This study, prepared by Policy Department A at the request of the Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO), analyses the possibility and challenges of defining a monitoring and evaluation system to measure the economic and regulatory performance of the Single Market, to be used in the context of the European Semester exercise. Based upon their research, the authors conclude that an integrated measurement system can be devised to perform this function, by combining different methodologies, including composite indicators, sets of indicators, sectoral tools and qualitative assessments. With respect to regulatory indicators, it is relatively easier to design tools that could directly result in policy recommendations addressed to the EU institutions and Member States, possibly based on the ‘Single Market Gap’ composite indicator proposed in this study. With respect to economic indicators, additional care and qualitative assessment would need to be employed to extrapolate policy recommendations from any set of indicators.
Source : © European Union, 2014 - EP