The European Union: Single Market and the euro

What do we consider Europe to be ?

Europe can mean different things to different people:

• an integrated Europe, including the eurozone, the European Union and the Single Market

• a separate superstate, involving fortress Europe or a Europe of the Regions

What do we consider Europe to be ?

• new ways of looking at Europe, including east Europe, central Europe and the European core states

• old ways, including Western Europe, Eastern Europe and the peripheral states

What is the Single Market?• The Single Market began

at the start of 1993• Jacques Delors (President of the European

Commission) called it:‘one of the main engines of the EU’ but also said:‘you can’t fall in love with the single market’

What is the Single Market?• building one internal market

was intended to launch Europe as an economic superpower

• as member states got rid of obstacles to trade, companies would start to enjoy new economies of scale

• more cross-border competition would wipe out inefficient firms

How was it Created?• Removal of barriers to the four freedoms of

movement (people, goods, services, capital) within the EU

• Barriers were: regulatory, technical, legal, bureaucratic, cultural and protectionist

• EU Directives telling member states’ governments to put changes into effect

Who Benefits?• Consumers: lower prices,

greater choice of goods and services, work within EU

• Businesses: fair competition, economies of scale, expand to global markets

By How Much?European Commission estimates the Single Market has produced:

• 2.5 m new jobs since 1993• 800 billion euro extra wealth• over 15 m people now go to another EU state

either to work or retire

But Concerns Remain

PricewaterhouseCoopers identified some major problems in the internal market:

• less than half of all companies think the Single Market has had a positive impact on them

• European companies felt that the Single Market had not boosted their sales and productivity

Concerns Remain

• 90% of businesses think that significant barriers remain

• worker mobility has not increased significantly

What does the European Commission say?

‘Scorecard’ of progress being made in the creation of the Internal Market:

• member states have got worse at putting EU Directives into effect

• only five member states meet the European Council’s target of 1.5% non-implementation (what the EU calls the ‘transposition deficit’)

What does the European Commission say?

• only four have no directives that are overdue by more than two years

• total number of infringements of internal market law has increased

What can be done about Infringements?

• ‘SOLVIT’ centres operate through member states

• aimed at dealing with situations where internal market rules have not been applied properly

• target deadline of ten weeks to resolve complaints

What can be done about Infringements?

The 2003 Scorecard found that SOLVIT centres in Germany, Portugal and the Netherlands have dealt with the most cases

Any Examples?

A Portuguese car breakdown van had travelled to Belgium to pick up an undriveable Portuguese car. The van was stopped in Spain by police who fined the driver 600 euro as the van was not fitted with a tachograph. The Portuguese SOLVIT centre complained on the basis that EU Regulations exempt breakdown vehicles from being fitted with this equipment. The Spanish admitted their mistake and repaid the fine within three weeks.

The euro

• euro bank notes and coins introduced start of January 2002

• Common currency for 12 of the 25 member states of the EU

• Apart from new EU entrants, non-eurozone states are UK, Sweden and Denmark

The euro

• Adoption of the single currency is final part of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU)

• Stage 1: remove barriers to free movement of capital

• Stage 2: European Central Bank set up• Stage 3: Introduction of the euro

The euro

Now go to the Activity to find out more about:

• The Internal Market• The euro

and tackle some tasks on this topic