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The freedom of establishment and the freedom to provide services are cornerstones of the single market, enabling the mobility of businesses and professionals throughout the EU. In order to implement these freedoms, diplomas and qualifications issued nationally need to be widely recognised. Various measures for harmonisation and mutual recognition have been adopted.

The Artificial Intelligence (AI) Act regulates AI systems according to the risks they pose, and general-purpose AI (GPAI) models according to their capabilities. Published in July 2024, the AI Act should take at least three years to come fully into effect. Guidelines, standards, and codes that complement the act are expected.

The internal market is an area that fosters prosperity and enables the free movement of goods, services, people and capital. As the world’s largest single market, it leverages its scale to create jobs, drive business opportunities and promote European standards globally. It also tackles ongoing global challenges, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, which have led to restrictions of free movement and shortages of goods and services.

The EU launched digital partnerships with several Asian countries and Canada in 2022 and 2023, to promote human-centric, responsible, sustainable and inclusive technology governance. These partnerships help the EU to address vulnerabilities like foreign technology dependence and cybersecurity threats, aligning with its Indo-Pacific cooperation strategy. The EU and the partner countries usually meet once a year at ministerial level to discuss topics of mutual interest.

The setting up of the single aviation market in the late 1990s has profoundly transformed the air transport industry and has greatly contributed to the strong growth in air transport in Europe over the past 20 years.

The free movement of capital is one of the four fundamental freedoms of the EU single market. It is not only the most recent one but, because of its unique third-country dimension, also the broadest. The liberalisation of capital flows progressed gradually. Restrictions on capital movements and payments, both between Member States and with third (i.e. non-EU) countries, have been prohibited since the start of 2004 as a result of the Maastricht Treaty, although exceptions may exist.

Despite substantial progress in building the single market, recent analyses, including those by Enrico Letta and Mario Draghi in 2024, show that significant fragmentation remains, constraining EU companies' ability to scale up and compete internationally. During the May II plenary session, MEPs will debate the new single market strategy that the Commission is planning to adopt on 21 May 2025.

Free movement is one of the four freedoms enjoyed by EU citizens. This includes the rights of movement and residence for workers, the rights of entry and residence for family members, and the right to work in another Member State and be treated on an equal footing with nationals of that Member State. Restrictions apply for the public service. The European Labour Authority serves as a dedicated agency for the free movement of workers, including posted workers.

Territorial supply constraints (TSCs) still constitute a barrier to the single market. TSCs are restrictions on the supply of goods that are linked to the territories in which sales are made at different levels in the supply chain. A study delivered for the European Commission in 2020 estimated that eliminating TSCs could lead to consumer savings of around €14 billion. In the absence of specific rules, this problem has been tackled at EU level by competition law, but with only partial success. Competition ...

A ‘posted worker’ is a worker who is sent by their employer to provide a service in another EU Member State on a temporary basis. Freedom of establishment and freedom to provide services are fundamental freedoms enshrined in the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). The principle governing the status of posted workers is ‘equal pay for the same work in the same place’.