The Common Market?
Description
This article is from the European Union FAQ, by Roland Siebelink & Bart Schelfhout with numerous contributions by others.
The Common Market?
The Common Market was one of the most important objectives of the original
EEC Treaty. Within 12 years from the date of commencement (1 January 1958)
of the Treaty, the Member States were required to have formed a common
market for products, services, persons and capital within a fully fledged
customs union. No tariffs or quantitative barriers were to remain.
The Common Market objective was effectively attained two years early, from
1968 onward. After this initial success, economic crises during the 1970s
and 1980s induced Member State governments to keep or even reinforce
numerous other, +qualitative; trade barriers (known as NTBs, Non Tarriff
Barriers), such as health and safety regulations.
Since this was a serious impediment to the development of a real internal
market, business leaders of all member states (united in the so-called Round
Table of Industrialists) as well as some EU political leaders started to
lobby to continue on to a real Single European Market, in which
+qualitative; trade barriers would be attacked as well. Member states
finally embraced this goal in the Single European Act of 1987. The project
was supposed to be completed by January 1st, 1993, but some of the new rules
haven't yet been implemented, notably in the domain of free traffic for
persons without border controls.
Personal note: in another respect, the term +Common Market; used to be a
common term in English/the UK (& USA) to refer to the EEC. It was abandoned
only in the early 1990s, thereby reinforcing the impression, predominant
among English-speakers, that the extension of the European Union to other
areas than just economic activity is a very recent phenomenon and a radical
change from the Europe they agreed to join in 1973.
This impression is disputable in my view, as the federalist tendency has
existed from the very beginning of European integration and was even much
stronger in the 1950s (eg the EDC Treaty) than it is today.
Many observers agree that the UK government in particular has consistently
failed to explain to the British people that the European project
encompasses more than just a free trade area (at least for many continental
Europeans), out of fear of losing support for the project.
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