Single Market: Commission and Member States meet to address COVID-19 restrictions and protect the functioning of the Single Market

This afternoon, the Commission and Member States will hold the third formal meeting of the Single Market Enforcement Task Force (SMET) to identify and remove barriers in the Single Market. As agreed in its priority plan, the Task Force will address the remaining COVID-19 related barriers in the agri-food ecosystem, on which the Commission expressed particular concern. In addition, the Task Force will discuss the removal of obstacles concerning the posting of workers, construction and free movement of professional services as well as the need to facilitate recovery in the retail sector. Commissioner Thierry Breton, responsible for the Internal Market, said: “We cannot afford forgetting the lessons from last spring: putting in danger the single market means putting in danger Europe’s resilience. The Single Market is our most important asset in times of pandemic. While we need to contain the spread of the virus, we must be vigilant not to put barriers to production and distribution of goods and services within our Single Market, be they food products, medicines and many more. Beyond the crisis, we need to step up joint efforts to removing the barriers already in place and ensuring our Single Market can play its full role as the motor of Europe’s recovery and resilience.” The SMET was set up in April 2020, following an announcement in the Single Market Enforcement Action Plan published in March 2020 with the New European Industrial Strategy.