COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT pursuant to Article 294(6) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union concerning the position of the Council on the adoption of a Regulation establishing the 'Single Market 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
Date: 2021-04-23
Institutions: Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, European Commission
Subjects: EU programme, EU statistics, animal feedingstuffs, competitiveness, data collection, foodstuff, plant health control, single market, small and medium-sized enterprises, veterinary inspection

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   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 23.4.2021  COM(2021) 218 final 2018/0231 (COD)  COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT  pursuant to Article 294(6) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union  concerning the position of the Council on the adoption of a Regulation establishing the 'Single Market 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  
 
 
2018/0231 (COD) 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION 
TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 

pursuant to Article 294(6) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union 

concerning the 

position of the Council on the adoption of a Regulation establishing the 'Single Market 
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 

1. 

BACKGROUND 

Date of transmission of the proposal to the European Parliament and 
to the Council 
(document COM(2018) 441 final – 2018/0231 COD): 

7 June 2018 

Date  of  the  opinion  of  the  European  Economic  and  Social 
Committee: 

17 October 2018 

Date of the position of the European Parliament, first reading: 

12 February 2019 

Date of transmission of the amended proposal: 

N/A 

Date of adoption of the position of the Council: 

13 April 2021 

2. 

OBJECTIVE OF THE PROPOSAL FROM THE COMMISSION 

Since its inception, the internal market is a major contributor to growth, competitiveness and 
employment and has helped create jobs and brought consumers greater choice at lower prices. 
While it continues to be an engine for building a stronger, more balanced and fairer economy, 
it  continuously  needs  to  adapt  to  a  rapidly  changing  environment  characterised  by  digital 
revolution  and  globalisation.  This  poses  a  significant  challenge  for  regulation  and 
enforcement. 

The  Single  Market  Programme  brings  together  activities  financed  under  six  predecessor 
programmes in the areas of competitiveness of enterprises, protection of consumers and end-
users of financial services, financial reporting and auditing standards, the food chain and the 
European statistics. The Single Market Programme also includes activities previously funded 
directly  under  the  internal  market  and  other  related  budget  lines    such  as  European 
standardisation  and  market  surveillance  and  the  implementation  and  development  of  the 
internal  market  for  financial  services,  as  well  as  new  actions  aiming  to  improve  the 
functioning  of  the  internal  market,  such  as  in  the  area  of  the  enforcement  of  Union 
competition rules. 

All of these activities are united by their shared objectives to regulate, implement, facilitate, 
enforce and protect various activities and actors within the internal market; and to preserve an 
internal  market  that  continues  to  function  without  interruption.  All  of  those  activities  are 

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essential for a well-functioning internal market and the continuation of their financial support 
is necessary. The proposed Programme provides for continuity of the various previous actions 
while streamlining and exploiting synergies between them. 

With reference to the European statistics, the Programme replaces the predecessor European 
Statistical  Programme  by  establishing  the  financial  framework  for  providing  high-quality, 
comparable and reliable European statistics to underpin the design, monitoring and evaluation 
of all the Union policies. It must be underlined that, while they undoubtedly contribute to the 
delivery  of  internal  market  policies,  European  statistics  have  a  much  wider  scope  than  the 
internal market, as they serve all policies of the Union. 

3. 

COMMENTS ON THE POSITION OF THE COUNCIL 

The  position  of  the  Council  as  adopted  in  the  first  reading  fully  reflects  the  provisional 
agreement  reached  in  the  trilogue  between  the  European  Parliament,  the  Council,  and  the 
Commission, as concluded on 8 December 2020. The main points of this agreement include 
the following: 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

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Duration of the Programme: The Programme is established for the period from 1 
January 2021 to 31 December 2027 and its duration is aligned to the duration of the 
MFF. 

Technical  and  administrative  assistance  for  the 
implementation  of  the 
Programme:  Co-legislators  agreed  that  the  total  costs  of  administrative  and 
technical support shall not exceed 5 % of the value of the overall financial envelope 
available for the implementation of the Programme. 

Designated beneficiaries representing consumers’ interest at the Union level: It 
was agreed that the Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in relation to 
the  representation  of  consumers  interest  at  the  Union  level  to  amend  the  list  of 
entities  that  may  be  awarded  a  grant  under  the  Programme  without  a  call  for 
proposals. 

laboratories  as  designated  beneficiaries,  and 

their 
National  reference 
accreditation:  Without  prejudice  to  the  obligation  for  Member  States  to  provide 
adequate  financial  resources for the national  plant  health reference laboratories and 
national  animal  health  reference  laboratories  in  accordance  with  Regulation  (EU) 
2017/625), agreement was reached on the possibility for those laboratories to benefit 
as designated beneficiaries from grants awarded under the Programme if the actions 
by  those  laboratories  represent  Union  added  value  and  if  sufficient  funding  is 
available under the Programme. 

Co-financing rules in the area of plants, animals, food and feed: The Council and 
the  European  Parliament  agreed  on  a  fixed  co-financing  rate  of  50  %,  that  is 
exceptionally  increased  to  75  %  and  100  %  under  certain  conditions,  and  on  a 
provision  setting  out  that  the  Commission  shall  adopt  an  implementing  act  to  set  a 
lower  co-financing  rate  where  that  is  necessary  on  the  grounds  of  lack  of  funds, 
insufficient  implementation  of  a  veterinary  and  phytosanitary  programme  or  of 
emergency measures, or the phasing-out of the co-financing of actions against animal 
diseases or plant pests. 

Delegated  acts,  implementing  acts  and  committees:  Co-legislators  agreed  that 
work  programmes  are  adopted  by  implementing  acts  intended  to  give  effect  to  the 
rules  already  laid  down  in  the  basic  act  and  in  accordance  with  related  sectoral 
legislation  where  applicable.  With  regard  to  delegated  acts,  it  was  agreed  that  the 

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power to adopt delegated acts shall be conferred on the Commission for a period of 7 
years, and that it shall be tacitly extended for periods of an identical duration unless 
the European Parliament or the Council opposes such extension. 

– 

Retroactivity: It was agreed that the Regulation shall enter into force on the day of 
its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union, and that it shall apply 
from 1 January 2021. 

The Commission supports the provisional agreement reached at the trilogue, which paves the 
way  for  a  swift  adoption  of  the  new  programme.  The  programme  will  help  strengthen  the 
governance  of  the  internal  market  and  enable  citizens,  businesses  consumers  and  public 
authorities to reap the benefits of the market integration. 

4. 

CONCLUSION 

The  Commission  accepts  the  position  taken  by  the  Council,  which  fully  reflects  the 
provisional agreement reached by the co-legislators on 8 December 2020. 

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