Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs 2023

Infringement cases open at year-end 2019 - 2023

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By clicking on the multi-level chart, you can consult, for 2023, the number of infringement cases open at the year-end per policy sector and per type of infringement.

Compliance promotion activities in 2023

Meetings with Member States

• The Member States’ public procurement review bodies have kept on exchanging experiences on the application of the 2014 EU Public Procurement Directives (Directive 2014/23/EU, Directive 2014/24/EU and Directive 2014/25/EU) and procedural aspects of the national review of public procurement through the Network of First Instance Review Bodies on Public Procurement.
• The Expert Group on Forest-based Industries and Sectorally Related issues continued to provide advice for the development, implementation, and monitoring of EU policy and legislation affecting the sector.
• The Commission continued using the High Level Construction Forum as an initiative to co-create and monitor the green, digital and resilient transition pathways for the EU construction industry ecosystem, in partnership with industries, public authorities, social partners and other relevant stakeholders.
• The Commission expert group on the Construction Products Regulation Technical Acquis process and its sub-groups continued to support the work of the Commission in the revision of Standards, European Assessment documents and other legal acts, under the framework of Regulation (EU) 305/2011 on the marketing of construction products.
• In the development of delegated acts under the Regulation on the marketing of construction products, the Commission used the Advisory Group on Construction Products. In parallel, the Standing Committee on construction advised the Commission during the development of implementing acts under the same Regulation. To ensure the co-ordination of notified bodies acting under that Regulation, the Commission contributed to the work of the Group of Notified Bodies (GNB-CPR).
• To facilitate the cooperation between market surveillance authorities working with construction products, the Commission supported and guided the work of the Administrative Cooperation Group (AdCo) on construction products.
• The Commission collaborated with the Member States’ authorities regarding issues of professional qualifications recognition through the Group of Coordinators for the recognition of professional qualifications. This group is working to establish cooperation between Member States’ authorities and the Commission on questions relating to the recognition of professional qualifications; to monitor the evolution of policies having an impact on professions regulated by the Professional Qualifications Directive (Directive 2005/36/EC); to facilitate the implementation of the Directive, in particular through the elaboration of documents of interest, such as interpreting guidelines and lastly, to share experience and good practice in the fields referred to in all these areas.

Package meetings

Package meetings are meetings between the Commission and a Member State to discuss implementation issues and infringement cases in a given policy area. They can be held before the Commission has detected a breach of EU law or concern existing EU Pilot or infringement cases of the Member State. Package meetings can be an efficient tool to deal with challenges a Member State may face in a policy area, across different acts of EU legislation.

The Commission held the following package meetings with Member States in the policy area of free movement of goods and services, free movement of professionals and companies:

• The Commission services organised package meetings with Belgium, Greece, Spain, France, Hungary and where on-going files on late payments, retail services, the Professional Qualifications Directive, the Services Directive and the Proportionality Test Directive or public procurement were discussed in-depth.
• On public procurement, a preparatory technical package meeting with Greece took place focusing on complex public procurement cases, paving the way to some future improvements, including the closure of a long-standing infringement case (INFR(2008)4765) related to illegal direct awards.

Other compliance promotion tools

To ensure a resilient, competitive, greener and more digital construction ecosystem, and with the support of the High Level Construction Forum, the Commission developed the Construction Transition Pathway. This document provides guidance and support to the implementation of the EU Industrial Strategy.

Internal Market Information (IMI):

• The Commission organised the IMI@15 high level conference with Member States and representatives from bodies, industries, research and policy centres on the achievements and the future of the Internal Market Information System including the presentation of the 15 years of IMI report.

Single Market Enforcement Taskforce:

• In 2023, the Commission and Member States continued their work to improve the functioning of the single market in the Single Market Enforcement Taskforce (SMET). SMET focuses on improving the application, implementation, and enforcement of single market rules to tackle some of the most pressing barriers in the single market.
• In the area of recognition of professional qualification, SMET members identified and removed over 300 unjustified prior checks that national authorities had imposed on professionals from other Member States.
• To support the development of renewable energy projects, SMET worked on eliminating 90 concrete process-related barriers. Procedures were further streamlined through the introduction of clear information and deadlines, one-stop shop, digital permitting, and tacit agreement. Once all implemented, it will be easier to obtain a permit for new wind and solar energy installations.
• Another SMET project focused on reducing the administrative burden for cross-border services providers by introducing eight best practices. If implemented, these best practices would significantly reduce the administrative burden for service providers while keeping the projection of workers intact.
• To make it easier for people and businesses to be active in other Member States, SMET launched a new project on tackling IBAN discrimination in the public sector and in telecoms. “IBAN discrimination” is when a person is not able to make or receive a SEPA credit transfer or pay via a SEPA direct debit from her/his bank account located in another Member State.

SOLVIT:

• SOLVIT is a service provided by the national administration in each EU country (and in Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway) which can help EU citizens and businesses address breaches by public authorities in another EU country. In 2023, SOLVIT centres assisted over 2 200 people and businesses with their problems. More than 88 % of the cases were solved. SOLVIT centres not only find solutions for numerous individual situations, but also help identify and address structural problems related to the application of EU law. 

Your Europe Advice:

• The Your Europe Advice service replied to more than 26 000 enquiries from people and businesses about their individual EU rights. This allowed people and businesses to better understand the EU law and to help them overcome administrative difficulties. It also allowed the Commission to identify barriers in the single market and cases of misapplication of EU law in the Member States.
• The annual seminar with all Your Europe Advice experts informed them about enforcement initiatives of the Commission.

Notifications:

• In the area of services, the notification procedure under the Services Directive aims to prevent the creation of unjustified regulatory barriers to the single market. The Commission actively encourages transparency about Member States’ measures on services and makes continued efforts to increase the efficiency of that notification procedure. In 2023, the Commission received 82 notifications. The Commission actively reacted regarding the Member States measures, for example in the area of the short-term rental, professional services (tax advisers, detectives) or measures related to the temporary cross-border provision of services.

Follow-up given to petitions

The Commission assessed and decided not to pursue investigations concerning the following petitions alleging a breach of EU law, for the reasons indicated below:

• Joint petitions 1063/2022, 0951/2023, 0953/2023 and 0879/2023 concerning the recognition, in Italy, of Romanian qualifications of special need teachers. The petitioners are not fully qualified professionals in Romania and do not fall under the rules of the Professional Qualifications Directive (Directive 2005/36/EC).
• Petition 0809/2022 concerning the compliance with the rules of the Services Directive of an authorisation regime in Spain to operate as a private centre of professional training. After assessing the conditions for the authorisation, the Commission could not identify any unjustified or disproportionate rule that would be inconsistent with the Directive.
• Petition 0892/2022 on alleged discrimination between Danish nationals and other EU nationals regarding the profession of specialised doctors; this petition was closed by the European Parliament.
• Petition 0653/22 on the Italian rules for becoming an estate agent; this petition was closed by the European Parliament.

The Commission has pursued investigations on issues raised in the following petitions concerning an alleged breach of EU law:

• Petition 0496/2022 regarding language requirements in Ireland to exercise as a nurse or a midwife. Ireland only authorises a limited number of documents proving language proficiency. The Commission sent a letter of formal notice to Ireland.
• Petition 0987/2022 on reserve of activity in Spain in favour of architects and technical architects concerning the issuing of Building Assessment Reports and other similar activities that involve checking the state, quality, and habitability of residential buildings. Following the petition, further assessment of national rules is necessary, and this assessment is still on-going.
• Petition 0917/2022 concerning a total ban on advertising pharmacies, pharmacy outlets and their activities in Poland. The petition concerns matters covered by a pending infringement procedure in the framework of which the Commission referred Poland to the Court of Justice.
• In 2023, the Commission has also assessed several petitions (Petitions 0789/2021, 0790/2021, 0799/2021, 0800/2021, 0801/2021, 0813/2021, 0814/2021, 0837/2021) related to alleged breaches of EU law in the area of market surveillance for construction products in Ireland. Petitioners indicated that houses in Donegal County (Ireland) were collapsing. Petitioners reported that the local government had not respected the construction regulations, allowing the use of mica and pyrite in construction blocks. Affected houses needed to be demolished or to undergo severe renovation works. The Commission is assessing the allegations and plans to hold meetings with Ireland throughout 2024.

Court of Justice rulings against Member States

• Commission v Poland, C-601/21.

Important preliminary rulings

• Obshtina Razgrad and Obshtina Balchik (Freedom of establishment), joined cases C-441/22 and C-443/22;
• AUTOTECHNICA FLEET SERVICES, C-278/22;
• Nexive Commerce and Others, C-226/22;
• Airbnb Ireland and Airbnb Payments UK, C-83/21;
• HSC Baltic and Others, C-682/21;
• Infraestruturas de Portugal and Futrifer Indústrias Ferroviárias, C-66/22;
• ARMAPROCURE, C-493/22;
• A (Enseignant d’école maternelle), C-270/21.

Outlook for 2024

In 2024, the Commission will continue important enforcement work in the area of the single market, industry, entrepreneurship and SMEs. In particular, the Commission plans to:

• continue combatting late payments in the EU by monitoring Member States’ respect of the obligations under the Late Payment Directive to ensure that public authorities pay their suppliers on time. Further, negotiation on a new EU Regulation on Late Payments, proposed by the Commission in September 2023, is still on-going;
• continue ensuring the free movement of professionals and services providers by monitoring enforcement and application of the Professional Qualifications Directive and the Services Directive;
• focusing on preventive action by monitoring implementation and application of the Proportionality Test Directive to ensure that any requirements for professions introduced or amended by Member States are proportionate;
• continue revising the EU Construction and Demolition Waste Management Protocol to help implement the Waste Framework Directive;
• work towards the implementation of a new Construction Products Regulation (adoption expected in 2024).