Study on the costs and benefits of the revision of the Mutual Recognition Regulation (EC) No 764/2008 : final report

Regulation (EC) 764/2008 ('the Mutual Recognition Regulation'), laying down procedures relating to the application of certain national technical rules to products lawfully marketed in another Member State and repealing Decision No 3052/95/EC, aims at strengthening the functioning of the internal market by fostering the free movement of products. The principle of mutual recognition, embedded in Articles 34 and 36 of the TFEU, applies to all products that are not subject to EU harmonisation legislation (i.e. for which there are no harmonised essential requirements), and for which different national technical rules continue to co-exist within the Single Market. Mutual recognition is one of the means of ensuring the free movement of goods through the elimination of technical obstacles that may hamper such a free movement across Member States. Previous studies highlight how the current functioning of mutual recognition is not optimal. Shortcomings and limits exist in the implementation, including, for instance, difficulties for stakeholders in understanding if and when mutual recognition may apply, missed application due to lack of awareness or reliability on the principle, lack of communication among stakeholders involved. Consequently, additional (and non-justified) costs may be sustained by companies when trying to enter a new market. All these costs and difficulties may even lead to companies missing out on market opportunities. To this end, the Commission saw the need to revise the application of the principle and the implementation of the Regulation, with the objective of ensuring a better mutual recognition, achieving a fairer and deeper Single Market for goods. A series of policy options were drafted, envisaging different levels of modifications to the Regulation and existing instruments to apply mutual recognition, as well as introducing new tools and procedures. Within this framework, the purpose of this study was to collect data to identify the economic value of non (or partially) harmonised products, the most significant impacts of the different options envisaged for the revision of the Regulation, their benefits and costs, providing input for the Impact Assessment undertaken by the Commission and accompanying the revision.