2025 Single Market Scoreboard highlights current challenges and recent progress

The European Commission has published the 2025 Single Market and Competitiveness Scoreboard 2025. 

The Single Market Scoreboard was first published in 1997 to assess the performance of EU countries in implementing Single Market laws and rules. It was extended over time to cover the use of related governance tools. 

The Scoreboard offers a wide range of data on how the Single Market is performing, including an important number of competitiveness indicators. It shows trends in implementing Single Market laws and rules, enforcement, overall business condition, and the level of integration. The Scoreboard also details major policy areas such as growth and jobs, resilience, and the digital and green economy.

This important tool has been used over the years by Member States to follow their performance, compare with peers, and identify gaps and areas for improvement. The Scoreboard is also used to help prepare the Annual Single Market and Competitiveness Report. 

Key findings

Good performance of enforcement tools

The Single Market is based on commonly agreed rules which deliver benefits when correctly applied. The tools for enforcing these rules performed well, with both the transposition deficit and conformity deficit remaining below the 1% threshold. The number and duration of infringement cases decreased in the last year. The Internal Market Information System (IMI) is now used daily in 21 policy areas by more than 44 000 public administration staff from over 12 600 authorities. 

Similarly, the use of SOLVIT has been rising, with more citizens and businesses turning to it for help when their EU rights were breached by public authorities in another country. While the notifications of draft technical measures under the Single Market Transparency Directive are consistently high, those under the Services Directive remain low. 

High regulatory burden and investment challenges

Stakeholders’ perception of the regulatory burden in the EU remained high, and regulation was often pointed as a major obstacle to long-term investments. 

Competition in public procurement has slightly decreased, with an increase in tenders for a single bidder and direct awards. SMEs continue to face difficulties in accessing finance. The indicator on the availability of venture capital shows a decrease from already very low levels, raising concerns about scale-up opportunities.

Competitiveness and global performance concerns

The competitiveness indicators point to the need for more effort to improve the performance of the EU on a global level. While the EU currently matches the US in private and public investment, it lags behind in research and development expenditure. Labour productivity continues to trail behind.

Digital market challenges

Despite the EU’s strengths in specific digital technology areas such as advanced manufacturing and semiconductor manufacturing equipment, the bloc's share in the global information and communication technology (ICT) market decreased in the past decade. 

Green transition progress, but circular economy lags

Renewable energy deployment in the EU has been steadily increasing in recent years, reaching 23% of the gross final energy consumption in 2022. Zero-emission sources account for 60% of the EU's electricity production (between renewables and nuclear). In terms of climate-neutrality and zero-pollution objectives, the indicators show a positive trend in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. However, circular economy indicators are still below the targets.