Title: Making legislation work better for citizens and business The Internal Market Information System (IMI)
1Making legislation work better for citizens and
businessThe Internal Market Information System
(IMI) UEAPME Legal Affairs Committee
Brussels, 3rd April 2009 Presentation by Nicholas
Leapman HOU EC DG MARKT Unit E3
2IMI - An information systemto make legislation
work better
- What is the Internal Market Information System?
- How does IMI work?
- What do users say about IMI?
- The current status of IMI
- Setting up IMI for the Services Directive
31. What is the Internal Market Information System
(IMI)?
- IMI is a multilingual electronic tool for
exchange of information between Competent
Authorities throughout the European Economic Area - IMI is developed by the European Commission in
partnership with the Member States
41. What is the Internal Market Information System
(IMI)?
SV
BG
IS
- IMI facilitates communication between public
administrations at national, regional and local
level - Competent Authorities of the 30 EEA Member States
can contact each other via IMI
CS
NO
DA
FI
DE
SL
ET
SK
RO
EL
PT
EN
IMI
PL
ES
LI
NL
FR
MT
IT
HU
LV
GA
LT
51. IMI is one system with customised application
s for different Directives
COMPETENT AUTHORITIES AND NATIONAL EXPERTS
CADATA
CADATA
CADATA
CADATA
CADATA
Informationexchange for
Informationexchange for
Informationexchange for
Informationexchange for
LANGUAGESUPPORT
SERVICES
PROFESSIONALQUALIFICATIONS
.......
.......
QUESTIONS
QUESTIONS
QUESTIONS
QUESTIONS
QUESTION SET GENERATOR
61. Administrative cooperation The legal
obligations
- IMI does not impose additional obligations on
Member States beyond those already contained in
internal market legislation - Revised Directive on Professional Qualifications
(2005/36/EC) - Article 8 - Administrative cooperation
- Article 50 - Documentation and formalities
- Article 56 - Competent Authorities
- Services Directive (2006/123/EC)
- Articles 28-36
72. How does IMI work? System functionality
IMI supports cooperation between MS
administrations by addressing the following
problems
- Language barriers 23 official EU languages
- Lack of clearly identified partners in other
Member States - Different administrative structures and cultures
- Lack of administrative procedures for crossborder
cooperation - Management of 351 bilateral relationships in EU-27
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102. IMI holds information about the spoken
languages of the authorities to facilitate
communication
When entering free text messages advise the
authorities to use a language understood by the
other authority
112. IMI offers machine translation for free text
122. IMI offers machine translation for free text
132. How does IMI work?
IMI supports cooperation between MS
administrations by addressing the following
problems
- Language barriers 23 official EU languages
- Lack of clearly identified partners in other
Member States - Different administrative structures and cultures
- Lack of administrative procedures for crossborder
cooperation - Management of 351 bilateral relationships in EU-27
142. Identifying partners in IMI
152. Identifying partners in IMI
162. Identifying partners in IMI
173. How does IMI work?
IMI supports cooperation between MS
administrations by addressing the following
problems
- Language barriers 23 official EU languages
- Lack of clearly identified partners in other
Member States - Different administrative structures and cultures
- Lack of administrative procedures for crossborder
cooperation - Management of 351 bilateral relationships in EU-27
183. How does IMI work?Actors in IMI
- Competent Authorities (CAs)
- find relevant Competent Authorities in another
Member State - exchange information with this CA in other Member
State - administer data and users of their authority in
IMI
- IMI Coordinators (NIMIC, SDIMIC, DIMIC)
- Set up the system
- May get involved in exchanges of information
- May act as a competent authority
193. Flexibility for MS to organise themselves as
they wish
EC
European Commission IMI Administration - EC IMI
Helpdesk -
Member State 3 e.g. a Member State with federal
structure
Member State 1
Member State 2
MemberStates
NIMIC
NIMIC- helpdesk -
NIMIC- helpdesk -
Federal State 1
Federal State ...16
RegionalLevel
SDIMIC 1
SDIMIC 16
DIMIC 1- helpdesk -
DIMIC 2- helpdesk -
DIMIC 1- helpdesk -
DIMIC 2- helpdesk -
Functional Level
CA
CA
CA
CA
CA
Competent Authorities
CA
CA
CA
CA
CA
CA
CA
CA
CA
CA
CA
CA
203. How does IMI work?
IMI supports cooperation between MS
administrations by addressing the following
problems
- Language barriers 23 official EU languages
- Lack of clearly identified partners in other
Member States - Different administrative structures and cultures
- Lack of administrative procedures for crossborder
cooperation - Management of 351 bilateral relationships in EU-27
213. Member States have agreed The flow of
information for a request in IMI
4.
REQUEST CLOSEDINFORMATIONPROVIDED
The simple workflow of a request in IMI consists
of
REQUESTING CA
REQUESTING CA
Accept provided information
Create and send new request
4 steps only
1.
REQUEST SENTAWAITINGACCEPTANCE
RESPONDING CA
2.
3.
RESPONDING CA
REQUESTACCEPTED
REQUEST OPENINFORMATIONPROVIDED
Provide full information
Acceptrequest
223. How does IMI work?
IMI supports cooperation between MS
administrations by addressing the following
problems
- Language barriers 23 official EU languages
- Lack of clearly identified partners in other
Member States - Different administrative structures and cultures
- Lack of administrative procedures for crossborder
cooperation - Management of 351 bilateral relationships in EU-27
233. MS manage single relationship with the IMI
network instead of 26 bilateral relationships
SV
BG
IS
CS
NO
DA
FI
DE
SL
ET
SK
RO
EL
PT
EN
PL
ES
LI
NL
FR
MT
IT
HU
LV
GA
LT
244. What do users think about IMI?
255. The current status of IMI
System operational for Professional Qualifications
- 2008 PQ pilot project with 4 professions
- Nov 2008 IMI Progress Report positive feedback
- IMI fit for purpose
- Decision to extend use of IMI to further
professions on demand-led basis - Feb 2009 IMI now used by almost 600 authorities
to exchange information on 11 professions
265. The current status of IMI IMI for
Professional Qualifications
System usage requests in IMI
275. The current status of IMI IMI for
Professional Qualifications
Time to receive information via IMI
- 1 out of 10 requests is replied to on the same
day - 1 out of 5 requests is replied to within 1 day
- 3 out of 4 requests are replied to within 15 days
286. Setting up IMI for the Services Directive
In January 2009 Services was added to IMI as a
legislative area
Competent Authorities only need to be registered
once
296. Setting up IMI for the Services Directive
A complex and challenging task
- System to be operational for the Services
Directive by 28 December 2009 - Services Directive legal obligation to use
electronic means for administrative cooperation
and to set up a system to support this - Large and diverse number of potential competent
authorities and users - Different competencies (different ministries
involved, different levels of government)
306. Setting up IMI for the Services Directive
Main challenge is organisational, not technical
- Main building blocks already in place
- Preparation of additional workflows (e.g. alerts)
well advanced
- Decide national IMI network structures
- Identify and register authorities
- Inform and train users
316. Setting up IMI for the Services Directive
Main challenge is organisational, not technical
- Competent authorities should know
- Mutual assistance provisions of Services
Directive - How IMI works and how it supports authorities in
meeting their obligations - Organisational set-up of IMI in their country
325. Setting up IMI for the Services Directive
A. IMI Services pilot project the aim
Aim of pilot project
- Assist MS in progressive system set-up,
registration and training of authorities - Ensure that IMI system is fit for purpose
335. Setting up IMI for the Services Directive
B. IMI Services pilot project the scope
Scope of pilot project
- Initially limited to a subset of authorities and
service sectors - step-by-step approach to ensure that MS prepared
for fully operational IMI Services Directive
application by 28.12.2009
345. Setting up IMI for the Services Directive
C. initial priorities for CA registration
- 2. Authorities responsible for specific sectors
- Construction services, including services of
architects - Real estate agents
- Travel agencies tour operators, tourist guides
- Catering services
- Services of veterinarians
- Legal services
- 1. Authorities with horizontal competence
- Company registration
- Trade licences
- Health and safety
- Environment
- Professional bodies
355. Setting up IMI for the Services Directive
D. IMI Services pilot project a step-by-step
approach
2009 2009
January and February Start registration of Competent Authorities for Services Directive
March to December 27th Standard information exchange pilot
July to December 27th Self-registration for Competent Authorities
Q4 2009 Pilot Case-by-case and Alert mechanism
December 28th Services Directive application operational
365. Setting up IMI for the Services Directive
E. Conclusion
IMI is a new partnership model between the
European Commission and Member States
Key elements Enabling role of Commission Informat
ion technology Network organisation
37 For further information or any question, please
contact markt-imi_at_ec.europa.eu
or consult the IMI website http//ec.europa.eu/i
nternal_market/imi-net/