19 February 2013

Competitiveness Council: Main results

The Council held debates on the Annual Growth Survey 2013, as a part of all relevant Council deliberations in preparation for the Spring European Council on 14 and 15 March. It also assessed the first report on the state of the Single Market Integration.

Preparation for the economic spring EU Summit: Annual Growth Survey 2013

The debate was structured in accordance with a Presidency document (5894/13), which contains the opinions of the High Level Group on competitiveness and growth and of the European Research Area Committee (ERAC). Ministers raised a full range of policy recommendations as drivers of growth, investment, innovation and job creation, which include:

• continued support to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), access to finance and the entrepreneurship agenda, including support for the external competitiveness of EU companies;
• the rapid completion of the Single Market Act (SMA) I and moving forward with the SMA II initiatives;the maintenance and strengthening of the EU's industrial base;
• to press ahead with the implementation of the Services Directive, the digital single market and the e-Government initiatives;
• strengthening investments in research and innovation, including various forms of public support to research and innovation such as tax credits, public procurement, public-private partnerships and support to venture capital;
• using effective means to leverage private financing for research and innovation, as well as measures to overcome barriers to the take-up of financing instruments by SMEs;
• implementing the commitments of the Innovation Union strategy and giving greater prominence to the removal of obstacles with a view to completing the European Research Area;
• preventing the risks of shortages of skilled labour; and
• promoting initiatives that support commercialisation of research results and the development of technology start-ups in order to create new high value-added jobs, including those measures aimed at reinforcing the links between universities and business and promoting the formation of innovation clusters.

On 28 November 2012, the Commission published its Growth Survey for 2013, which is an analysis of the progress on the Europe 2020 targets for the creation of economic growth and jobs (16669/12). It recommends that EU and national efforts should continue to focus on five policy strands: pursuing differentiated, growth-friendly fiscal consolidation; restoring normal lending to the economy; promoting growth and competitiveness; tackling unemployment and the social consequences of the crisis; and modernising public administrations.

Single Market Act

The Council examined the state of play concerning pending legislation included in the Single Market Act packages, which are made up of priority measures aimed at the completion of the single market by increasing confidence and stimulating growth and jobs creation (5915/1/13). These measures, to be adopted in co-legislation by the European Parliament and the Council, are currently at a different stage of the legislative process. They will contribute to reducing barriers and to improving efficiency on the single market for businesses, citizens, consumers and workers.

The Single Market I package includes actions such as the modernization of the public procurement, the review of the professional qualifications directive, the simplification of accounting rules and the establishment of a common framework for the development of alternative resolution systems for consumer disputes.

The Single Market Act II package is the second wave of priority proposals and was presented by the Commission in October 20121 in order to supplement the first set of measures of the Single Market Act I. It includes the modernisation of EU insolvency rules, the deployment of high-speed broadband and the review of the product safety directive.

The Council, which adopted conclusions on the Single Market II last December (16617/12), looks forward to rapidly examining them, in close co-operation with the European Parliament and the Commission, in order to allow their adoption by the end of the current parliamentary cycle at the latest so as to bring new impetus to the internal market.

Full results

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