20
May
2026
Watch
High time to deliver on the Single Market, providing certainty and predictability for EU businesses and quality jobs (debate)
Madam President, Mr Vice-President, ladies and gentlemen, a few days ago I was listening to what Arthur Mensch, the co-founder of Mistral, our only artificial intelligence giant in Europe, said. He explained to us that today, European talents, which are very numerous, go abroad to found companies. Because the European Union is too complex and because its market is too fragmented. Colleagues, Arthur Mensch is right. And what's true for start-ups is true for all our companies. An Italian SME, an scale-up Polish, a German industry. They must all navigate 27 different regulatory systems. 27 systems, that's the equivalent of 110% of internal customs duties on services. This means that we impose on ourselves barriers that we would never accept from our competitors. And meanwhile, in the United States, a company, it relies on a single regulatory framework. In China, the state puts all its weight behind its national champions. What do we do in Europe? Well, we lose 500 billion euros of growth every year. 500 billion is the price of our fragmentation. So yes, we have signed the "One Europe, One Market" roadmap, it is a step. But a roadmap doesn't create jobs. Acts, yes. And what Renew Europe is asking for is concrete. So here are our five priorities. One, security and predictability for our businesses. A company that doesn't know what rules it will be subject to in six months, well, it doesn't invest. She's waiting. Or even she's leaving. And the 28 ᵉ diet is the right answer. A single legal framework, a start-up in 48 hours in all Member States for less than EUR 100. So yes, we must accelerate its implementation. Two, truly integrated sectoral markets. Finance, energy, telecommunications, digital services. This is where fragmentation costs us the most. A European telecom operator, it does not have the size to invest against its American or Chinese competitors. So we need common rules, we need possible consolidation and we need actors who can grow across the continent. Three, the mobilization of private financing. There are €10 trillion in savings from European households sleeping in low-yielding bank deposits. Ten trillion, that's our fuel. The Savings and Investment Union must make it possible to direct them towards our businesses, towards our innovation, to support European businesses and European production. The texts are moving forward and of course they must be concluded as quickly as possible. Four, stop the overtransposition. The Member States that are adding national layers over our European regulations, this must be done. A European regulation applies in the same way to Warsaw, Madrid or Amsterdam. And five, quality jobs. Because an integrated market without worker protection is not our vision. Competitiveness from below is no. Competitiveness through innovation, through upscaling, through decent wages, is yes. So, ladies and gentlemen, we have the roadmap, we have the proposals. What is missing today is political will. So yes, I know that the single market is not the most romantic idea of the European Union. As Jacques Delors said – as you mentioned, Madam President, I will complete the quote – one does not fall in love with a large market. But this single market is the jobs of Europeans, it is the success of companies in all our territories, it is their ability to grow and create wealth, it is the most effective spring of our competitiveness. So, ladies and gentlemen, the months ahead must be months of action, not of setbacks. It's now or never.