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1. The general objectives of the Programme are the following:

(a) to improve the functioning of the internal market, and especially to protect and empower citizens, consumers and businesses, in particular SMEs, by enforcing Union law, facilitating market access, setting standards and promoting human, animal and plant health and animal welfare, whilst respecting the principles of sustainable development and ensuring a high level of consumer protection, as well as by enhancing cooperation between the competent authorities of Member States and between the competent authorities of Member States and the Commission and the decentralised Union agencies;

(b) to develop, produce and disseminate high-quality, comparable, timely and reliable European statistics which underpin the design, monitoring and evaluation of all Union policies and help citizens, policymakers, authorities, businesses, academia and the media to make informed decisions and to actively participate in the democratic process.

2. The specific objectives of the Programme are the following:

(a) making the internal market more effective, inter alia, in the light of the digital transformation, by:

(i) facilitating the prevention and removal of discriminatory, unjustified or disproportionate obstacles and supporting the development, implementation and enforcement of Union law in the areas of the internal market for goods and services, including by improving the application of the principle of mutual recognition, of public procurement rules, of company law, of contract and extra-contractual law, of anti-money laundering rules, of the free movement of capital and of financial services and competition rules, including by developing user-centric governance tools;

(ii) supporting effective market surveillance throughout the Union, with a view to ensuring that only safe and compliant products offering a high level of protection of consumers and other end-users are made available on the Union market, including products sold online, as well as with a view to achieving greater homogeneity among, and increasing the capacity of, the market surveillance authorities across the Union;

(b) strengthening the competitiveness and sustainability of SMEs and achieving additionality at Union level through measures that:

(i) provide various forms of support to SMEs as well as clusters and business network organisations, including in the tourism sector, thereby fostering the growth, scale-up and creation of SMEs;

(ii) facilitate access to markets including through the internationalisation of SMEs;

(iii) promote entrepreneurship and the acquisition of entrepreneurial skills;

(iv) promote a favourable business environment for SMEs, support the digital transformation of SMEs and promote new business opportunities for SMEs, including those that are social economy enterprises and those with innovative business models;

(v) support the competitiveness of industrial ecosystems and sectors, as well as the development of industrial value chains;

(vi) promote the modernisation of industry, contributing to a green, digital and resilient economy;

(c) ensuring the effective functioning of the internal market through standardisation processes that:

(i) enable the financing of European standardisation and the participation of all relevant stakeholders in setting up European standards;

(ii) support the development of high-quality international financial and non-financial reporting and auditing standards, facilitate their integration into the Union law, and promote the innovation and development of best practices in corporate reporting;

(d) promoting the interests of consumers and ensuring a high level of consumer protection and product safety by:

(i) in respect of consumers:

— empowering, assisting and educating consumers, businesses and representatives of civil society in particular concerning consumer’s rights under Union law;

— ensuring a high level of consumer protection, sustainable consumption and product safety in particular for the most vulnerable consumers in order to enhance fairness, transparency and trust in the internal market;

— ensuring that the interests of consumers in the digital world are duly taken into consideration;

— supporting competent enforcement authorities and consumer representative organisations and actions which enhance the cooperation between competent authorities, with particular emphasis on issues raised by existing and emerging technologies;

— contributing to improving the quality and availability of standards across the Union; efficiently addressing unfair commercial practices;

— ensuring that all consumers have access to efficient redress mechanisms and are provided with adequate information on markets and consumers rights, and promoting sustainable consumption, in particular through raising awareness about specific characteristics and the environmental impact of goods and services;

(ii) in respect of consumers and other financial services end-users:

— enhancing the participation of consumers, other financial services end-users and representatives of civil society in financial services policy-making;

— promoting a better understanding of the financial sector and of the different categories of commercialised financial products;

— ensuring that the interests of consumers in the area of retail financial services are protected;

(e) contributing to a high level of health and safety for humans, animals and plants in plant, animal, food and feed areas, inter alia, by preventing, detecting and eradicating animal diseases and plant pests, including by means of emergency measures that are taken in the event of large-scale crisis situations and unforeseeable events affecting animal or plant health, and by supporting the improvement of the welfare of animals, the fight against antimicrobial resistance and the development of sustainable food production and consumption, as well as by stimulating the exchange of best practices between stakeholders in those fields;

(f) developing, producing, disseminating and communicating high-quality European statistics in line with the quality criteria laid down in Article 12(1) of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009, in a timely, impartial and cost-efficient manner, through a strengthened European Statistical System, referred to in Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009, and enhanced partnerships within that system and with all relevant external parties, using multiple data sources, advanced data analytics methods, smart systems and digital technologies, and providing a national and, where possible, regional breakdown.