On 23 October 2012, the European Commission adopted its Work Programme 2013, which sets out the Commission's wide ranging objectives and the key initiatives that it will work towards in the next year and beyond.
The Commission makes it an "absolute imperative" to "tackle the economic crisis and put the EU back on the road to sustainable growth". The Work Programme focuses on the following seven key areas in order to achieve this goal:
- A genuine economic and monetary union;
- Boosting competitiveness through the single market and industrial policy;
- Building tomorrow's networks today;
- Inclusion and excellence;
- Using Europe to compete better;
- Building a safe and secure Europe;
- Europe as a global actor.
More specifically, in the field of competition and related matters, the Commission has identified the following priorities for action in 2013.
- Review of the Technology Transfer Exemption Regulation and Guidelines: the Technology Transfer Block Exemption (Regulation 772/2004) is due to expire on 30 April 2014. The Commission has already begun a review of the existing rules, and its objective is to improve framework conditions for the licensing of production technology, thereby stimulating innovation and growth in its pursuit of ensuring effective competition.
- Simplification of EU merger control: this is described in the Work Programme as a simplification and regulatory burden reduction initiative and is set to be achieved by 2013. The stated aim is to cut red tape and to ease the administrative burden for merging companies and to establish a more simplified procedure for non-problematic mergers.
- State aid modernisation: the Commission will aim to gradually translate the principles of the Communication on State Aid Modernisation, adopted on 8 May 2012, into revised sector guidelines. The review and revision of the General Block Exemption Regulation (GBER) will ensure that the most appropriate conditions for state aid are established for those cases exempted from the notification requirement. In so doing, the Commission hopes to reduce the administrative burden on administrative authorities, and aims to have implemented this legislative initiative by the end of 2013. The Commission is also considering the extension of the material scope of the Enabling Regulation. Additionally, the extension of aid covered under the Block Exemption aid for innovation is being considered to encompass damages caused by natural disasters, certain broadband infrastructure, certain social aid to residents of remote regions to travel and aid to forestry. Changes to Procedural Regulation I are also proposed to enable the Commission to conduct sector enquiries.
- State aid modernisation in key sectors: the Commission is currently reviewing the compatibility criteria which form part of specific state aid guidelines. This review aims to support the EU's strategy for economic growth, to permit the Commission to focus more on enforcement work and also to speed up the Commission's decision-making process. The specific sectors are
- Research & Development & Innovation;
- Risk Capital;
- Regional Aid;
- Environmental Aid;
- Industrial Rescue and Restructuring; and
- Airports and Airlines.
- Initiative on e-invoicing in the field of public procurement: this initiative, due to be completed by mid-2013, would lead to the elimination of the fragmentation of the internal market by promoting the use of e-invoicing in private-public sector contracts, and enhancing the interoperability of national e-invoicing systems. E-invoicing would also serve to reduce the operating costs of companies and the procurement costs of public authorities by reducing the administrative burdens of invoicing procedures.
- Bank account initiative: this particular initiative is due to be completed during the first quarter of 2013 and aims at increasing the transparency and comparability of bank account fees throughout the Union, as well as facilitating easier bank account switching for consumers.
- Reducing the costs of broadband infrastructure deployment: the Commission plans to present a draft regulation by the first quarter of 2013 aiming to significantly reduce the cost of deploying high-speed broadband networks across the EU. This would be an incentive for investment in the high speed internet targets of the Digital Agenda. The regulation would mainly set out rights and obligations directly applicable to telecom operators and other utilities.
- Action Plan on Wireless Communications for a Connected Europe: the Commission has plans to adopt a Communication setting out a policy action plan aiming to meet the challenges that the EU is facing in the next few years in the field of dynamic market developments in light of the exponential growth of traffic in wireless services. The many policy objectives include accelerating the roll-out of wireless broadband networks, encouraging shared spectrum use, exploitation of EU R&D results on wireless communications and enhancing global spectrum harmonisation.
- Green Paper: Towards an integrated European market for card, internet and mobile payments: the Commission plans to issue a follow-up to its Green Paper of 11 January 2012 in the form of legislative proposals to address the main obstacles to market integration.
The proposals of the Work Programme will be tabled during 2012 and in the first part of 2013 in consideration of the European Parliament elections in 2014.
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