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This blog is authored by Malte Lohan, CEO, AmCham EU.

What exactly is ‘single’ about a market where the same product needs different national markings, a cyber incident can require dozens of reports and a professional qualification may stop being recognised at the border?

These examples come from different sectors, but they point to the same contradiction. The EU creates common rules, yet companies still encounter national requirements that divide Europe into separate markets in practice.

The stakes are high for American companies invested in Europe. The United States is the largest single source of inward foreign direct investment (FDI) into the EU. In 2025, American companies invested more in Europe (53%) than they did the rest of the world combined. This has been the case for decades. Much of this appeal lies in the promise of a large, prosperous Single Market.

Yet there are signs that this position is coming under pressure. While Europe remains the leading destination for US investment, its share of total US outward FDI has fallen to its lowest level in more than four decades. More recent indicators point in the same direction too. EY’s 2026 European Investment Monitor found that 943 US companies invested in Europe last year, 16% below the annual average of 1,124 over the previous five years. To reverse these trends, Europe needs to make itself a more attractive place to invest, beginning with a more integrated Single Market.

That is why the simplification agenda cannot lose steam – in Brussels and national capitals. In her September State of the Union address, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen highlighted the need for EU-wide coordination. ‘Simplification cannot be a one-way street’, she said. ‘All levels have to have skin in the game’.

As EU leaders check in on progress under the ‘One Europe, One Market’ roadmap at this week’s European Council meeting, they should look closely at how national choices affect companies operating across borders. That means addressing three related but distinct problems: gold-plating, uneven implementation and the national barriers that continue to fragment the Single Market.

After frying frites, bitterballen, churros or arancini, many people don’t think twice about disposing of used cooking oil. Yet one litre of waste oil can contaminate one million litres of water, according to the European Commission. At Cargill’s facility in the port of Ghent, Belgium, used cooking oil and other residual oils and fats are treated as raw materials, cleaned and converted into biodiesel for trucks and ships. This puts circularity into practice on an industrial scale at one of Europe’s largest facilities of its kind. Since production began, Ghent’s biodiesel is estimated to have reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 1,188,000 tonnes compared with fossil diesel, equivalent to taking about 550,000 cars off the road for a year. Read the full story on Invested in Europe.

In early October, representatives from American Chambers of Commerce across Europe and Eurasia came together in Istanbul, Türkiye, for the 2026 AmChams in Europe (ACE) Best Practice Sharing Conference. Held under the theme Entrepreneurship for Innovation, Investment, Technology and Trade: Building a Stronger Transatlantic Future, the annual event is a chance to strengthen the collective voice of the AmCham in Europe network, exchange views on the evolving business environment and foster closer collaboration across borders.