A Spanish student wanted to start her university studies in Belgium, but was refused because the original certified diploma of her secondary education had not been issued yet by the Spanish authorities. SOLVIT persuaded the university to accept other evidence so that she would not miss an entire academic year.

A British manufacturer of marine radio equipment was asked by the German authorities to retest its products in Germany even though they had already been tested and placed on the market in other EU Member States. SOLVIT intervened to ensure that the products could be sold in Germany without costly retesting. These are only two examples of the hundreds of problems that SOLVIT managed to solve for citizens and businesses in 2007. Last year, the EU's SOLVIT network handled 819 problems encountered by citizens and businesses in exercising their Single Market rights, of which 679 (83%) were solved. In the fifth year of its existence, SOLVIT saw a growth in case volume of 75% compared with 2006 and managed to keep resolution rates high and case handling times short.

These figures are set out in the European Commission's annual SOLVIT report, which concludes that 2007 has been another successful year for SOLVIT, but also, notes that staffing problems persist in several national SOLVIT centres. Several Member States are still not providing adequate resources to SOLVIT centres to allow them to engage in awareness-raising activities.

Internal Market and Services Commissioner Charlie McCreevy said: "SOLVIT has proved its worth not only as a successful problem solving tool, but also as a model for administrative cooperation between Member States. It shows that it is possible, even within a complex multicultural organisation like the European Union, to shift from formal, time consuming procedures to an informal, pragmatic and fast track approach. More and more Europeans are turning to SOLVIT when they encounter obstacles in the Single Market. With its fast and effective service, SOLVIT offers them a personal and friendly helping hand."

Main conclusions of the 2007 SOLVIT report

Bulgaria and Romania joined the SOLVIT network in January 2007 resulting in a 15% increase in case submissions. Both countries have set up well functioning SOLVIT centres with a good problem solving capacity.

In July 2007 SOLVIT celebrated its 5th anniversary with events in Brussels and in the Member States. The intensification of awareness-raising activities and the introduction of a web complaint form in December 2005 were at the basis of the significant increase in the number of cases handled. However, within the overall SOLVIT case flow the number of complaints submitted by citizens doubled while complaints submitted by businesses remained at the same level as in 2006. Less than 20% of SOLVIT cases were submitted by businesses, which demonstrates a need to intensify information activities for this target group.

SOLVIT also received strong support from the European Parliament in 2007 which crystallized in the creation of a new budget line for further development and promotion of SOLVIT. Furthermore, several members of the European Parliament have become more engaged in promoting SOLVIT in the course of their daily activities.

SOLVIT continued to deliver a high-quality service and numerous success stories. However, like last year the report urges national authorities to adequately staff their SOLVIT centres. Without sufficient staff, it will not be possible to meet the agreed quality standards in all SOLVIT centres, to deliver solutions within the 10 weeks deadline and to engage in promotion activities.

SOLVIT 2007 facts and figures

- The overall number of cases handled increased by 75%. 819 cases were considered suitable to be handled in SOLVIT representing around 20% of all queries received. The remainder was referred to other instances or networks.

- The average resolution rate for SOLVIT cases was 83 %.

- Of all resolved cases, 77% were resolved within the deadline of ten weeks. Case handling time was maintained at an average of 58 days.

- 82% of SOLVIT cases were submitted by citizens. The major problem areas for citizens were social security (32%), recognition of professional qualifications (24%) and residence rights, especially for third country spouses of EU citizens (18%).

- 18% of SOLVIT cases were submitted by businesses. Their main problem areas are taxation (30%), market access for products (20%) and the provision of services and establishment (20%).