Compliance Package: Positive move, but serious concerns about SMIT

Today the European Commission presented a “Compliance Package”, containing proposals to improve the functioning of SOLVIT, to set up a Single Digital Gateway and to put in place a Single Market Information Tool (SMIT).

BusinessEurope Director General Markus J. Beyrer said: “We support the initiative for a Single Digital Gateway proposed in today’s Compliance Package. The portal should offer companies all the information and assistance they need to operate throughout the EU Single Market. If well-designed, this tool can really help companies to do business abroad, especially SMEs and start-ups.”

Companies and citizens are often not fully aware of their rights and opportunities in the Single Market. The Single Digital Gateway should improve and better connect existing tools, and help businesses to complete the most frequently-used administrative procedures and formalities fully online. The portal should make the Single Market more transparent and in turn more certain and predictable.

“We support concrete improvements to make SOLVIT work better. However, we have serious concerns about the SMIT proposal. We oppose additional obligations to provide sensitive company information without a clear purpose under the threat of sanctions”, Beyrer added.

While the business community fully stands behind stronger enforcement of EU Single Market rules and believes that the thorough preparation of new proposals is essential, we doubt that the SMIT is the appropriate approach to achieve these goals. Additional / unjustified reporting obligations are a burden and therefore a cost on companies. Moreover, the SMIT could lead to unacceptable risks regarding highly sensitive business information without a clear justification or explanation as to how the European Commission intends to use this information.

Related European Commission press release