Europe’s Single Market stands as one of the EU’s greatest achievements, powering economic growth, creating millions of jobs, and raising living standards across the continent. By removing internal barriers, it allows businesses to operate seamlessly across borders, unlocks efficiencies of scale, and ensures consumers enjoy more choice and competitive prices. It also provides the backbone for Europe’s transition to a greener and more digital economy.
This vision of an integrated and prosperous Europe was famously championed by Jacques Delors, who saw the Single Market as a key driver of peace, growth, and unity across the continent. His belief that removing barriers would unleash Europe’s full potential remains as relevant today as ever. However, the Single Market now faces growing risks from a rising tide of national measures that threaten to fragment this hard-won unity. When Member States introduce unilateral rules—often with good intentions—they risk undermining the harmonisation that makes the Single Market function effectively.
A recent example is Spain’s Royal Decree mandating Braille labelling on alcoholic beverage packaging. While the goal of improving accessibility is important, imposing such requirements at a national level without EU-wide coordination forces producers to design packaging specifically for one market. This drives up costs, complicates supply chains, and restricts the free movement of goods across Europe. Multiply this by multiple divergent national rules, and the result is a patchwork that threatens to erode the very integration Jacques Delors sought to build.
Fragmentation of the Single Market not only burdens businesses but also slows economic growth and innovation. A harmonised Single Market continues to deliver significant benefits—boosting GDP, supporting millions of jobs, and enabling Europe to meet critical environmental and digital goals. Preserving this legacy requires renewed commitment from EU institutions and Member States to resist national divergences and instead pursue common EU frameworks that maintain market integrity while advancing shared societal objectives. spiritsEUROPE remains dedicated to defending a strong, harmonised Single Market—one that supports businesses, benefits consumers, and fulfils the promise of a more integrated and prosperous Europe for all.
