~~SLIDESHOW~~ ====== The IMI Network ====== - What is the Internal Market Information System (IMI)? - Why do we need an Internal Market Information System? - What benefits does IMI deliver? - How does IMI work? - Strategy for expanding and developing IMI - IMI in the future ===== 1. What is the Internal Market Information System? ===== * 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 * IMI was financed and set up as a "Project of common interest" under the IDABC Work Programme (2005-2009) * IMI facilitates communication between public administrations at national, regional and local level since 2008 * Competent Authorities of the 30 EEA Member States can contact each other via IMI ===== IMI is one system with customised applications for different Directives ===== * COMPETENT AUTHORITIES AND NATIONAL EXPERTS * CA DATA * QUESTION SET GENERATOR * QUESTIONS * LANGUAGE SUPPORT * Information exchange ===== 2. Why do we need an IMI System? ===== Making legislation work better for citizens and business: * Free movement of goods, services, people and capital depends on a complex mixture of rules (EU and national level) * Ensuring compliance with the rules is the responsibility of public authorities at local, regional and national level across the European Economic Area (EEA) * Public authorities need to cooperate closely to ensure that the full benefits of the legal framework are delivered for citizens and businesses ===== 2. Why do we need an IMI System? (II) ===== * Confidence and trust between administrations can only be established on the basis of contact and easy access to information * However there are many practical barriers to cooperation, such as language or administrative structures * Administrative cooperation will not happen spontaneously – it needs support, particularly in a larger more diverse Europe ===== 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 in particular articles 34.1, 36 and recital 112 ===== 3. What benefits does IMI deliver? ===== * For Member States * For Competent Authorities * For migrating professionals * For European Commission ===== Benefits for Member States ===== - Easy to use and flexible - No new legal obligations - A single system to manage ===== Benefits for Competent Authorities ===== - Easy access to information - More transparent process - Greater efficiency ===== Benefits for migrating professionals ===== - More transparent process - Faster response by administrations ===== Benefits for European Commission ===== - Lower costs, Faster development - Easy to support new legislative areas ===== Result ===== - Exchange of information at all levels of administration across EU becomes possible - Secure and reliable system which allows complex problems to be dealt with quickly - Single system to support different pieces of Internal Market legislation ===== 4. How does IMI work? Actors and roles in IMI ===== * European Commission * Competent Authorities (CAs) * IMI Coordinators (NIMIC, SDIMIC, DIMIC) ===== European Commission ===== - develops, maintains and runs IMI (data centre Luxembourg) - provides translations - central Helpdesk ===== Competent Authorities ===== - 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 ===== - technical/ administrative coordination, e.g. registration and support of CAs (help desk) - functional coordination – by choice - act as CA and exchange information through IMI with other CAs ===== 4. 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 (MS) * Different administrative structures and cultures * Lack of administrative procedures for crossborder cooperation * Management of 351 bilateral relationships in EU-27 ===== IMI System functionality ===== - IMI works in all official EU languages - Identifying partners in IMI - Flexibility for MS to organise themselves as they wish * Competent Authorities may contact each other directly via IMI * A MS may decide to direct all requests via the Coordinator of the CA * A MS may decide to direct all replies via the Coordinator of the CA * It is possible that both requests and replies are sent via Coordinators ===== IMI System functionality (2) ===== - Member States have agreed the flow of information for a request in IMI * The simple workflow of a request in IMI consists of 4 steps only - Member States have agreed on the questions which can be asked in IMI - Member States can monitor IMI to make sure that replies are on time - MS manage single relationship with the IMI network instead of 31 bilateral relationships ((EC and 31 states from EEA)) ===== 5. Strategy for expanding and developing IMI ===== * IMI was launched in November 2007 for the registration of Competent Authorities * Test IMI application with real data and real information exchanges * Put in place organisational structures in Member States for large-scale roll-out * Set up the necessary support structures for the project ===== Professional Qualifications Directive ===== * Since February 2008 IMI has been supporting the exchange of information required by the revised Professional Qualifications Directive (2005/36/EC) * pilot project for the 4 professions, including 2 sectoral professions * Extending IMI to other Professions * preference for the 5 additional sectoral professions and 2 other professions (December 2008) * preference for 20 additional professions with significant migration rates (October 2009) * preference for 4 professions regulated in more Member States (October 2010) * general opening of system to other professions (since May 2012) ===== 6. IMI in the future ===== * Integration of the Regulated Professions Database (RegProf)