SOLVIT is an informal problem-solving network of the European Commission and the member states of the European Union and the EEA. Created in 2002,[1] it assists citizens and businesses to ascertain their EU rights where a dispute has arisen between a citizen or a company and a public authority of a member state of the European Union and the EEA other than their country of origin. There is a SOLVIT centre in every member state (as well as in the EEA member states Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein).
SOLVIT is free of charge, and mainly an online service.[2]
Whenever a problem occurs, the SOLVIT centres of the two countries concerned (the complainant's country of origin and the country where the problem occurred) will try to reach a solution within ten weeks.
On 2 May 2017 the European Commission announced a package of measures intended to enhance the functioning of the Single Market within the EU,[3] which included a proposed action plan on reinforcing SOLVIT.[4] The Commission published a report in September 2022 celebrating the twentieth anniversary of the establishment of the network. The report noted that 28,600 cases had been addressed during this 20-year period and 85% of these had been resolved.[1]
The UK's Single Market Centre, which provided SOLVIT services for UK businesses and consumers, closed in January 2021.[5]
References
edit- ^ a b European Commission, SOLVIT’s Helping Hand in the Single Market: celebrating 20 years, Commission Staff Working Document, published 26 September 2022, accessed 15 March 2023
- ^ "What is SOLVIT?". SOLVIT. Retrieved 2022-08-29.
- ^ European Commission, New steps to enhance the functioning of the EU Single Market, accessed 16 May 2017
- ^ European Commission, Action plan on the Reinforcement of SOLVIT: Bringing the benefits of the Single Market to citizens and businesses, 2 May 2017, accessed 16 May 2017
- ^ UK Government, UK Single Market Centre, accessed 15 March 2023
External links
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