European single market

The European single market, also known as the European internal market or the European common market, is the single market comprising mainly the 27 member states of the European Union (EU). With certain exceptions, it also comprises Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway (through the Agreement on the European Economic Area) and Switzerland (through sectoral treaties). The single market seeks to guarantee the free movement of goods, capital, services, and people, known collectively as the "four freedoms".[2][3][4][5] This is achieved through common rules and standards that all participating states are legally committed to follow.

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European single market
EU member states   Non-EU states which participate in the single market via the EEA or are in bilateral agreements with the EU (see integration of non-EU states)
Policy of	European Union
Official languages	Languages of the European Union
Demonym(s)	European
Type	Single market
Member states	27 EU states  Austria  Belgium  Bulgaria  Croatia  Cyprus  Czechia  Denmark  Estonia  Finland  France  Germany  Greece  Hungary  Ireland  Italy  Latvia  Lithuania  Luxembourg  Malta  Netherlands  Poland  Portugal  Romania  Slovakia  Slovenia  Spain  Sweden 4 (non-EU) EFTA states  Iceland  Liechtenstein  Norway  Switzerland
Establishment	1 January 1993
Area
• Total	4,986,038 km2 (1,925,120 sq mi)
• EU	4,324,782 km2 (1,669,808 sq mi)
Population
• 2021 estimate	448,350,000
• EU 2021 estimate	441,350,000
GDP (nominal)	2020 estimate
• Total	US$16.3 trillion[1]
• Per capita	US$39,537
Currency	Euro (EUR)

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A number of potential EU accession candidates have stabilisation and association agreements with the EU, which allow for limited participation in selected sectors of the single market^{[citation needed]}, namely Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia. In addition, through three individual agreements on a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) with the EU, the post-Soviet countries of Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine have also been granted limited access to the single market in selected sectors.[6] Turkey has access to the free movement of some goods via its membership in the European Union–Turkey Customs Union.[7] The United Kingdom left the European single market on 31 December 2020. An agreement was reached between the UK Government and European Commission to align Northern Ireland on rules for goods with the European single market, to maintain an open border on the island of Ireland.[8]

The market is intended to increase competition, labour specialisation, and economies of scale, allowing goods and factors of production to move to the area where they are most valued, thus improving the efficiency of the allocation of resources. It is also intended to drive economic integration whereby the once separate economies of the member states become integrated within a single EU-wide economy.[9] The creation of the internal market as a seamless, single market is an ongoing process, with the integration of the service industry still containing gaps.[10] According to a 2019 estimate, because of the single market the GDP of member countries is on average 9 percent higher than it would be if tariff and non-tariff restrictions were in place.[11]