EESC backs Commission’s proposed strategy but calls for a more competitive and simplified single market

The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) has endorsed the European Commission’s new strategy to overhaul the single market, while calling for fully-fledged implementation of single market-related measures and effective enforcement of EU legislation.

In an opinion adopted last week, the Committee welcomed the Commission’s focus on reducing internal barriers, modernising the rules on services, supporting SMEs and scale-ups, improving digitalisation and streamlining legislation.

The opinion was drafted by three rapporteurs representing the EESC’s three groups – Employers, Workers and Civil Society Organisations – reflecting the joint position of Europe’s organised civil society.

The EESC pointed out that the success of the new Single Market Strategy, set out in May 2025, now depends on rapid and effective implementation.

‘We stress the need for a coherent and collective European response – a common policy – understood and applied consistently from Brussels to the capitals of the Member States’, said rapporteur Emilie Prouzet, representing the EESC's Employers’ Group

The EESC described regulatory simplification as essential in the current geopolitical and economic climate. However, it warned that the process must be handled carefully, especially as the Commission prepares its Omnibus simplification packages to cut red tape.

‘Regulatory simplification is a strategic lever, but it must take place with full respect for social and workers’ rights. It is therefore essential that European and national parliaments and social partners be structurally involved from the early stages of the legislative process, particularly with regard to the Omnibus packages’, said Angelo Pagliara, rapporteur representing the EESC’s Workers’ Group.

In the opinion, the EESC said it would maintain a ‘vigilant stance’ as the simplification packages moved forward.

Giuseppe Guerini, rapporteur representing the EESC’s Civil Society Organisations’ Group, highlighted that the new strategy needed to better reflect the needs of the social economy: ‘The new strategy for the European single market must take better account of accessibility for social economy entities. The Commission should therefore strengthen, not withdraw, the proposal on the European Cross-Border Association (ECBA).’

With inflation and high living costs still affecting households, the Committee reiterated its call for EU action on territorial supply constraints and divergences in product labelling, noting that these disparities undermine fair competition and create disparate conditions across Member States. Ms Prouzet stressed that it was crucial to address these gaps in the interests of a more coherent and effective single market.

‘Faced with the rising cost of living’ ‘we call for initiatives to eliminate divergences in product labelling, protect consumers, and legislate to combat territorial supply constraints, ’ , she added,

The EESC expressed its support for the Commission’s upcoming proposal for an optional ‘28th regime’, which would offer companies a voluntary, EU-wide legal framework to make it easier for them expand across borders. However, it stressed that the system must not become a means to bypass existing obligations.

The regime must bring practical advantages, such as faster registration procedures and lower administrative burdens, while remaining fully compatible with labour, social and competition rules in the Member States. The EESC warned that parallel legal tracks enabling companies to circumvent national standards must be avoided.

The opinion further called for the EESC to play a bigger role in single market governance through its involvement in the Single Market Enforcement Taskforce (SMET), helping Member States remove the barriers that continue to hinder cross-border business operations.

The EESC backed efforts to simplify the recognition of professional qualifications, including for third-country nationals, but expressed concern about growing reliance on self-certification in sectors where public safety, health or accountability are at stake. It also supported expanding the remit of the European Labour Authority (ELA), particularly to include cases involving third-country workers.

The scope of the single market should be extended to strategic sectors such as energy and finance, as recommended in the Letta report. There is also a need to revise public procurement rules so as to simplify procedures while maintaining key social, environmental and innovation criteria.

The single market remains one of the EU’s greatest achievements but strengthening it requires both competitiveness and responsibility. Reforms must make the single market more effective without opening the door to circumvention or weakening Europe’s social model, the EESC concluded.