STUDY Requested by the IMCO committee Legal obstacles in Member States to Single Market rules Policy Department for Economic, Scientific and Quality of Life Policies Directorate-General for Internal Policies Authors: Erik DAHLBERG et al. EN PE 658.189 - November 2020 Legal obstacles in Member States to Single Market rules Abstract This study analyses the current state of national obstacles to free movement in the EU Single Market. It focuses on various aspects of obstacles related to free movement of goods and services, the right to establishment, the Digital Single Market, consumer protection and public procurement. This document was provided by the Policy Department for Economic, Scientific and Quality of Life Policies at the request of the committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO). This document was requested by the European Parliament's committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection. AUTHORS Erik DAHLBERG, Sigurd NÆSS-SCHMIDT and Laura VIRTANEN, Copenhagen Economics Scott MARCUS, Bruegel Mattia DI SALVO and Jacques PELKMANS, CEPS Virginia DALLA POZZA and Katarina KUBOVICOVA, VVA ADMINISTRATORS RESPONSIBLE Christina RATCLIFF and Mariusz MACIEJEWSKI EDITORIAL ASSISTANTS Roberto BIANCHINI and Irene VERNACOTOLA LINGUISTIC VERSIONS Original: EN ABOUT THE EDITOR Policy departments provide in-house and external expertise to support European Parliament committees and other parliamentary bodies in shaping legislation and exercising democratic scrutiny over EU internal policies. To contact the Policy Department or to subscribe for email alert updates, please write to: Policy Department for Economic, Scientific and Quality of Life Policies European Parliament L-2929 - Luxembourg Email: [email protected] Manuscript completed: November 2020 Date of publication: November 2020 Republished with some corrections (including the deletion of three case studies on pages 85, 88 and 90 of the previous version): February 2021 © European Union, 2020 This document is available on the internet at: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/supporting-analyses DISCLAIMER AND COPYRIGHT The opinions expressed in this document are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the European Parliament. Reproduction and translation for non-commercial purposes are authorised, provided the source is acknowledged and the European Parliament is given prior notice and sent a copy. For citation purposes, the publication should be referenced as: Dahlberg, E. et al., Legal obstacles in Member States to Single Market rules, Publication for the committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection, Policy Department for Economic, Scientific and Quality of Life Policies, European Parliament, Luxembourg, 2020. © Cover image used under licence from Adobe Stock. Legal obstacles in Member States to Single Market rules CONTENTS LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS 6 LIST OF BOXES 9 LIST OF FIGURES 9 LIST OF TABLES 10 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 11 INTRODUCTION 15 THE LEGAL FRAMEWORK OF THE SINGLE MARKET 21 2.1. The legal basis of the Single Market 21 2.2. The principles of the Single Market 23 2.3. The freedoms 25 2.3.1. Free movement of goods 25 2.3.2. Free movement of services 28 2.3.3. Posting of workers 30 FREE MOVEMENT OF GOODS 31 3.1. Difficulties in meeting requirements to sell goods 32 3.1.1. What are the current problems? 35 3.1.2. Concluding remark: Is there a growing trend of these problems in the EU? 43 3.1.3. What tools exist at EU and national level to address these problems? 44 3.2. Insufficient information about applicable rules 47 3.2.1. What are the current problems? 47 3.2.2. Is there a growing trend of these problems in the EU? 49 3.2.3. What tools exist at EU and national level to address these problems? 49 3.3. Problems with mutual recognition affecting the free movement of goods 50 3.3.1. What are the current problems? 52 3.3.2. Is there a growing trend of these problems in the EU? 55 3.3.3. What tools exist at EU and national level to address these problems? 56 3.4. A note on the impact of COVID-19 on intra-EU trade in goods 57 3.5. How can these obstacles be removed and prevented? 59 FREE MOVEMENT OF SERVICES AND RIGHT TO ESTABLISHMENT 62 4.1. Difficulties in meeting requirements to sell services 64 4.1.1. What are the current problems? 64 4.1.2. Restrictions on retail and wholesale 74 4.1.3. Is there a growing trend of these problems in the EU? 79 3 PE 658.189 IPOL | Policy Department for Economic, Scientific and Quality of Life Policies 4.1.4. What tools exist at EU and national level to address these problems? 79 4.2. Insufficient information about applicable rules 80 4.2.1. What are the current problems? 80 4.2.2. Is there a growing trend of these problems in the EU? 83 4.2.3. What tools exist at EU and national level to address these problems? 83 4.3. Difficulties with accessing a regulated profession 84 4.3.1. What are the current problems? 84 4.3.2. Is there a growing trend of these problems in the EU? 88 4.3.3. What tools exist at EU and national level to address these problems? 88 4.4. Restrictions on corporate ownership 89 4.4.1. What are the current problems? 89 4.4.2. Is there a growing trend of these problems in the EU? 90 4.4.3. What tools exist at EU and national level to address these problems? 92 4.5. Burdens and obstacles in the context of posting workers to other Member States 93 4.5.1. What are the current problems? 93 4.5.2. Is there a growing trend of these problems in the EU? 98 4.5.3. What tools exist at EU and national level to address these problems? 99 4.6. Franchising in the EU 99 4.7. A note on the impact of COVID-19 on intra-EU trade in services 101 4.8. How can these problems be removed and prevented? 103 DIGITAL SINGLE MARKET 106 5.1. Overall fragmentation of rules for cross-border e-commerce 112 5.1.1. What are the current problems? 112 5.1.2. Is there a growing trend of these problems in the EU? 116 5.1.3. What tools exist, or could exist, at EU and national level? 117 5.2. Burdensome issues related to Value Added Tax 117 5.2.1. What are the current problems? 117 5.2.2. Is there a growing trend of these problems in the EU? 119 5.2.3. What tools exist at EU and national level to address these problems? 120 5.3. Copyright and Geo-blocking: Obstacles to cross-border sales 120 5.3.1. What are the current problems? 122 5.3.2. Is there a growing trend of these problems in the EU? 125 5.3.3. What tools exist at EU and national level to address these problems? 126 5.4. Insufficient information about applicable rules 126 5.4.1. What are the current problems? 126 5.4.2. Is there a growing trend of these problems in the EU? 127 PE 658.189 4 Legal obstacles in Member States to Single Market rules 5.4.3. What tools exist at EU and national level to address these problems? 127 5.5. COVID-19 and digital services 127 5.6. How can these problems be addressed and prevented? 129 CONSUMER PROTECTION 133 6.1. Differences in consumer protection 134 6.1.1. What are the current problems? 134 6.1.2. Is there a growing trend of these problems in the EU? 138 6.2. Insufficient information about applicable rules 139 6.2.1. What are the current problems? 139 6.2.2. Is there a growing trend of these problems in the EU? 140 6.2.3. What tools exist at EU and national level to address these problems? 140 6.3. COVID-19 and consumer protection 141 6.4. How can these problems be addressed and prevented? 142 PUBLIC PROCUREMENT 143 7.1. Uneven access to public procurement 143 7.1.1. The importance of EU rules-based public procurement 143 7.1.2. The EU regulatory framework for public procurement 145 7.1.3. What are the problems and shortcomings? 147 7.1.4. Is there a growing trend of these problems in the EU? 151 7.1.5. What tools exist at EU and national level to address these problems? 151 7.2. How can these problems be removed and prevented? 152 REFERENCES 154 5 PE 658.189 IPOL | Policy Department for Economic, Scientific and Quality of Life Policies LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS B2B Business-to-Business B2C Business-to-Consumer CEN European Committee for Standardisation CENELEC European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardisation CJEU Court of Justice of the European Union CMO Collective Management Organisation CPB Central Procurement Body CPR Construction Products Regulation CRD Consumer Rights Directive CSGD Consumer Sales and Guarantees Directive DG Directorate-General DSA Digital Services Act DSM Digital Single Market EC European Communities EEA European Economic Area EEC European Economic Community ELA European Labour Authority EP European Parliament EPE European Parliament of Enterprises EPO European Patent Office EPR Extended Producer Responsibility ESPD European Single Procurement Document ETSI European Telecommunications Standards Institute PE 658.189 6 Legal obstacles in Member States to Single Market rules EU European Union FCM Food Contact Materials FDI Foreign Direct Investment GATS General Agreement on Trade in Services GBR Geo-blocking Regulation GDP Gross Domestic Product GMP Good Manufacturing Practices GS Geprüfte Sicherheit (Tested Safety) ICT Information and Communications Technology IMCO European Parliament's committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection IMI Internal Market Information [system] IOT Internet of Things LVCR Low Value Consignment Relief MEAT Most Economically Advantageous Tender MFN Most Favoured Nation MS Member State/Member States NOC Negotiated Procedure without prior publication OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development OJEU Official