The Single Market: What Is The Single European Market?

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The Single European Market (SEM), originally called the common market, now also known as the internal market, is in theory, a market within which there is free movement between European Union (EU) members of goods, services, labour and capital (collectively known as the four freedoms). It involves all 28 members of the EU. Many observers has argued that the SEM is at the core of EU integration. This essay will first of all briefly recap the history of SEM and explain its main features. Thereafter, it will discuss whether it is a fully integrated market by analysing how to measure the extent of integration and subsequently the actual level of integration in practise. Before explaining what the SEM is, it is perhaps useful to understand briefly its history. The history of the single market can be traced as far back as the 1950s and …show more content…

Where goods are concerned, there has been a great deal of integration as the EU has managed to remove some of the technical, fiscal and legal barriers previously restricting trade of goods. Indeed, according to Eurostat, by 2012, intra-EU trade in manufactured goods represented approximately 22% of Gross Domestic Product. This figure is put into perspective when analysing the relatively slow growth in the services sectors. This is despite the fact services account for 70% of economic activity within the EU. According to Eurostat, intra EU exports of services accounted for only roughly 6.5% of GDP. The capital market has also not been completely integrated although there has been progress. Cost of borrowing is still very high especially for small and medium sized enterprises. Finally, the area of labour mobility has been of great interest. The Schengen agreement, which guarantees the free movement of people within the Schengen area has helped with the mobility of labour. However, there are still certain challenges hindering the full integration of

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