Council sets priorities for future Single Market policy in the post COVID-19 era
The Council today adopted a set of conclusions on the role of a deepened and fully functioning Single Market for a strong economic recovery and a competitive and sustainable European Union.
If the recent crisis has taught us something, it is that the road towards a robust and resilient recovery of the EU economy passes through a fully functioning and more integrated Single Market. Enhanced compliance and enforcement of commonly adopted rules, better governance and structural reforms depend on all of us.
Peter Altmaier, German Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy
In these conclusions, the Council acknowledges the importance of strengthening and deepening the Single Market with a view to relaunching the EU economy in the post COVID-19 era.
Member states are invited to improve the implementation and enforcement of EU rules in the area of the Single Market, as well as remove unnecessary barriers to cross-border trade in the EU.
The Commission is urged to include in its strategic report an assessment of the resilience of the Single Market drawing lessons from the COVID-19 crisis. This report, to be presented by 15 January 2021, should also cover the state of implementation of the 2020 Enforcement Action Plan and progress in addressing barriers in the Single Market and suggest on the basis of these assessments any action, including regulatory, that needs to be taken. It would provide the basis for future discussions ahead of the March 2021 European Council on the Single Market.