British Influence: More growth, more jobs - Completing the EU Single Market

21 September 2015

Half of all British trade is with the rest of the Single Market and completing it has the potential to almost double that. British leadership was crucial to the founding of the Single Market in the 1980s; it is needed again today.

Five key points 

• The EU Single Market is the UK’s largest trading partner, opens up markets and lowers costs for businesses.
• Completing the Single Market could add 1.8 per cent to EU GDP – seven per cent to UK GDP – and is vital if Europe is to lead in the global economy.
• While the majority of SMEs recognise the value of the Single Market to the UK as a whole, far less see the benefits for their own businesses; they want reforms, such as harmonisation to reduce regulation, in order to have easier and better access to the Single Market.
• Ensuring businesses can utilise digital technology as much as possible – establishing a Digital Single Market – will be crucial to future trade in the EU, ensuring the EU’s continued prosperity, and could potentially create millions of jobs.
• Far from being unable to influence EU policies, the UK is at the forefront of pushing for reform of the Single Market and has championed the completion of the Single Market in the energy, digital and services, amongst others.

Key arguments

• The EU Single Market is the UK’s largest trading partner
• Half of all British trade, worth £450 billion a year, is with the Single Market ; as of September 2014, seven of the UK’s top ten export markets are EU Member States.
• The Single Market provides British businesses with over 500 million potential customers and the ability to share in £2.1 trillion-worth of trade within the EU and £1.28 trillion-worth of trade between the EU and the rest of the world.
• Completion of the Single Market could add seven per cent to UK GDP. This would almost double exports to the EU, increasing production and wages.

Full report 

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