For decades, it has been Europe’s strongest asset, the backbone of our prosperity, and increasingly the cornerstone of our sovereignty. And yet, in the areas that matter most, we still do not have one market. We have the sum of 27 national markets.
This fragmentation is not a technical flaw. It is a political and strategic weakness. We pay for it in higher costs, weaker investment, slower innovation, and reduced capacity to act in the world. Europe’s problem is not diagnosis. The problem is speed, ownership and political commitment.
This is why we need a bold political commitment to strengthen and complete the single market. We need an agreement that creates a fast track for the steps required to complete it, endorsed by the presidents of the EU institutions. It should have a name that matches its ambition: the One Market Act.
In 1992, Europe moved from a common market to a single market. Now we need the next step: one market. This is not about treaty change. The actions we need are already possible under the existing framework. We can act immediately. The tools are there; what Europe needs is execution.
The One Market Act should focus on a limited package of true game-changers. Not dozens of files. A small number of priorities, chosen because they reinforce each other and strike at the heart of fragmentation.
Three priorities are sectoral.