The Commissioner of Domestic Market, in a library picture./ Photo: Flickr
The Diplomat. Madrid
The European Union must give a clear and single answer –“yes or no”- to the service offered by the company Uber to share vehicles. That was the message sent yesterday, at the New Economy Europe Forum, by the European Commissioner of Domestic Market, Elzbieta Bienkowska, when being asked about the fact that some countries of the EU have completely or partially banned Uber’s service from running, whereas others allow it.
The commissioner insisted that this case is a clear reflect of the need to achieve an authentic single market in Europe. After pointing out that the issue must be tackled with much attention, she highlighted that the problem comes from the fact that companies face different regulations in each European country. For the Polish Elzbieta Bienkowska, going deeper into the consolidation of a domestic market “is crucial to create jobs”.
The commissioner, who set as one of her main objectives achieving a single market that works, insisted that this is the best that can be done for companies, facing the tendency of some States to establish protective barriers, as a consequence of the crisis.
The commissioner of Domestic Market insists on the need to achieve an authentic single market
Bienkowska also talked about the need to speed up negotiations between the United States and the EU to reach a Free Trade Agreement, with the objective of closing it before the North American elections of 2016, because, otherwise, it would have to wait for several years. As regards Syriza’s triumph, she indicated that, in any case, Greece has acquired commitments that it will have to keep.
Yesterday, the commissioner met the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel García-Margallo, and, on Monday, she met the Minister of Industry, Energy and Tourism, José Manuel Soria, who was in charge of introducing her at the forum. Soria indicated that he talked to Bienkowska about the need of adopting measures that favour the restructuring of Europe’s industry. In that sense, the commissioner advocated making efforts to improve the innovation and the modernization of the European Union’s industries.
