Enrico Letta presents Report on the Future of the EU Single Market

The focus of EU citizens’ concerns lies in Europe’s strive for competitiveness and prosperity. This week, EU leaders came together for a special European Council summit on 17-18 April 2024 to discuss economic and competitiveness issues. At this summit, Enrico Letta presented his finished report to EU leaders. The 147-page document features a high-level special report on the future of the Single Market and plans on how to revamp it. 

The Single Market was first established to strengthen European integration by eliminating trade barriers, ensuring fair competition, and promoting cooperation and solidarity among Member States. This free movement of goods, services and people allowed for enhanced competition, and fostered innovation. The Single Market has proven to be a powerful boost for the European economy, in turn making Europe a more attractive trading partner. Thirty years later, the Single Market continues to be a cornerstone of European integration and values, but with the international scenario having profoundly changed, it has been highlighted that there is a need to develop a new Single Market. This is where Enrico Letta comes in.

To construct this report, Letta visited 65 European cities and took part in more than 400 meetings between September 2023 and April 2024. These meetings involved national governments, the main European institutions, political groups within the European Parliament and with those from countries that share the Single Market without being EU members and, candidate countries for accession. 

The headings of Letta’s report are as follows:

• A Single Market to finance strategic goals.
• A Single Market to play big: scale matters.
• A sustainable Single Market for all.
• A Single Market to go fast and go far.
• The Single Market beyond its borders. 

As the global demographic and economic landscape has dramatically shifted, the EU’s share of the global economy has diminished. This trend is partially due to geopolitical changes but also demographic changes, as the EU is facing a shrinking and ageing population. Wars and trade conflicts are increasingly undermining the principles of a rules-based international system. A new framework needs to be constructed but must protect the fundamental freedoms, be based on a level playing field, and also support the establishment of a dynamic and effective European industry policy. 

The European Commission are set to organise special meetings to discuss the strategic implications of the report and formulate a collective response.