30th anniversary of the EU single market

30 years of the single market: a European success story

What is the EU single market?

27 EU countries plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway (through the Agreement on the Economic Area). Switzerland has partial access to the single market (via bilateral agreements).

447 million people

23 million businesses

€14 522 billion GDP

18% of the world's GDP (in current US dollars, in 2021) (US: 24% / China: 18%)

General principles of the single market

Goods, services, capital and people can move freely within the single market ('4 freedoms').

Intra-EU exports of goods (in billion €): 671 (EC12 in 1993), 3 428 (EU27 in 2021)
+510%

Intra-EU exports of services (in billion €): 728 (EU27 in 2010), 965 (EU27 in 2021) (provisional)
+33%

Intra-EU foreign direct investment (stocks) (in billion €): 6 053 (EU27 in 2013), 8 163 (EU27 in 2021)
+35%

Citizens can live, work, do business, study and retire wherever they want in the EU.

Intra-EU employment (% employment of people with citizenship of another EU country): 1.8% (EU15 in 2006), 3.4% (EU27 in 2021)

More than 10 million Erasmus students over 30 years

Benefits of the single market

More choice, lower prices

Citizens benefit from services and products at competitive price levels and can shop online without geographical restrictions.

High standards

Consumers can have confidence that all products on the single market are safe and meet requirements as regards labour and environmental protection. Non-EU countries need to meet those standards when selling their products in the EU, which also means that the single market promotes environmental protection and other EU values worldwide.

New opportunities for businesses

The single market helps SMEs grow and opens up trade opportunities for businesses, giving them access to the largest single market area in the world.

Stronger together

With the help of the single market, EU countries can find common solutions to challenges such as the energy crisis, climate change and digitalisation, and recover from crises more easily.

History of the single market

From 12 to 27 participating EU countries

1958: The Treaty of Rome, establishing the European Economic Community (EEC), set a timeline to abolish customs barriers and introduce a common customs tariff. This objective was achieved in 1968.

1987: The Single European Act set the deadline of 31 December 1992 for the completion of the internal market.

Between 1985 and 1992, 282 laws were adopted to remove technical, legal and bureaucratic barriers that hindered free trade and movement.

1993: The single market was established on 1 January 1993 for 12 EU countries.

2023: The single market celebrated its 30th anniversary on 1 January 2023.

Source: European Commission, Eurostat