The Cornerstone of Europe
by Grace Ballor, Assistant Professor of International Economic History
2023 marks the 30th anniversary of not only of the European Union (EU), but also of the Single Market. Launched in 1985, the 1992 Program to complete an internal market worked to remove all legislative barriers to trade so that goods, services, capital, and people could move freely between member states. On that “cornerstone,” Commission President Jacques Delors (1985-1995) argued, the European Economic Community (EEC) of the twentieth century could become a Union fit for the twenty-first, complete with a common currency by the turn of the millennium. And as the Brexit referendum and its aftermath showed, the market remains one of the most important aspects of regional integration for supporters and detractors alike.