1. Making Europe easy for citizens and businesses Practical tools for local and regional authorities OPEN DAYS for Municipalities and Regions Brussels, 6 October 2010 Brussels, 6 October 2010

2. 1. Introduction: Public authorities as service providers 1. Introduction: Public authorities as service providers 2. The front office: The Your Europe portal 3. The back office: The Internal Market Information System (IMI) 3. The back office: The Internal Market Information System (IMI) 4. Panel discussion: Your feedback and ideas

3. How can you make Europe easy for citizens and businesses? Give reliable answers to EU-related questions Give reliable answers to EU-related questions Quickly get the information you need from another country Quickly get the information you need from another country Handle the language issue Handle the language issue Reduce waiting time Reduce waiting time

4. What is the Commission doing to support you? Development of empowering tools Your Europe - a multilingual information portal on EU single market rights and single access point to a wide range of EU assistance services. IMI - a secure online application that allows national, regional and local authorities to communicate quickly and easily with their counterparts abroad.

5. User-centred – no jargon, practical information. User-centred – no jargon, practical information. Accessible - easy to navigate, multilingual and interactive (surveys, feedback, FAQs). Accessible - easy to navigate, multilingual and interactive (surveys, feedback, FAQs). Enabling - with tips and warnings. Enabling - with tips and warnings. Single access point - to all specialized EU help services ( SOLVIT, YEA, ECCN, Enterprise Europe Network ) and national single points of contact. Single access point - to all specialized EU help services ( SOLVIT, YEA, ECCN, Enterprise Europe Network ) and national single points of contact. Your Europe

6. 8 user-centred topics

7. Real life example of problem & solution

8. Tailored to your personal situation No jargon

9. Tips and warnings

10. Interactive

11. Offering EU assistance services

12. How can Your Europe help YOU? Source of reliable information on EU rights Source of reliable information on EU rights Refer people to Your Europe for detailed information about their EU rights Refer people to Your Europe for detailed information about their EU rights Use the assistance services when advising people about cross-border issues Use the assistance services when advising people about cross-border issues

13. How can YOU help Your Europe? Give us your feedback Give us your feedback Spread the news about Your Europe Spread the news about Your Europe Link to Your Europe from your websites Link to Your Europe from your websites

15. IMI addresses the following problems: Lack of clearly identified partners in other MS Lack of clearly identified partners in other MS Language barriers – 23 official EU languages Language barriers – 23 official EU languages Different administrative structures and cultures Different administrative structures and cultures Lack of administrative procedures for crossborder cooperation Lack of administrative procedures for crossborder cooperation

16. IMI is a star… … because it is a strong network of more than 5600 authorities and it is growing bigger every day

17. 1. How does IMI work? Access only with username username password and password and security code security code

18. … because it bridges communication gaps. IMI contains pre- translated questions and answers and, for some language pairs, machine translation. IMI is a star…

19. 1. How does IMI work? Search for an authority in your own language

20. Select the question you want to ask in your own language

21. The responding authority sees the question in its language and replies to it

22. … because it blends into any existing administrative structure. IMI offers maximum flexibility to allow Member States to mirror their internal structures. IMI is a star…

23. European Commission ( IMI Administration and Helpdesk) Competent Authorities Member State 1 Member State 2 National IMI Coordinator National IMI Coordinator Delegated IMI Coordinators

24. … because it speeds up procedures. IMI allows authorities to agree on deadlines for their requests. It also allows them to monitor the status of their request. IMI is a star…

25. Some statistics about IMI Number of authorities registered: Number of authorities registered: 5618 Number of information exchanges so far Number of information exchanges so far Professional Qualifications: Professional Qualifications: 2638 Services Directive: Services Directive: 123 Requests replied to within 2 weeks: Requests replied to within 2 weeks: 60%

26. What users say In the past, we sometimes had to wait for 3 months to receive an answer. With IMI, it is 2 days. Sign up today! IMI is extremely simple to use and you wont regret your decision. I'm glad that we have moved on from the rather hit and miss approach of firing off letters to colleagues in other countries with no guarantee of a reply.

27. Secure and data protection friendly Secure and data protection friendly No additional hardware or software No additional hardware or software Multiple legislative areas (currently: Professional Qualifications and the Services Directive) Multiple legislative areas (currently: Professional Qualifications and the Services Directive) BG CS DA DE ET EL EN ES FR IT LV LT GA HU MT NL PL PT RO SK SL FI SV NO IS LI The Internal Market Information System (IMI)

28. What can you do for the IMI network? If you are not registered yet: Register! If you are not registered yet: Register! Use IMI and give us feedback Use IMI and give us feedback Spread the news about IMI Spread the news about IMI Suggest further areas of application Suggest further areas of application

29. markt-imi@ec.europa.eu http://ec.europa.eu/imi-net For further information or any question: ye@ec.europa.eu http://ec.europa.eu/youreurope

30. 3. The incredible IMI