EU launches plan to boost trade within Europe

The European Commission today put forward a plan that sets common standards for goods traded within the EU, saying this would make it easier for companies to sell outside their home nation.

The programme would cover about a quarter of manufactured goods traded within the EU, touching 22 industrial sectors worth about €1.5 trillion a year.

EU Industry Commissioner Guenter Verheugen said only a fraction of EU businesses were taking advantage of the internal market – Europe’s grand project to knock down trade borders within the 27-nation bloc so companies can sell their goods anywhere in the EU.

“There are significant weaknesses that prevent European companies from benefiting,” he said at a news conference in Strasbourg.

EU nations still have many separate standards to guarantee quality or give formal approval to allow a product be sold on their national market.

The EU’s executive arm now wants to put the onus on national authorities to justify why a product sold legally in one EU country cannot be sold in theirs.