The new Single Market Programme will strengthen the governance of the Single Market and support the green and digital transitions through a sustainable recovery.
The first ever programme to consolidate the Single Market in the European Union was adopted by the co-legislators, with the final vote occurring in the European Parliament on 27 April and the publication in the Official Journal of the European Union on 3 May. Encompassing a budget of €4.2 billion over the period of 2021-2027, the Single Market Programme (SMP) provides an integrated package to support and strengthen the governance of the Single Market.
The SMP consolidates a large range of activities previously managed through separate initiatives into one coherent programme. It brings together activities financed under six predecessor programmes in the areas of competitiveness of enterprises, enforcement of competition rules, protection of consumers and end-users, financial reporting and auditing standards, the food chain, and European statistics.
The programme will in particular make the EU’s internal market work better through improved market surveillance, a range of problem-solving support measures to citizens and business, and enhanced competition policy contributing to a level playing field. A key pillar of the SMP will seek to improve the competitiveness of businesses, with a focus on SMEs. The former COSME programme will see its direct grant funding programmes –including funding for the Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) – folded into the SMP. In future, the COSME loan facilities and other financial instruments will be managed separately under the SME window of the InvestEU programme. The SMP programme alone will dedicate over € 1 billion in direct and indirect support to the competitiveness of SMEs.
Under the SMP, EEN will continue its main activities of organising business cooperation across borders, helping SMEs access EU projects and funding, advising them on EU policy and legislation, assisting them in raising their innovative capacities and internationalising, and collecting SME feedback to legislative initiatives. In addition to EEN, support for SMEs will include a mentoring scheme for new or aspiring entrepreneurs, Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs, and actions supporting regional clusters and facilitating industrial transformation. Although Switzerland was not associated to COSME, nor plans association to the SMP, Swiss EEN partners will continue to be financed by the Swiss government.
Aside from support to SMEs, the SMP will also promote consumer protection and product safety, including in financial services, through initiatives such as European Consumer Centres and ‘Safety Gate‘, the EU rapid alert system for dangerous non-food products. In a specific focus on the food chain, it will implement actions like the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) enabling information sharing among national regulators for dangerous food and feed. Finally, it will also seek to produce high-quality statistics on Europe, in cooperation with National Statistical Offices.