30th anniversary of the establishement of the single market

The single market gives people the chance to travel and work around the EU and allows goods, services and money to move around almost as freely as within a single country. This has become an integral part of European life. These opportunities create more choice of products and services for consumers all around the EU. Your Europe offers hands-on information about them.

A well-functioning single market requires everyone to play by the same rules. That’s why consumers can trust that the products and services they buy across the EU are safe and meet agreed performance requirements; and that companies respect rules on labour and environmental protection. The single market also helps us to project these high standards and values globally.

The single market helps companies, especially small ones, to attract investments to grow across the EU and globally. It also protects companies from possible shocks to their supply chains, by making it easier for them to find new suppliers and partners. In this way, the single market helped companies to connect and overcome difficulties like the recent COVID-19 pandemic, enabling Europe to deliver life-saving vaccines and lead the global response to the crisis.

The single market is Europe’s best answer to help tackle the impacts of climate change, develop a more sustainable and circular economy and society and take full advantage of the digital revolution. It allows for the scaling of innovative solutions across the continent and helps Europe to secure access to new technologies, critical raw materials and clean energy as well as infrastructure, financing and skills needed for this transition.

• Erasmus - one of Europe’s biggest successes, Erasmus started as a student exchange programme and is now supporting close to 640 000 people in their studies, traineeships or voluntary work abroad (in 2020). In addition, more than 11 000 young entrepreneurs have benefitted from work experience and mentoring in companies in other EU countries through the Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs programme.
• Professional qualifications - Single Market rules ensure that professional qualifications from one country are recognised by another. Lawyers, engineers or people qualified in other professions regulated by EU countries can rest assured that they will enjoy equal opportunities in other EU countries.
• Safety of personal data - theEU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) guarantees tech users certain rights, including control and access to their data, and even the right to request to delete their data. Organisations are now obliged to use security tools like encryption whenever possible to minimise the damage to users in the event of a data breach.
• Vaccines - vaccines have played a key role in bringing the COVID-19 pandemic under control. Once granted medical approvals, Europe stepped up the production of vaccines for Europeans and the rest of the world.
• Energy provision - EU rules on energy providers empower consumers, making it easier for them to compare deals and switch electricity suppliers.

• Safety and quality of consumer products - EU rules and standards ensure that consumer products like clothes, toys, cosmetics or food contact materials are safe to use. For instance, chemicals rules ensure that these products do not contain harmful chemicals. Standards ensure that items like children’s clothes do not contain cords or drawstrings.
• Energy efficiency of products - thanks to EU energy labels, consumers can see how much energy and water an appliance will use. Ecodesign rules also ensure that household products like fridges or washing machines are becoming more energy efficient, helping to save energy and money.
• Right to repair - EU law guarantees that consumers have the right to repair or replace defective products without cost, during a period of 2 years.
• Roaming - when travelling to another EU country, consumers don't have to pay any additional charges to use their mobile phones.
• Common charger - new rules will ensure that people will be able to charge their mobile phones and other electronic devices using only one type of charger. This will be more convenient for consumers and help to reduce e-waste.

• Making business easier for SMEs - a network of national portals, available through Your Europe, provides information for businesses and the general public on how EU rules are applied in each EU country for cross-border users, as well as on available assistance services. The system should soon allow for the completion of many administrative procedures fully online, in all EU countries.
• Timely payments - EU rules ensure that public authorities remunerate businesses for the products and services they provide in a timely manner. .  To further discourage a culture of late payments, current rules will be strengthened, especially to protect SMEs and the most vulnerable businesses.
• Public procurement - EU rules ensure that tenders by public authorities are open and transparent. Public authorities are also encouraged to procure innovative, cleaner and more digital products and services, for instance by opting for cleaner vehicles in public transport.   
• Unitary patent - after years of negotiations, companies will soon be able to protect their intellectual property by registering for a single, unitary European patent. The new system will also make it easier to enforce companies’ rights in court, and overall make it simpler and cheaper for companies to protect their innovations.
• Critical inputs and technologies - businesses need essential inputs like critical raw materials or key technologies like semiconductors to help advance our economy’s greening and digitalisation. Thanks to the Single Market, Europe is working on reducing our dependencies on non-EU countries, including through the upcoming Critical Raw Materials Act, by diversifying supplies, increasing production in Europe and supporting recycling.