This year marks the 30th anniversary of the single European market. In 1988, Jacques Delors made a comment that went down in history: “no one falls in love with the common market.” However, European citizens take full advantage of the benefits that this market has brought, such as equal rights for all air passengers in the European Union.

Andreas Schwab has been a member of the European People’s Party in the European Parliament since 2004

Doctor of Laws of the University of Freiburg,

Siegfried Muresan is a member of the European Parliament for the second term. He is the vice-leader of the EPP group in the European Parliament.

The European single market ensures the free movement of goods, services, people and capital within the EU, making life easier for European citizens and opening up new business opportunities. Thanks to the single market, any European citizen can travel, study, work, start a business or live in any member state of the European Union.

Romania and Romanian citizens have benefited and continue to benefit from integration into the single European market. This has brought more economic development and more investment to our country, which has brought more stable and better paying jobs. Romanian products can be freely exported to the European market. Romanians have easier and faster access to products from other European countries and enjoy the same quality standards.

The history of the single market is remarkable: after the devastating stagflation of the early 1980s, the Single European Act of 1987 and then the Maastricht Treaty gave a new impetus to the economic integration of the European Union. Since then, the single market has harmonized hundreds of pieces of legislation on goods and services across Europe and set consumer protection standards for all European citizens. Over the past 15 years, the single market has been a key tool in transforming the EU into a world leader in digital regulation.

The single market united Europe, which until then had been characterized by fragmentation. By opening up access to goods, services, jobs, business opportunities and a myriad of cultures across the continent, it has created prosperity and guaranteed new freedoms.

However, in the face of Russia’s war against Ukraine and geopolitical and economic tensions, prosperity and freedom can no longer be taken for granted. In addition, given the new strategy of the United States to subsidize domestic industry, it is even more important to keep the European single market open, reduce barriers and encourage single trade. Thus, the single market increases its attractiveness both for investors and for European citizens. It is therefore essential that we deepen and strengthen our integration into the single market over the next decade.

The benefits of the single market for goods are obvious to Europe’s 440 million citizens. Consumers can now enjoy more products from across the Union than ever before. In addition, it has become easier to buy goods at will from any European country, and citizens can be sure that safety standards are the same everywhere.

In addition, only together in the single market have we been able to ensure that the same standards are applied both online and offline. Our new digital rules, the Digital Markets Act and the Digital Services Act, are the foundation for a new digital economy with safer online platforms and a better online experience for consumers, as well as fair competition for online businesses based on merit. The era of the digital “wild west” is over, and only Europe could do it.

This is what we, the group of the European People’s Party in the European Parliament, have been fighting for over the past decade and what we will see come to fruition in the next ten years. More needs to be done now to ensure that new business models centered on databases, artificial intelligence and energy markets can seamlessly take advantage of the benefits of the single market to make the EU a world leader.

The current geopolitical context is full of challenges. The COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian Federation’s war against Ukraine have brought back some barriers to trade, and the freedom of Europeans to work or settle in another country has been restricted.

The EU must learn the right lessons and prepare for the next challenge. The future Single Market Emergency Instrument (EMI) will prevent border closures like we saw during the pandemic, strengthen supply chains and ensure equal access to essential goods for European citizens in times of crisis. Read the entire article and comment Members. ro