
Strengthening the single market
European Commission presents new strategy for the single market.
HS – 05/2025
On 21 May, the
European Commission adopted a new Single Market Strategy. The Communication “The Single Market: our European home market in
an uncertain world” aims to help eliminate the ten biggest existing barriers to the
Single Market through measures in nine key areas. According to the European
Commission, these include the lengthy recognition of professional
qualifications, the slow development of standards and norms, restrictions on
cross-border work as well as overly complex national and EU regulations.
Measures based on nine pillars
The new strategy
is based on nine pillars with the aim of creating a simple, seamless and strong
single market. They comprise removing the 10 biggest existing barriers to the
single market, promoting services, support for small and medium-sized
enterprises, digitalisation, simplification and taking joint responsibility on
the part of the EU and member states with a view to implementation and
enforcement of existing rules.
High administrative costs of postings
Under the first
pillar, the European Commission identifies cumbersome and cost-intensive procedures
for the temporary posting of workers as a barrier to the single market. In 2023,
5.5 million postings were reported. The administrative costs for these 5.5
million postings are estimated – excluding the road transport sector – to be
between 477 and 635 million euro annually.
Different sectors – different levels of risk
According to the
European Commission’s Communication, there is a clear need to protect posted
workers in high-risk sectors, such as construction or agriculture. However,
administrative burdens for postings in sectors with low risks of social fraud
and social dumping could be reduced, such as posting of skilled professionals
or managerial staff. The Commission therefore intends to explore measures to
facilitate temporary cross-border service provision.
Simplifying social security documentation
The verification
of social security coverage for cross-border postings (A1 certificate) is also
often time-consuming and administratively burdensome, as it typically requires
physical presence and paper documents. This has a discouraging effect on citizens
and businesses wishing to exercise their right to free movement. In the future,
the European Social Security Pass (ESSPASS) is to enable digital verification.
After completion of the current pilot phase, it is due to be rolled out
EU-wide. The Commission is also supporting the reform of the regulation on the
coordination of social security systems.
Digitalisation as a key enabler
In addition to
addressing major barriers in the single market, digitalisation is a central
theme of the strategy. The EU needs a paradigm shift from a paper-based to a
data-based, digital single market, in which information is exchanged between
businesses and public authorities in real time through interoperable,
data-driven solutions. The Single Digital Gateway (SDG) already provides cross-border access to information and administrative
procedures for citizens and businesses, following the “once-only” principle. In
the future, the Once-Only Technical System (OOTS)
is expected to allow automated exchange of documents and data between
authorities. Moreover, the Internal Market Information
System (IMI) will be extended to cover additional areas of
cooperation between Member States.
Outlook
The European Commission’s Communication is
accompanied by an omnibus
package to support small and medium-sized listed companies (Small Mid-Caps) – another step
towards simplification and reducing bureaucracy. The European Commission will
report on the implementation of the Single Market Strategy in its Annual Single
Market and Competitiveness Reports. The key performance indicators used for
these reports will be further developed in line with the strategy’s priorities.