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For the EU’s prosperity, we must empower the single market now

Published

5 months ago

February 1, 2024

For the EU’s prosperity, we must empower the single market now

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not represent in any way the editorial position of Euronews.

The EU rests on its single market, its singular crowning achievement. To ensure the EU’s future competitiveness and prosperity, its leaders must act now to truly empower it, Jacques Pelkmans writes.

When the EU marked 30 years of the single market in 2023, a report should have been written about it but was not even requested.

The core of the unwritten report would have concluded that the union’s single market is far weaker than assumed and not nearly as “single” as the name suggests.

It is full of shortcomings and contains hundreds of barriers and distortions that seriously and detrimentally impact the EU’s ability to stimulate and encourage investment.

This must be addressed by EU policymakers as a matter of urgency. We need immediate and sustained action to deepen and strengthen the single market at the highest political level.

This is why the “other” report that should have been commissioned and written last year is so strategic — even though the term “strategic” is mightily overused in today’s EU.

But for the health and dynamism of the EU’s economy over the long term, there is no action more important and more strategic than empowering the single market. It truly is the EU’s trump card in an increasingly unstable and uncertain global order.

Real ownership required

The EU could gain as much as 9% of its current GDP if concrete steps are taken now to empower the single market, tantamount to the current combined GDP of the Czech Republic, Belgium and Ireland.

If the EU could induce a greater sense of dynamism via start-ups/scale-ups and a heavier emphasis on R&D and patents, the extra boost in GDP would be even higher.

To achieve this requires real ownership by the EU’s political leadership, however. There needs to be firm action by the European Council right after the start of the new European Commission’s mandate and the formation of the new European Parliament later this summer.

The new CEPS In-Depth Analysis report “Empowering the Single Market” (arguably the unwritten report on the single market that should have been commissioned last year) calls for a medium-term programme that would be decided by the European Council but embraced and implemented by the European Commission, in partnership with the EP. The plan would include regular and rigorous oversight to ensure progress doesn’t stall.

At the European Council level, the troika of national presidencies ought to be as active and enterprising as during the early Delors period (late 1985-1988).

There should be a dedicated Commissioner for the internal market, ideally a Vice-President to clearly signal that the single market is a political priority.

The rest of the report’s programme mostly outlines substance rather than institutional issues, with one key exception — enforcement. Infringements are often costly for the single market but hardly so for the relevant member states, even over a period of several years.

Thus, in serious instances, a fast-track procedure or the suspension of a national law should be possible. Finally, the European Parliament’s IMCO committee should have annual single market enforcement sessions, with accompanying reports, and extensive hearings giving consumers, citizens and businesses a clear voice.

No pain, no gain

The substance of the proposed medium-term programme ought to be ambitious. It must be accepted that, in the short run, some measures are bound to be painful for some, otherwise, genuine progress will never be more than piecemeal.

The credibility and effectiveness of the programme hinges first of all on services, with two parallel action plans proposed.

The first is about removing barriers and distortions in services falling under the 2006 Services Directive, with an emphasis on professional services, retail (all the way down to the local level) and construction services.

The second is about services falling under dedicated sector regulation, such as rail freight, as well as effective progress in achieving competitive and larger European capital markets — crucial for ensuring EU businesses, including start-ups, can access risk capital.

The second plan also stresses the need for the full integration of banking services, the better facilitation of cross-border consumer (and other) finance and more investment in cross-border interconnectors.

The proposed programme’s credibility would also rest on ending “hard fragmentation”, namely consolidating the EU’s telecoms market, stricter rules to coordinate spectrum frequencies between member states, the fully-fledged Europe-wide operation of air traffic control, and shifting from a myriad of national copyright rules to a single EU copyright regime.

Ambitious and far-reaching is the only way

Other significant moves include the European Commission abandoning its revised approach to harmonised European standards — this has no useful purpose.

Regulating on issues that are better left to diplomacy, which has severe costs for European companies involved in global value chains, also needs to be stopped.

And finally, support for EU start-ups must be improved to encourage and stimulate more dynamism in the EU economy.

Make no mistake, all of the above is highly ambitious. Enacting such a far-reaching programme will require much political skill, resolve and capital. But the consequences of not doing it would be far worse.

The EU rests on its single market, its singular crowning achievement. To ensure the EU’s future competitiveness and prosperity, its leaders must act now to truly empower it.

Jacques Pelkmans is Associate Senior Research Fellow at CEPS and professor at the College of Europe in Bruges.

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World

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June 15, 2024

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World

Mexico hot tub death: US tourist who was electrocuted remembered as ‘big family man’ who had 'heart of gold’

Published

5 hours ago

June 15, 2024

Press Room

Mexico hot tub death: US tourist who was electrocuted remembered as ‘big family man’ who had 'heart of gold’

An American tourist who died after being electrocuted in a hot tub while vacationing with his wife in Mexico is now being remembered as a “real big family man” who had a “heart of gold.”

Jorge Guillen, a 43-year-old from El Paso, Texas, according to media reports, died June 11 “in the jacuzzi of a complex of private condominiums in Puerto Peñasco, Sonora after an electric discharge,” Mexican prosecutors say. His wife, Lizette Zambrano, 35, remains in critical condition after reportedly being transferred to an American hospital.

“Our best friends have experienced a horrible accident. Jorge had a heart of gold and was always there for family and friends. The love they shared was one for ages,” reads a GoFundMe page set up for the couple.

Video purportedly taken from the scene showed people screaming as they gathered around a beachfront hot tub following the incident. In the footage, a dark object could be seen bobbing around in the water.

MAN KILLED AFTER GETTING ELECTROCUTED IN SEASIDE RESORT JACUZZI

Jorge Guillen and Lizette Zambrano are from El Paso, Texas, according to media reports. (GoFundMe)

Western Technical College – where Guillen was a student – held a moment of silence in honor of him Friday during a graduation ceremony, according to KFOX14/CBS4.

“Those who knew George knew that he was enthusiastic. He was passionate. He loved HVAC. He was a real big family man. Definitely a very respectable, professional young man,” the trade school’s president, Maxine Valencia, said to the station.

“We are just as saddened as the rest of the world about the passing of our beloved student, Jorge Guillen. The news reached us last night through one of Jorge’s classmates,” the school also wrote on Facebook. “Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and the family of his wife, Lizzette Zambrano, who remains in critical condition.”

MEXICAN AUTHORITIES FIND BODIES OF 4 MEN, 2 WOMEN PILED UP IN RESORT CITY

This September 2018 photo shows a beach at Puerto Peñasco in the state of Sonora, Mexico. (AP Photo/Annika Wolters)

Zambrano is described by the El Paso Times as being a former teacher in the Ysleta Independent School District.

During the investigation, Mexican officials spoke with someone who is familiar with the couple, who said she saw the two of them were not moving in the jacuzzi.

The witness also reportedly told investigators she attempted to get into the jacuzzi after discovering the couple was non-responsive, but she was shocked.

Prosecutors in Mexico have launched an investigation into the death of Guillen and the injury of Zambrano in Puerto Peñasco. (PEDRO PARDO/AFP via Getty Images)

The witness told investigators that was the moment she called for help.

Fox News’ Greg Wehner contributed to this report.

Greg Norman is a reporter at Fox News Digital.

World

Hundreds of thousands in France protest far right ahead of snap elections

Published

6 hours ago

June 15, 2024

Press Room

Hundreds of thousands in France protest far right ahead of snap elections

Anti-racism groups joined French unions and a new left-wing coalition in protests across France against the surging nationalist far right as frenzied campaigning is under way in advance of snap parliamentary elections.

About 21,000 police and gendarmes were deployed at rallies on Saturday with authorities expecting between 300,000 and 500,000 protesters nationwide, France’s interior ministry said.

In Paris, those who feared the elections would produce France’s first far-right government since World War II gathered at Place de la Republique before marching.

Crowds have been gathering daily in France, ever since the anti-immigration National Rally (RN) made historic gains in the European Parliament elections last Sunday. This prompted Macron to dissolve the National Assembly and call for a snap legislative election, to be held in two rounds on June 30 and July 7.

A large crowd turned out in spite of rainy and windy weather on Saturday holding placards reading “Liberty for all, Equality for all and Fraternity with all” – a reference to France’s national motto – as well as “Let’s break frontiers, documents for all, no to the immigration bill.”

Speaking from Place de Republique, hard-left CGT union leader Sophie Binet told reporters, “We are marching because we are extremely worried [RN’s leader] Jordan Bardella could become the next prime minister … We want to prevent this disaster.”

Demonstrators march with placards during an anti-far right rally in Nantes [Romain Perrocheau/AFP]

‘Ideology based on fear’

Among the protesters in Paris, some also chanted “Free Palestine, viva Palestina,” and wore Palestinian keffiyeh scarves.

Among them was Nour Cekar, a 16-year-old high school student, who has French and Algerian parents and wears the hijab.

“To me, the extreme right is a danger because it supports an ideology based on the fear of the other, whereas we are all French citizens despite our differences,” she said.

Cekar added she will vote for the left-wing coalition because “it is the only political [entity] that addresses racism and Islamophobia.”

Meanwhile, in the French Riviera city of Nice, demonstrators marched down Jean Medecin Avenue, the city’s main shopping street, chanting against the National Rally and its leader Bardella, 28, as well as President Emmanuel Macron.

Protest organisers said 3,000 took part, while police put the number at 2,500.

Nice is traditionally a conservative stronghold, but has, over the past decade, turned firmly in favour of Marine Le Pen’s National Rally and her far-right rival Eric Zemmour.

Nacira Guenif, a sociologist at University Paris 8, called the rise of the far right a “very dangerous situation”, and said many young people who attended rallies on Saturday denounced “the fascists”.

“This is a greater danger than ever. This is the first time where the far right rose to 30 percent of the vote in the European elections. The reason the youth and a lot of people were on the streets today is to say they don’t want this to happen in France,” Guenif told Al Jazeera.

Demonstrators march in Nantes on Saturday [Romain Perrocheau/AFP]

Huge gamble for Macron

Reporting from Paris, Al Jazeera’s Natacha Butler noted the French president’s call of the election took everybody, including his own ministers, by surprise.

“Macron says he called this election because he has heard the voice of the people, of the voters. He said he’s seen the EU election that took place and saw that people are unhappy with his policies in this government. Therefore, he says he’s given the choice back to the people.”

The move is a huge gamble, she said. “People are here to say they fear the far right that would destroy France’s values of rights, liberty, freedom and equality.”

To prevent the National Rally party from winning the upcoming elections, left-wing parties finally agreed on Friday to set aside differences over the wars on Gaza and Ukraine and form a coalition. They urged French citizens to defeat the far right.

French opinion polls suggest the National Rally is expected to be ahead in the first round of the parliamentary elections. The party came out on top in the European elections last week, garnering more than 30 percent of the vote cast in France, almost twice as many votes as Macron’s party Renaissance.

Macron’s term is still on for three more years, and he would retain control over foreign affairs and defence regardless of the result. But his presidency would be weakened if the National Rally wins, which could put Bardella on track to become the next prime minister, with authority over domestic and economic affairs.

French voters go to the polls first on June 30 and again July 7.