The EU’s single market gives businesses access to 450 million consumers. It is the first driver of our competitiveness and the second largest global market. But its rules and regulations can be complex and create barriers to entry and growth. In a bid to create a more simple and strong European home market, the European Commission has introduced a new strategy to simplify rules and reduce bureaucracy.
The new measures will boost growth opportunities for businesses and provide even higher consumer protection for us all. They focus on
- Dismantling barriers: removing the ten most harmful ones reported by businesses that most hinder the free movement of goods and services.
- Bringing new dynamism to Europe's service sector, where cross-border trade is stagnating. Proposals include modernising rules in the construction and postal and parcels sectors and freeing regulated business services from unnecessary regulation.
- Supporting SMEs' development and growth by introducing a new definition of small mid-cap companies (SMCs), extending some of the benefits afforded to SMEs to these SMCs.
- Simplifying existing rules and making digitalisation the norm by allowing companies to submit documents digitally to comply with certain EU legislation.
- Improving joint ownership of the single market with EU countries, which should name a high-level single market representative (“Sherpa”) to oversee the application of EU single market rules and make sure to assess and prevent national measures introducing single market barriers.
The strategy calls on EU countries to do their part in making the single market the best choice for companies, workers and consumers. It is part of the Commission's wider goal to cut red tape by 25% overall and 35% for SMEs by the end of 2029. The Commission will continue to work with stakeholders and EU countries to implement these measures and monitor their impact.
For more information
A new plan for Europe's sustainable prosperity and competitiveness
Press release: a simpler Single Market to make companies choose Europe
- Publication date
- 21 May 2025
- Author
- Directorate-General for Communication
Related news
The Commission has fined AliExpress €550 million for breaching its obligations under the Digital Services Act to diligently assess and mitigate risks relating to the sale of illegal, unsafe or counterfeit products on its e-commerce platform. It has also ordered the platform to take action.
The special panel on child safety has delivered its final report. It highlights the critical challenges children face online and provides recommendations and inspiration on better protecting and empower them, as well as on the age-appropriate use of social media and other digital services.
The Commission has preliminary found that the addictive design of Facebook and Instagram breach the Digital Services Act. The investigation focuses on features such as infinite scroll, autoplay, push notifications, and the platforms' highly personalised recommender systems.
The European Commission issued a fine of €200 million to Temu under the Digital Services Act (DSA). The evidence at the disposal indicates that consumers in the EU are very likely to encounter illegal items on Temu. Temu has until 28 August 2026 to submit an action plan.