Letta Report: A significant call for a reboot of the EU Single Market

17 April 2024 - BusinessEurope welcomes today's publication of Enrico Letta's report on the future of the EU Single Market, with Director General Markus J. Beyrer commenting:

"We very much agree with the key message of the Letta report: it is time to reboot the EU Single Market for today's "large world". This should be driven by the fundamentals of the four freedoms of the Single Market, keeping a strong focus on free trade and openness.

Mr Letta rightly draws attention to the worrying trend of companies and investment leaving the European Union due to an overly complex and bureaucratised regulatory framework, which is also a source of fragmentation. We strongly support his call for a simplification of EU rules.

When considering this report, the Member States should discuss the need for coordination on their structural reforms. The Single Market will only deliver on its huge potential if Europe moves forward with the necessary reforms in energy, labour markets, education and other areas which are largely the responsibility of the Member States.

The report gives direction on issues of key concern for business. BusinessEurope and its member federations will examine the detailed proposals of the Letta report and looks forward to further in-depth discussions, for example on the further integration of the network industries and financial markets.

In such a long and detailed report, there naturally always are points you like more and points you like less. There is a need to strike a good balance for the proposals of the report to contribute to Europe's competitiveness, based on an in-depth assessment of all the elements of the report."