Simplifying the single market

The European Commission has introduced a new package to simplify rules and reduce bureaucracy across the Single Market. This package aims to make it easier for businesses to operate, innovate, and grow, while maintaining high standards of protection for consumers and the environment.

Overview

The single market is one of the EU's greatest achievements, providing businesses with access to a market of 450 million consumers. However, the complexity of EU rules and regulations can create barriers to entry and growth, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and small mid-caps (SMCs), as evidenced by our annual report on European SMEs.

To address this, we have introduced a new package of measures to simplify the single market and reduce bureaucracy.

Key benefits

Administrative cost savings of at least €400 million annually
Free resources for growth and investment across the Single Market
Increased competitiveness and growth opportunities for SMEs and small mid-caps
Ease compliance with EU rules and regulations
Enhanced protection for consumers and the environment

Objectives

Our objective is to make the Single Market more accessible and competitive, while maintaining high standards of protection for consumers and the environment. We aim to achieve this by

Reducing compliance costs for businesses
Improving the clarity and coherence of EU rules and regulations
Enhancing competitiveness and growth opportunities for SMEs and SMCs
Promoting a culture of compliance and trust among businesses and consumers

How we will achieve our objectives

To achieve our objectives, we will implement several key measures, including the following, in particular.

Supporting small mid-caps

We are introducing a new category for small mid-caps to ease their transition as they grow beyond SME status. This will help nearly 38,000 companies access simplified rules and reduce compliance barriers to scaling up.

Single Market simplification on small mid-caps

Digitalising product legislation

We are making it easier for companies to comply with EU rules by allowing them to provide product information in digital format. This will reduce costs and administrative burdens, and make it easier for consumers to access important product information directly online.

Single market simplification on digitalisation and common alignment of common specifications

Common specifications

We are aligning common specifications as a fallback option for companies to demonstrate compliance with EU rules when harmonised standards are not available. Common specifications will provide legal certainty and reduce costs that businesses would otherwise have to bear.

Simplifying F-gas rules

We are simplifying the rules for small businesses that import or export products containing fluorinated greenhouse gases. This will reduce administrative burden and make it easier for these businesses to operate.

Reducing record-keeping obligations

We are reducing the record-keeping obligations for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and small mid-caps when it comes to processing personal data. This will make it easier for these businesses to comply with EU data protection rules.

Postponement of battery due diligence requirements

We are postponing the implementation of due diligence requirements for companies under the new Batteries Regulation by two years. This will give companies and third-party verifiers more time to prepare and comply with these new rules.

Single Market simplification battery due diligence policies

Simplifying GDPR rules

We're simplifying the record-keeping obligations of SMEs, small mid-caps (SMCs) and organisations with fewer than 750 employees, taking into account their specific needs and challenges while ensuring that the rights of individuals are protected.

Helping SMEs access trade defence

We're making it easier for SMEs and SMCs to access trade defence measures, such as providing information and support on procedures and investigations.

Additional documents and information

Next steps and further information

The package is part of the Commission's wider goal to cut red tape by 25% overall and 35% for SMEs by the end of this mandate. We will continue to work with stakeholders and EU countries to implement these measures and monitor their impact. See our simplification packages page to learn more about our efforts to simplify other fields.