European Commission unveils a simpler, more competitive EU Single Market, but businesses remain skeptical

EU business

Simplifying the EU’s Single Market by reducing internal barriers and supporting the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is the key to its future growth, according to the EU’s Single Market Strategy, first published last month. But businesses remain skeptical, saying that simplifications promised in the past have not materialized. At the same time, consumer organizations fear that lighter regulation may put personal data at risk.

At the launch of the strategy on May 21, Stéphane Séjourné, EU executive vice-president for prosperity and industrial strategy, said that in an uncertain world, the first partners of Europeans must be Europeans themselves. So the European Commission (EC) aims to “dismantle the terrible ten” barriers to trade, which include complicated business establishment and operations, overly complex EU rules, outdated product rules, and lack of product compliance, and long delays in setting standards.

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