However, well-documented barriers to business in the Single Market drag on investment and economic growth. Companies continue to face diverging national requirements – from labelling and waste-marking rules to pension portability, licensing hurdles and transport – that force businesses to separate inventories, file duplicative reports, repeat product approvals and operate less efficiently. All at a cost.
The effect this fragmentation has on Europe’s attractiveness for investment is borne out in the data: the EU’s share of foreign direct investment has dropped 22% over the past five years. Single Market barriers are also influencing the choices of companies already in the region, with trade between Member States as a share of EU GDP dropping from 23.5% in 2023 to 22% in 2024. These trends are in the wrong direction, especially as trade barriers increase elsewhere in the world.
The way to reverse these trends is by doubling down on a simpler, better-integrated Single Market. Since the beginning of its mandate in 2024, the European Commission has set the right course with its Omnibus proposals to tackle disproportionate regulatory burdens, and the co-legislators have so far played their part by approving simpler sustainability reporting and due diligence rules. We call on European leaders to demand this same determination in eliminating fragmentation in the Single Market. That starts with executing the actions identified in the Single Market Strategy and finally establishing the 28th regime to bring simplification, harmonisation and predictable enforcement to the EU’s internal market.
In the end, a successful Single Market is one that remains open to those who help drive its growth and advance its strategic objectives. Our headquarters may sit on the other side of the Atlantic, but our companies are long-term investors in Europe – and we remain committed to powering the region’s growth.
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