Single market
Discover the benefits of the EU single market and how it facilitates everyday life, stimulates growth and boosts innovation.
Established in 1993, it guarantees that goods, services, people and capital can move freely throughout the territory of the EU: the 'four freedoms'.
The single market is one of the greatest EU achievements.
The EU single market in numbers
Benefits of the single market
Live, travel, work and retire across the EU.
High standards for safer products and services.
More choice and lower prices for consumers.
New business opportunities inside and outside the EU.
The single market makes businesses and citizens' lives much easier, whilst being a driver of EU competitiveness and growth.
A resilient single market for the future
Faced with a new geopolitical reality and increasingly complex challenges, the EU is working on further completing and strengthening its single market.
In March 2026, EU leaders launched a ‘One Europe, One Market’ agenda, which includes strategic guidance, concrete specific measures and ambitious deadlines to prevent and remove barriers to the four freedoms of the single market.
The EU is also working to boost its strategic autonomy to secure supply chains and reduce external dependencies on, for example, regarding critical raw materials, and to enhance its resilience to better anticipate, prepare for and respond to the impact of future crises.
Latest explainers
The EU customs union
Modernising the EU customs union
Support for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)
Last review: 13 August 2026
