations cannot be relied upon for legal 
purposes.  Users  are  thus  advised  at  their  discretion  to  consider  seeking  official  and  professional 
translation support, whenever necessary. 

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By using a series of generic, reusable building blocks, specific applications for new 
directives  can  be  added  to  IMI  with  minimal  additional  costs  (provided  that  no 
complex new workflows are required). As such, IMI avoids unnecessary duplication, 
it  reduces  cost  and  it  allows  the  creation  of  a  genuine  network  for  information 
exchange. 

6. 

DATA PROTECTION 

As IMI is used for the exchange of personal data, a high level of data protection is 
important.  Relevant  data  protection  legislation  fully  applies  to  IMI.11  IMI  helps  to 
ensure compliance with this legislation, when national administrations are required to 
exchange personal data because it provides a clear framework for what information 
can  be  exchanged,  with  whom  and  under  what  circumstances.  A  specific 
Commission Decision also lays down the functions, rights and obligations of the IMI 
actors in relation to data protection.12 This Decision translates the functioning of IMI 
into legal terms. 

The Article 29 Data Protection Working Party, which brings together national Data 
Protection  Authorities  and  the  European  Data  Protection  Supervisor  (EDPS),  has 
delivered an opinion on how to best ensure the compliance of IMI with the relevant 
data protection legislation.13 

The EDPS has in addition drawn up an opinion on the Commission IMI Decision14. 
Considering  that  the  scope  and  usage  of  IMI  will  expand  in  the  future,  the  EDPS 
believes that it will be necessary to provide for specific data protection safeguards in 
legally  binding  Community  legislation  which  goes  beyond  the  existing  applicable 
data protection legislation. The EDPS agrees however that some experience with the 
practical  usage  of  IMI  may  be  necessary  before  deciding  additional  specific  rules. 
The Commission has therefore decided to take a step by step approach. 

In a first step the Commission will draw up guidelines on IMI and data protection for 
the competent authorities that will use IMI. Such guidelines would be in the form of 
a  Commission  Recommendation  to  be  adopted  early  2009  and  would  complement 
the  Commission  IMI  Decision  by  explaining  how  the  existing  data  protection  rules 
can  best  be  applied  when  competent  authorities  use  IMI.  The  Commission  will 
evaluate  the  practical  effect  of  these  guidelines,  in  cooperation  with  the  European 
Data Protection Supervisor, in order to assess the need for additional legally binding 
Community legislation. 

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Directive  95/46/EC  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  24  October  1995  on  the 
protection of  individuals  with  regard  to  the  processing of  personal  data and on  the free  movement  of 
such data, OJ L 1995/281, p. 31; Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 of the European Parliament and of the 
Council of 18 December 2000 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal 
data by the Community institutions and bodies and on the free movement of such data, OJ 2001/8, p. 1. 
Commission  Decision  of  12  December  2007  concerning  the  implementation  of  the  Internal  Market 
Information System (IMI) as regards the protection of personal data, OJ 2008/13, p. 18. 
Article  29  Data  Protection  Working  Party,  Opinion  7/2007  on  data  protection  issues  related  to  the 
Internal Market Information System (WP140, 01911/07), 21.09.2007. 
Opinion  of  the  European  Data  Protection  Supervisor  on  the  Commission  Decision  of  12  December 
2007  concerning  the  implementation  of  the  Internal  Market  Information  System  (IMI)  as  regards  the 
protection of personal data (2008/49/EC), 22.02.2008. 

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7. 

STATE OF PLAY 

Since March 2006 Member States and the Commission have been working together 
intensively through the Internal Market Advisory Committee in order to agree on the 
detailed  requirements  for  IMI.  This  process  is  in  itself  a  good  example  of  the  new 
working relationships and new approaches that are needed in order to deliver results 
in a more  decentralised  and  network-based single market. The benefits of a system 
like IMI can only be made available through such a partnership approach.15 

IMI  was  launched  in  November  2007  in  support  of  the  administrative  cooperation 
provisions of the new Professional Qualifications Directive. Initially, Member States 
concentrated on identifying and registering relevant competent authorities for the use 
of  IMI.  By  February  2008  it  was  considered  that  a  sufficient  critical  mass  of 
competent  authorities  had  been  registered  in  order  to  start  a  pilot  project  for  the 
exchange of information. The pilot project was limited to four professions (doctors, 
pharmacists, physiotherapists and accountants). All 30 EEA countries took part in the 
pilot project. 

The purpose of the Professional Qualifications pilot was to assess whether IMI is fit 
for  purpose.  It  also  gave  Member  States  the  opportunity  to  test  the  appropriate 
organisational structures to support a larger-scale use of IMI in future. In June 2008, 
the  Commission  launched  an  evaluation  exercise  of  the  pilot  project,  based  on 
statistical data and feedback from IMI users. 

Users  of  the  system  confirm  that  IMI  is  easy  to  use  and  fit  for  the  purpose  of 
supporting  cross  border  administrative  cooperation.  Usage  levels  increased  during 
the pilot project and indicate that competent authorities understand the added value 
to be gained from using IMI.16 Feedback was particularly positive about the language 
support  and  the  ability  to  search  for  competent  authorities.  However,  further 
development of the system will be necessary to meet all Member State requirements. 

8. 

NEXT STEPS 

The  Commission  considers  that  the  results  of  the  pilot  project  on  the  Professional 
Qualifications Directive indicate that IMI provides the support needed to enhance 
administrative  cooperation  and  should  be  considered  as  an  operational  system 
for  that  Directive.  In  order  to  manage  the  transition  from  a  pilot  system  to  an 
operational system efficiently, in a first step it should be expanded to the remaining 
five  professions  (nurses,  dental  practitioners,  veterinary  surgeons,  midwives  and 
architects) to which the principle of automatic recognition applies. In addition, two 
more  professions  under  the  general  recognition  system  will  be  selected.  Once  the 
system is functioning adequately for all these professions it should be progressively 
opened to further professions on a demand-led basis. 

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See: Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the Economic and 
Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, "A single market for 21st century Europe", COM 
(2007) 724, p. 12-14. 
All  feedback  is  based  on  input  received  from  Member  States.  For  details  on  the  Professional 
Qualifications Pilot Project, see accompanying Commission Staff Working Document. 

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The Administrative  Cooperation  chapter of the Services Directive contains detailed 
provisions  for  mutual  assistance  between  Member  States  and  on  how  that  mutual 
assistance  will  be  organised.17  Thus  Article  28.6  of  the  Services  Directive  requires 
that Member States supply the information requested by other Member States or the 
Commission by electronic means and within the shortest possible period. And Article 
34.1  of  the  Services  Directive  further  requires  that  the  Commission  shall,  in 
cooperation with Member States, establish an electronic system for the exchange of 
information between Member States, taking into account existing systems. 

IMI  has  been  established  by  the  Commission  and  Member  States  to  support  the 
required exchange of information. A large number of competent authorities at local, 
regional and national level will need to exchange information related to the Services 
Directive. For that reason the Commission and the Member States are preparing an 
IMI  pilot  project  for  the  Services  Directive.  The  Services  Directive  pilot  project 
will start in January 2009 and continue until 28 December 2009, at which date 
IMI must be fully operational for the Services Directive. 

the  basis  of  a  Commission  Recommendation18  endorsed  by  Council 
On 
Conclusions19,  consideration  is  currently  being  given  to  examine  the  possibility  of 
using  an  information  exchange  system  for  supporting  enhanced  administrative 
cooperation  necessary  to  improve  the  practical  implementation  of  Directive 
96/71/EC20  concerning  the  posting  of  workers  in  the  framework  of  provision  of 
services. 

9. 

CHALLENGES 

9.1.1.  Preconditions for a successful roll-out of IMI 

Whilst  the  Commission  will  provide  support,  the  principal  responsibility  for  the 
implementation  and  the  smooth  running  of  IMI  lies  with  the  Member  States.  Each 
has  to  decide  on  the  most  suitable  way  in  which  to  set  up  and  manage  IMI  in  its 
national  context.  The  effort  needed  to  do  so  should  be  seen  in  the  context  of  the 
benefits available.21 The pilot project on Professional Qualifications has shown that 
important preconditions have to be met: 

•  Member  States  need  to  understand  the  flexibility  IMI  offers  in  order  to  find  the 

most suitable fit between their administrative structures and the IMI system; 

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Directive  2006/123/EC  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  12  December  2006  on 
services in the internal market, OJ L 2006/376, p. 36. (Art 28-36 in particular). 
See:  Commission  Recommendation  of  3  April  2008  on  enhanced  administrative  cooperation  in  the 
context of the posting of workers in the framework of the provision of services (OJ C 89). 
The Council invites the Commission "to set up, as soon as possible, an operational task force, first of 
all to carry out preliminary examinations in order to develop possible options for a specific information 
exchange system and, secondly, to provide advice on the most appropriate and cost-effective technical 
support for the information exchange system, including the possibility of using a specific application of 
the  Internal  Market  Information  System  (IMI)",  Council  Conclusions  of  9  June  2008  (9935/08,  SOC 
316), p. 3. 
See: OJ L 18, 21.1.1997, p. 1-6. 
See section 5 of this Communication. 

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•  A sufficient critical mass of competent authorities needs to be registered as users 

of IMI; 

•  Adequate  measures  need  to  be  taken  to  raise  awareness  and  deliver  training  to 

competent authorities. 

Meeting  these  preconditions  will  be  essential  in  order  to  successfully  manage  the 
transition  to  a  fully  operational  system,  both  in  support  of  the  Professional 
Qualifications Directive and the Services Directive. 

It  is  clear  that  the  main  challenge  in  implementing  IMI  and  creating  a  functioning 
cooperation  network  across  the  EU  is  not  technical  but  organisational.  In  order  for 
IMI to deliver the expected benefits in terms of enhanced administrative cooperation, 
it  is  not  enough  just  to  build  a  computer  system.  Additional  accompanying 
measures are needed for a successful roll-out. In particular, competent authorities 
will need to be aware of the benefits that IMI delivers and how to use the system in 
conformity  with  relevant  community  acts,  as  well  as  data  protection  legislation. 
Based  on  their  experiences  with  the  Professional  Qualifications  Directive  pilot 
project,  Member  States  have  singled  out  training  and  awareness-raising  as  the 
most critical success factor for IMI. 

9.1.2.  Mutual assistance and administrative cooperation under the Services Directive 

Technical 

The IMI application needs to be further developed to be able to support the mutual 
assistance provisions of the Services Directive. The Services Directive does not only 
require  standard  day-to-day  information  exchanges  which  re-use  the  workflows 
developed  for  the  Professional  Qualifications  Directive,  but  also  foresees  new 
specific  workflows  such  as  a  procedure  for  making  use  of  the  case-by-case 
derogation22  and  the  alert  mechanism23.  The  specific  adjustments  required  for  the 
Services Directive are currently being developed in close cooperation with Member 
States. 

As  the  anticipated  volume  of  authorities  using  IMI  for  the  Services  Directive  is 
significantly  higher  than  for  Professional  Qualifications,  work  is  also  ongoing  to 
allow authorities to self-register in IMI. The Commission also intends to provide an 
interface  for  Member  States  who  already  have  national  online  databases  of 
competent authorities and who wish to transfer this data into IMI. 

Organisational 

Training and awareness-raising will be crucial for the correct implementation of the 
administrative  cooperation  provisions  of  the  Services  Directive.  Mutual  assistance 
under  the  Services  Directive  will  involve  a  large  number  of  competent  authorities. 
These authorities operate at national, regional and in some cases local level. This is 

22 

23 

See: Directive 2006/123/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2006 on 
services in the internal market, OJ L 2006/376, p. 36, Articles 18 and 35. 
See: Directive 2006/123/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2006 on 
services in the internal market, OJ L 2006/376, p. 36, Articles 29 and 32. 

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likely to translate into a substantial and diverse pool of IMI end-users. They all need 
to understand how IMI can support them in day-to-day administrative cooperation. 

The key challenge is to ensure that at the beginning of 2010 a substantial number of 
competent authorities are equipped to use IMI for the mutual assistance provisions of 
the  Services  Directive.  An  IMI  Services  Directive  pilot  project  will  therefore  run 
throughout 2009. The purpose of the pilot project is to ensure that a critical mass of 
competent authorities are registered, that the appropriate organisational structures are 
in  place  and  that  all  Member  States  are  able  to  use  IMI  for  the  mutual  assistance 
obligations  of  the  Services  Directive  by  28  December  2009  (deadline  for  the 
implementation of the Directive). 

The  Commission  believes  that  the  current  level  of  investment  in  training  and 
awareness needs to be intensified in order to bring about the desired outcomes. 
The IMI Services Directive pilot project will be an important opportunity to explore 
different  potential  approaches  to  training  and  awareness  and  to  assess  the  most 
effective  means  to  support  competent  authorities  in  their  use  of  IMI.  In  2009,  the 
Commission will carry out an ex-ante evaluation to look at different options and to 
assess whether there is a need to set up a possible multi-annual training and exchange 
programme for the administrative cooperation provisions of the Services Directive.24 

10. 

CONCLUSION 

Enhanced  cross  border  cooperation  is  increasingly  important  for  the  functioning  of 
the  single  market.  This  is  reflected  by  the  inclusion  of  specific  and  sometimes 
detailed  provisions  for  such  cooperation  in  Internal  Market  legislation.  The  duty  to 
implement  these provisions falls on  a very large  number  of  authorities  operating  at 
local, regional and national level. In a European Union of 27 Member States and 23 
official languages this cooperation can only work satisfactorily if it is organised and 
supported through a network. 

The  IMI  pilot  project  has  demonstrated  that  the  Commission  needs  to  play  an 
important  enabling  role  in  the  organisation  of  network-based,  decentralised 
cooperation between Member States. One of the unique advantages of IMI is that 
it enables and supports cooperation between authorities at all levels of government. It 
offers  the  flexibility  to  reflect  the  many  different  administrative  models  that  exist 
across Europe. 

Feedback from the competent authorities using IMI indicates that the system is easy 
to use and helps ensure faster and clearer cross border communication. This enables 
competent  authorities  to  take  more  informed  decisions  quickly,  thus  providing  a 
better  service  to  citizens  and  businesses  and  reducing  the  costs  associated  with 
delays.  The  Commission  considers  that  the  pilot  project  on  the  Professional 
Qualifications Directive has shown that IMI is fit for purpose. It therefore takes the 
view  that  IMI  should  be  considered  operational  for  the  Professional  Qualifications 

24 

Article 34.3 of the Services Directive (2006/123/EC) explicitly states that "the Commission shall assess 
the need to establish a multiannual programme in order to organise relevant exchanges of officials and 
training". 

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Directive. The Commission invites Member States to take the measures needed 
to progressively extend the use of IMI to further professions. 

In  parallel,  IMI  will  provide  the  required  electronic  system  to  support  the  very 
specific  obligations  of  administrative  cooperation  set  out  in  the  Services  Directive. 
The system for the Services Directive needs to be fully tested and working by the 28 
December 2009 transposition date. For that reason the Commission invites Member 
States to make the preparations required to participate fully and actively in the 
pilot project for the use of IMI for the Services Directive from the beginning of 
2009 in order to be ready to comply with their mutual assistance obligations by the 
transposition date. 

This Communication has highlighted a number of important preconditions that have 
to be met in order to ensure that IMI can deliver the expected benefits. The IMI pilot 
project has shown the importance of adequate levels of administrative capacity both 
at EU and at national level. That includes IT infrastructures and skills, better internal 
communication and networking as well as adequate training and awareness-raising.  

In  terms  of  training  and  awareness-raising,  there  is  an  urgent  need  to  scale  up 
activities. Competent authorities who are  potential users of IMI need to understand 
their  mutual  assistance  obligations  and  they  need  to  be  aware  of  the  support  IMI 
offers  and  of  how  it  works  in  practice.  The  Commission  will  continue  to  provide 
support to Member States in the area of training and awareness-raising, in the form 
of training workshops and e-learning material. 

The progressive expansion of IMI to further professions and its use for the Services 
Directive  will  lead  to  a  significant  increase  in  system  usage.  As  the  system  grows, 
the  critical  success  factors  outlined  above  will  become  even  more  important.  The 
Commission  therefore  invites  Member  States  to  take  the  necessary  steps, 
including  in  particular  training  and  awareness-raising  actions,  to  ensure  the 
successful roll out of the Internal Market Information system. 

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