Enhancing enforcement and compliance for goods - a BusinessEurope strategy paper

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

• Harmonising EU law in certain product areas has enabled the single market to become a front runner of European economic integration.
• The existence of non-compliant products in the single market harms consumers, lowers the trust in products, also from bona fide businesses and distorts competition.
• Continuing to make stricter rules will only harm the competitiveness of bona fide businesses while rogue traders continue to profit from their non-compliance.
• A political will to prioritise market surveillance and join forces across the EU is needed. More resources and smarter ways are required to create a more effective and concerted system of market surveillance in the single market for goods.
• Without effective market surveillance, businesses are left to uphold the correct functioning of the single market. Yet no realistic remedy systems exist to address any complaints about decisions that affect them.