Program Enotni trg in carina
Opinion factsheet
Na tej strani
- podjetja in industrija
- Single market
Opinion number:
CDR-3195-2025
Status:
Sprejeta mnenja
Impact
On 6 March, IMCO rapporteur Dibrani submitted his draft report on the SMCP.
Several of the report's proposed amendments mirror the CoR's recommendations for appropriate involvement of LRAs in the SMCP's implementation.
On 3 July, the European Commission published its follow-up to the opnion. The Commission broadly welcomes the CoR's opinion and acknowledges further reforms are needed to reduce fragmentation, in line with the Draghi and Letta reports. It recognises the role local and regional authorities play in implementing and enforcing Single Market policies, particularly in border regions.
On SMEs, the Commission responds to the CoR's concern about the lack of a dedicated SME budget line by pointing to the proposed European Competitiveness Fund 2028-2034 as the vehicle for SME support, noting that the SMCP itself targets businesses of all sizes. It highlights the programme's value for SMEs through its goals: cutting red tape, improving IT interoperability and enforcement, and boosting competitiveness and digitalisation.
On cohesion policy, the Commission clarifies that it is not a specific objective of the SMCP itself, but points instead to the National and Regional Partnership Plans (NRPPs) as the relevant vehicle for addressing regional disparities going forward.
Finally, on digitalisation, the Commission stresses the importance of digital compliance tools given the growth of e-commerce, citing the EU Customs reform agreed by Parliament and Council on 26 March 2026 as a tool to introduce a modern, data-driven customs system, and reiterates that digital tools are central to both the Single Market Strategy and the EU's broader simplification agenda.
Several of the report's proposed amendments mirror the CoR's recommendations for appropriate involvement of LRAs in the SMCP's implementation.
On 3 July, the European Commission published its follow-up to the opnion. The Commission broadly welcomes the CoR's opinion and acknowledges further reforms are needed to reduce fragmentation, in line with the Draghi and Letta reports. It recognises the role local and regional authorities play in implementing and enforcing Single Market policies, particularly in border regions.
On SMEs, the Commission responds to the CoR's concern about the lack of a dedicated SME budget line by pointing to the proposed European Competitiveness Fund 2028-2034 as the vehicle for SME support, noting that the SMCP itself targets businesses of all sizes. It highlights the programme's value for SMEs through its goals: cutting red tape, improving IT interoperability and enforcement, and boosting competitiveness and digitalisation.
On cohesion policy, the Commission clarifies that it is not a specific objective of the SMCP itself, but points instead to the National and Regional Partnership Plans (NRPPs) as the relevant vehicle for addressing regional disparities going forward.
Finally, on digitalisation, the Commission stresses the importance of digital compliance tools given the growth of e-commerce, citing the EU Customs reform agreed by Parliament and Council on 26 March 2026 as a tool to introduce a modern, data-driven customs system, and reiterates that digital tools are central to both the Single Market Strategy and the EU's broader simplification agenda.
Essential points
THE EUROPEAN COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS (CoR)
welcomes the European Commission’s proposal establishing the Single Market and Customs Programme 2028-2034 and agrees that a well-functioning single market is a prerequisite for a competitive, safe and secure economy, and that more action is needed to address barriers, stimulate reforms and reduce fragmentation especially in the context of new global challenges;
regrets that so far too little progress has been made to implement the recommendations of the Draghi and Letta reports, albeit acknowledging steps in the right direction are being taken; reiterates its call for establishing key performance indicators and concrete mid- to long-term targets for single market integration, to measure whether the programme’s objectives are being achieved;
underlines the importance of systematically including user experience from local and regional authorities in the evaluation of single market policies; welcomes the envisaged improvement of evidence-based policymaking the programme seeks to support and requests the systematic involvement of the Committee of the Regions’ Better Regulation tools, including its Regional Hubs Network, in this effort;
calls for the acknowledgement of local and regional authorities as key partners in the implementation of the programme; stresses that cooperation among and between Member States’ national authorities, the Commission and other EU bodies in all programme areas can only be efficient if local and regional authorities are also involved, and that support measures for them should be at the heart of the programme according to the principles of multi-level governance;
emphasises that cohesion policy is not only an additional condition for a successful single market but fundamental to its functioning; therefore calls for the programme’s implementation to take this fully into account.