Czech Business Today

On 12^th November, 2019, the Permanent Representation of the Czech Republic to the European Union, together with EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy and CEBRE – Czech Business Representation to the EU in Brussels, organised a high-level lunch debate. The meeting was attended by representatives of the European Commission, Member States, European Parliament and European Economic and Social Committee, business organisations, social partners as well as research institutes.

The debate focused on assessing the current state of the Single Market, based on various surveys conducted among businesses earlier this year (which showed more or less the very same results), and draw recommendations for the new Commission. Speakers from various backgrounds agreed that the Single Market is a great achievement of EU integration and should be high on the agenda of the new Commission. All other policies, be it at EU or national level, should have a supportive role to achieve a functioning Single Market. They expressed their disappointment with omission of the Single Market in the political priorities of the von der Leyen’s Commission.

Social, environmental, digital and security challenges, highlighted in the program, can only be sufficiently addressed when the basic principles of the 4 freedoms of the Single Market are implemented. Key speakers presented the recently conducted surveys of the CZ Ministry of Industry and Trade, Czech Chamber of Commerce and EUROCHAMBRES. Results showed that the concerns of businesses are essentially the same across the EU Member States. They are fighting with, among others: complicated administrative procedures; differing national rules for services and products, but also different legal practices; lack of accessible information and its insufficient clarity; inadequate sanctions; and discrimination against foreign enterprises. Those obstacles have recently mostly been discussed in the context of workers’ mobility.

Results also show that those identified obstacles impede hidden potential, as many enterprises find it too complicated or risky (due to disproportionate sanctions) to engage in cross-border trade. Better regulation is key, in terms of a well-functioning Single Market. Regular impact assessments, with a specific focus on SMEs, must be conducted for any EU legislative proposal. The EU legislation must be based on facts and figures. Digitalisation should be regarded as an unprecedented opportunity to simplify communication between businesses and national administrations, but also between the Member States and European Institutions.