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Concept
European single market
Summary
The European single market, also known as the European internal market or the European common market, is the single market comprising mainly the member states of the European Union (EU). With certain exceptions, it also comprises the Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway (through the Agreement on the European Economic Area) and Switzerland (through sectoral treaties). The single market seeks to guarantee the free movement of goods, capital, services, and people, known collectively as the "four freedoms". This is achieved through common rules and standards that all the EU member states are legally committed to following.
A number of potential EU accession candidates have stabilisation and association agreements with the EU, which allow for limited participation in selected sectors of the single market, including Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia. In addition, through three individual agreements on a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) with the EU, the post-Soviet countries of Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine have also been granted limited access to the single market in selected sectors. Turkey has access to the free movement of some goods via its membership in the European Union–Turkey Customs Union. The United Kingdom left the European single market on 31 December 2020. An agreement was reached between the UK Government and European Commission to align Northern Ireland on rules for goods with the European single market, to maintain an open border on the island of Ireland.
The market is intended to increase competition, labour specialisation, and economies of scale, allowing goods and factors of production to move to the area where they are most valued, thus improving the efficiency of the allocation of resources. It is also intended to drive economic integration whereby the once separate economies of the member states become integrated within a single EU-wide economy. The creation of the internal market as a seamless, single market is an ongoing process, with the integration of the service industry still containing gaps.
Official source
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