What is IMI?

(To find a description divulgativa on the system more extensive in thisbrochure)

Themercadoúnicoit is a space without barriers (allows free movement of goods, services, persons and capital) which offers interesting opportunities to European citizens and businesses and is one of the key elements of the European economy. Is subject to a complex mix of rules (Treaties, harmonised rules and national and the principle of mutual recognition).

The construction of the internal market requiredcooperation between competent authorities of the states of the European Economic Area. The public authorities (whether national, regional or local) are responsible for ensuring compliance with the rules governing the internal market for what they need to cooperate closely supported in mutual trust and adequate tools capable of overcoming barriers practices such as language, administrative structure, etc.

TheIMI (information system of the internal market)is a secure online tool and multilingual facilitates the exchange of information between public authorities, both of member states and the commission and institutions HAT, involved in the practical implementation of European legislation. Althoughend users of IMI are national public authoritiesthe recipients of this enhanced administrative cooperation are citizens and businesses.

IMI helps the authorities to conduct their obligations of administrative cooperation in various fields of the internal market and can be adapted to zero or minimal effort to accommodate additional areas to the currently envisaged. The network connects IMI already thousands of public authorities. Has managed to modernize cross-border cooperation and ensure that the internal market functions in practice.

Themechanisms under IMIinclude more regular procedures of cooperation:

  • Theconsultationsexchanges are ‘ uno-uno ’ between two competent authorities finals. It is for example to consult with an authority públicadeotro state recognition of qualifications of a person to perform a profession, or facilitate servicing an individual or company based in another been coming to an authority of another state to validate or visit any information or document (instead of load proof on the interested).
  • Thenotifications and alertsexchanges are ‘ uno-muchos ’ which allow Member States to share information with other EEMM or commission. Serve to manage in the manner provided by law certain situations such as alerts that require urgent communication and dissemination towards the authorities that may need to know them, or notifications of information or national legislation towards the Committee and the EEMM with possible processes of discussion or adoption, among other uses.
  • TherepositoriesIMI allow authorities to share information related to a particular area in a centralized database. Can accommodate both documents in file as structured information through forms with fields. For example a repository of licenses that can be consulted by the relevant authorities of any state, a repository of models of national documents, or others.
  • Apublic interfaceallows external actors communicating with the competent authorities registered in IMI. IMI is not accessible directly to citizens or companies, but procedures such as the application of 'European Professional Card' or cases Solvit initiated by citizens and businesses trigger interaction in IMI of administrations of the member states involved.

¿Cómoconseguir cooperate effectively with possible thousands of competent authorities often unknown in other states (with other languages) to particular cases? To address these needs IMI arises.

In particular the IMI aid to the competent authorities (national, regional and local):

  • Identify its counterpart in another member state, through a directory of contact details and a search mechanism;
  • Manage exchanges of information, including personal data, based on simple procedures and unified;
  • Overcoming language barriers through the use of predefined workflows and pretraducidos; and
  • Check the status of each case thanks to a monitoring mechanism.

In short, IMI allows states a more effective daily cooperation in the implementation of internal market legislation, facilitating that officials, experts and authorities in any EEMM locate their counterparts in another state without any prior knowledge of its administrative structure and exchanges of information fruitful despite not share the same language.

IMI respects the regulation and supports best practices, emphasizing measures to ensure adequate protection of personal data within a pan-European system. Ratifying this suitability, the system IMI is used for administrative cooperation between the agencies themselves national data protection and the European supervisor of data protection.