1. Stresses that unleashing the single market through the Services Directive and a digital single market could add EUR 800 billion to the EU economy, which is the equivalent of almost EUR 4 200 per household ; calls on the Member States and the Commission to commit to the development of the digital single market as an overarching political priority and to come forward with a holistic approach and an ambitious strategy encompassing both legislative and political initiatives in order to take into account new and upcoming developments, making the digital single market a reality on the ground; stresses that this will require political lead ...[+++]ership, decisiveness, priority-setting and public funding at EU, national and regional level; emphasises in particular that strong leadership on the part of all Union institutions and clear political ownership on the part of the Member States is required in order fully and effectively to implement and enforce directives and regulations relating to the single market;

1. Stresses that unleashing the single market through the Services Directive and a digital single market could add EUR 800 billion to the EU economy, which is the equivalent of almost EUR 4 200 per household ; calls on the Member States and the Commission to commit to the development of the digital single market as an overarching political priority and to come forward with a holistic approach and an ambitious strategy encompassing both legislative and political initiatives in order to take into account new and upcoming developments, making the digital single market a reality on the ground; stresses that this will require political lead ...[+++]ership, decisiveness, priority-setting and public funding at EU, national and regional level; emphasises in particular that strong leadership on the part of all Union institutions and clear political ownership on the part of the Member States is required in order fully and effectively to implement and enforce directives and regulations relating to the single market;

44. Calls on the Commission to make public procurement procedures more effective and less bureaucratic in order to encourage EU firms to participate in cross-border public procurement; stresses that further simplification is needed especially for local and regional authorities and to allow SMEs greater access to public procurement; urges the Commission to provide data regarding the level of openness of public procurement and to ensure reciprocity with other industrialised countries and major emerging economies; invites the Commission to look into new ways of improving the access for European enterprises to public procurement markets o ...[+++]utside the EU, in order to ensure a level playing field for both European and foreign enterprises competing for the award of public contracts;

44. Calls on the Commission to make public procurement procedures more effective and less bureaucratic in order to encourage EU firms to participate in cross-border public procurement; stresses that further simplification is needed especially for local and regional authorities and to allow SMEs greater access to public procurement; urges the Commission to provide data regarding the level of openness of public procurement and to ensure reciprocity with other industrialised countries and major emerging economies; invites the Commission to look into new ways of improving the access for European enterprises to public procurement markets o ...[+++]utside the EU, in order to ensure a level playing field for both European and foreign enterprises competing for the award of public contracts;

It will contribute to the development of a policy-evaluation culture and as such will play its part in monitoring the Single Market Act and will help to measure the impact which that Act has at grassroots level.

However, local authorities must be able to sell plots of land subject to conditions (for example, a stipulation that the plots in question should be built on within two years) without being required to open up the procedure to Europe-wide competitive tendering. If not, ‘one may have to accept the hypothesis, however absurd, that all town planning activities are subject to the directive since, by definition, provisions on the possible execution of building works substantially alter the value of the land in question’ (quote from the final submission made to the CJEU by Advocate-General Paolo Mengozzi on 17 November 2009).