Single market

The Treaty of Rome which established the EEC in 1957 had set its sights on creating a common market. That came into being in 1968 with the creation of a customs union.

But it took much longer to take the leap towards a single market.

The Single European Act, signed in 1986, finally set a deadline of 1992 for the single market to be up and running.

It also streamlined the decision-making process to take account of successive enlargements and to speed up legislation to implement the single market.

In the end, the single market was launched on 1 January 1993, though some of the legislation was still not in place.

The single market set up four freedoms:

• Goods: companies can sell their products anywhere in the member states and consumers can buy where they want with no penalty.
• People: citizens of the member states can live and work in any other country and their professional qualifications should be recognised.
• Capital: currencies and capital can flow freely between the member states and European citizens can use financial services in any member state.
• Services: professional services such as banking, insurance, architecture and advertising can be offered in any member state.