Internal Market Information System (IMI)

Key points:

The EESC welcomes the Commission's intention of improving the governance of the single market through greater administrative cooperation, and developing and extending the Internal Market Information System (IMI) to this end.

In this context, the EESC:

• suggests including among the definitions the concept of "IMI data", which are economic and professional data;
• recommends making economic and professional data accessible to private individuals and businesses;
• underlines that due regard must be given to European data protection legislation. The Committee rejects outright, however, the idea that any exchanged data may also be processed as set out in the proposal for a regulation, for two reasons: firstly, because nowhere do the directives that the IMI system helps to implement state the need for data to be processed under the administrative cooperation they provide for; and secondly, because in the EESC's opinion, the practical requirements to supervise and monitor the operation of the IMI system outlined by the Commission by no means justify expanding the scope for processing exchanged personal data to cover the creation of independent and separate files through processing;
• lastly, given the quantitative leap represented by this system, the number of participants and the flow of information, the EESC would recommend that provision be included for a basic dispute settlement system for cases of "transnational" non-compliance.

Referrals: COM(2011) 75 final and COM(2011) 522 final - 2011/0226 (COD)

Earlier EESC opinion: CESE 1694/2009 (INT/481)
For more information please contact the INT Section Secretariat