With transatlantic trade hostilities to its west and the emergence of huge and dynamic economies to its east, Europe faces challenges largely undreamt of when the European single market was launched more than three decades ago. As the BRICS have risen and the US has powered ahead, Europe’s share of the global economy has declined. Today, its companies struggle to match the strength and scale of their American and Asian competitors.
Exploring the ways Europe can regain its competitiveness in a challenging and uncertain world.
In that light, I recently read Professor Enrico Letta’s Muchmore than a market – a report on the future of the single market presented to the European Commission in April last year. Professor Letta is the current president of the Jacques Delors Institute, the former prime minister of Italy and the recently appointed dean of IE University in Madrid.
In his report, Professor Letta makes the case for a renewed and reimagined single market. To complement the single market’s foundational ‘four freedoms’ – free movement of goods, people, capital and services – Professor Letta proposes a ‘fifth freedom’, covering research and innovation. He also advocates bringing in the sectors previously excluded from the single market: finance, electronic communications and energy.
You can now read the full whitepaper at the link below
