ROADMAP

TITLE OF THE INITIATIVE TYPE OF INITIATIVE LEAD DG RESPONSIBLE UNIT EXPECTED DATE OF ADOPTION VERSION OF ROADMAP

European Retail Action Plan

CWP

x Non-CWP

Implementing act/Delegated act

DG MARKT/E-2 Month/Year: Q4 2012 No: 1 Last modification: December 2011

This indicative roadmap is provided for information purposes only and is subject to change. It does not prejudge the final decision of the Commission on whether this initiative will be pursued or on its final content and structure.

A. Context, problem definition

(i) What is the political context of the initiative? (ii) How does it relate to past and possible future initiatives, and to other EU policies? (iii) What ex-post analysis of the existing policy has been carried out and what results are relevant for this initiative? This initiative is a follow-up to the Commission's Retail Market Monitoring Report (RMM Report) "Towards more efficient and fairer retail services in the internal market for 2020" (COM(2010)355) adopted on 5 July 2010. The RMM Report identified a series of problems that were affecting the performance of retailers in the Internal Market. The Communication for a Single Market Act (COM(2011)206) calls the Commission to devote a particular attention to the retail and wholesale sectors on account of their important contribution to growth and job creation. Moreover, following the adoption of this RMM Report, on 5 July 2011, the European Parliament (EP) adopted an own-initiative report on a more efficient and fairer retail market. The EP Report calls on the Commission to prepare, in consultation with the retail sector, a comprehensive European Retail Action Plan in order to set out a strategy, building on achievements and addressing outstanding issues, with sector-specific recommendations. The EP would like to see the actions contained in the Action Plan presented and debated at the Retail Market Roundtable that will be set up by the EP. No formal ex post evaluation of existing policy has been carried out, since there is no general policy on Retail for the time being.

What are the main problems which this initiative will address? The Action Plan will set up a list of actions that would help the Retail Sector achieve its full potential, and make its full contribution to the EU 2020 Growth Strategy. The advantage in developing such a comprehensive Action Plan instead of proposing separate initiatives is that it will ensure a coordinated and systemic approach to solving the problems that the Retail Sector is facing. This holistic approach was used in the RMM Report and was praised, including by the EP in its report which calls on the Commission to reinforce cross-policy coordination and take a holistic, long-term approach to the Retail Sector. More specifically, the following issues would need to be addressed in the Action Plan given that they were identified as problems by the EP and the RMM Report: - Lack of enforcement of the principle of free movement of goods and the existence of important price differences across the EU. - Divergences and lack of proper enforcement of national rules on unfair practices between businesses. - Lack of efficiency and coordination of land planning systems affecting accessibility of retail outlets for citizens and establishment of retailers. - Lack of development of the e-commerce. - Lack of transparency combined with a proliferation of quality control systems and difficulties in their crossborder use. - Insufficient provision of independent information services and commercial communications on retail offers including on social and environmental performances of retailers. - Lack of integration of environmental costs in the supply chain and lack of a common assessment and labelling

system based on the product's whole life cycle. - Differences in working conditions caused by divergent labour laws and collective agreements, preventing retailers from using their business models across the EU and putting further pressure on wage costs. Insufficient enforcement of national labour laws and rules tackling informal economy. Mismatch between skill needs and skills of the staff in the retail sector given the increasing reliance on ICT in the sector. Who will be affected by it? The Action Plan will outline a number of problems identified in the RMM Report and in the EP Report and will propose actions to address these problems together within a suggested timeline. Therefore, the Action Plan itself will not directly affect stakeholders at this stage. However, the particular actions to be proposed by the Action Plan may affect various stakeholders (farmers, producers, suppliers, suppliers, retailers, consumers, etc.) once introduced. Thus, proper Impact Assessment would need to be carried out for any such actions before they are launched. (i) Is EU action justified on grounds of subsidiarity? (ii) Why can Member States not achieve the objectives of the proposed action sufficiently by themselves? (Necessity Test) (iii) Can the EU achieve the objectives better? (Test of EU Value Added) The adoption of a European Retail Action Plan at a European level is justified by the need to ensure consistency in the treatment of the problems identified in the Retail Sector, as well as to create a level playing field for the companies active in this sector. Many companies in the Retail Sector and in the whole supply chain are operating at European level, and a number of the problems identified in the RMM Report and the EP Report stem from a lack of coordination and convergence of the applicable legislations. A European Retail Action Plan is therefore the only way to overcome existing barriers to the free movement of goods, services and the freedom of establishment, as well as to ensure convergence and a level playing field for all retailers within the EU.

B. Objectives of the initiative

What are the main policy objectives? The main policy objective of a European Retail Action Plan is to ensure a consistent and systemic approach in the treatment of problems identified as hampering the provision of more efficient and fair retail services in Europe. As requested by the EP, the Action Plan will not only announce new initiatives in areas identified as problematic but it will also take stock of the ongoing initiatives already developed by the Commission. This will allow the EU institutions, Member States and stakeholders to have a general overview of the various ongoing and foreseen actions in the Retail Sector. The adoption of an Action Plan will also demonstrate the importance attributed by the Commission to this sector, which is essential for the EU economy (4.2% of GDP, employing 17.5 million individuals and representing 20% of European SMEs). Do the objectives imply developing EU policy in new areas? N/A

C. Options
(i) What are the policy options being considered? (ii) What legislative or 'soft law' instruments could be considered? (iii) How do the options respect the proportionality principle? The first and preferred policy option considered is the adoption of a Communication that would present the European Retail Action Plan. An alternative approach could be to address the problems identified independently, without a dedicated framework involving an inter-service taskforce and without a pre-defined timeline. The European Retail Action Plan itself would be a Communication. However, the initiatives contained in the Action Plan might be of different natures: legislative proposals, communications, expert groups, studies, etc. The initiatives contained in the Action Plan will be subject to their own assessments as regards the options available.

D. Initial assessment of impacts

What are the benefits and costs of each of the policy options? N/A

Could any or all of the options have significant impacts on (i) simplification, (ii) administrative burden and (iii) on relations with other countries, (iv) implementation arrangements? And (v) could any be difficult to transpose for certain Member States? N/A (i) Will an IA be carried out for this initiative and/or possible follow-up initiatives? (ii) When will the IA work start? (iii) When will you set up the IA Steering Group and how often will it meet? (iv) What DGs will be invited? No Impact Assessment will be carried out for this Action Plan but specific impact assessments might need to be carried out for the legislative initiatives that could be announced. (i) Is any of options likely to have impacts on the EU budget above 5m? (ii) If so, will this IA serve also as an ex-ante evaluation, as required by the Financial regulation? If not, provide information about the timing of the ex-ante evaluation. N/A

E. Evidence base, planning of further work and consultation

(i) What information and data are already available? Will existing impact assessment and evaluation work be used? (ii) What further information needs to be gathered, how will this be done (e.g. internally or by an external contractor), and by when? (iii) What is the timing for the procurement process & the contract for any external contracts that you are planning (e.g. for analytical studies, information gathering, etc.)? (iv) Is any particular communication or information activity foreseen? If so, what, and by when? The main source of information about the areas where action is needed is the RMM Report and its accompanying Staff Working Document (based on studies, inter-service work, etc.) that was followed by a large consultation that resulted in around 100 responses by Member States and stakeholders. The EP own initiative report adopted on 5 July 2011 was also taken into account. Which stakeholders & experts have been or will be consulted, how, and at what stage? Member States and stakeholders have been consulted on the RMM Report from July to September 2010 and invited to provide their views on the new systemic approach to policy-making employed by the Commission in its RMM Report. They were also invited to provide their opinions on those among the problems identified that should be given priority in the Commission's policy responses. The EP has also called on the Commission to prepare this Action Plan in consultation with the Retail Sector. Some stakeholders have already provided to the Commission their views on the elaboration of the European Retail Action Plan. A series of several workshops will be organised to gather stakeholders' opinions on the possible content and priorities to be given to the different initiatives. Europe 2020 Any link to one or more flagship initiatives? Which? Evaluation Is an evaluation available or planned? If so, provide details (references, etc.). If not, explain why.
N/A

Implementation plan Is an IP foreseen for legislative instruments? If so, please provide details. If not, explain why.
N/A

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