Strasbourg, 21 October 2024
On Monday evening, Enrico Letta presented his vision for defending, strengthening and unlocking the full potential of the single market.
Former Prime Minister of Italy Enrico Letta presented his report on strengthening the EU’s internal market, outlining key areas in which the single market remains fragmented – telecommunication, energy and finance. This fragmentation needs to be addressed as a precondition for strengthening EU’s competitiveness and security, to avoid EU becoming a “colony of the United States or China over the next ten years”, according to him. A unified telecommunication market will ensure competition, independence and protection of consumers. At the same time the EU needs to invest in interconnecting its energy market and diversifying its energy resources to minimise costs, he stressed.
Mr Letta emphasised the urgent need to deepen financial market integration, in order to create a new paradigm for economic development and innovation. This is crucial to keep up with global players and to finance the fair, green and digital transition. Combining private and public resources is key to financing this transition, according to him, so he calls for the creation of a “Savings and Investments Union”. The current geopolitical situation also requires the strengthening of our common defence capabilities – the EU must act swiftly in order to preserve a crucial level of autonomy in our foreign, security and defence policy.
Central to his vision is the addition of a fifth freedom of movement in the 21st century – in the fields of research, data, skills, knowledge and education, without needing to change the EU treaties. For businesses to thrive and benefit from the single market, Mr Letta calls for the simplification of its rules and reducing bureaucracy, without undermining social standards. Hoping that MEPs will take up these ideas, alongside the report by Mario Draghi on competitiveness, he concluded that the EU cannot afford to miss this window of opportunity to reform the European project.
His presentation was followed by a debate in which MEPs stressed that Mr Letta diagnosed the problems of the single market well. Many members agreed it is important to scale back bureaucracy, avoid the outflow of capital, put the daily lives of EU citizens in the heart of all transformation, properly implement the existing measures and advance the movement of ideas and knowledge in Europe. Environmental issues and climate policies were pointed out both by the supporters and opponents of Green Deal. MEPs also highlighted the need to act fast on the recommendations of Mr Letta and Mr Draghi, while recognising it will not be easy without a single Commissioner responsible for the internal market in the new European Commission. Additionally, it was pointed out several times that while Mr Letta suggests introducing a fifthfreedom of movement in Europe, countries are closing their borders in Europe once more.