European retailers and wholesaler note the One Europe, One Market Roadmap as a positive step towards aligning the European Parliament, the Council and the European Commission on a common agenda for the Single Market. The roadmap is one step in a wider strategy alongside the Single Market Strategy and the so-called Terrible Ten.
A strong and well functioning Single Market is Europe’s greatest economic asset. For retailers and wholesalers operating across all Member States and serving consumers every day, reducing fragmentation, simplifying rules and ensuring consistent enforcement are essential to support investment, innovation, affordability and quality jobs.
Christel Delberghe, Director General of EuroCommerce, said:
“Placing the Single Market at the heart of Europe’s competitiveness is the right starting point. The “One Europe One Market” roadmap aligns institutions on common action. However, the Roadmap lacks strong and real commitment on KPIs and deliverables that the EU institutions already committed to and which would really lead to tangible outcomes on regulatory simplification, burden reduction and the removal of harmful Single Market barriers.”
Retail and wholesale play a key role in deploying innovation at scale, strengthening supply chains and supporting Europe’s green and digital transitions. The sector would largely benefit from initiatives focussed on open rules-based trade, energy affordability, consumer protection, products, circularity and digital transformation. However, these investments depend on predictable, proportionate and workable rules.
Advancing the Single Market is vital for retail and wholesale. Companies continue to face high compliance costs, divergent national rules and obstacles to cross border activity, especially in services, undermining competitiveness.
EuroCommerce also underlined the importance of effective enforcement and concrete progress in tackling long standing practices that fragment the Single Market. In this context, the association advocates for stronger enforcement against Single Market infringing and disproportionate national rules.
Retailers and wholesalers repeated their call for legislation to stop territorial supply constraints (TSCs) identified as one of the Terrible Ten Barriers. TSCs prevent retailers and wholesalers from sourcing products freely across borders and deny consumers the full benefits of the Single Market. Addressing these practices is essential to strengthen competition, improve choice and ease price pressures for households. And in particular, they urge the Commission to take action on their complaint against the extra territorial application of the French Egalim law.
EuroCommerce calls on all institutions to maintain political momentum and ensure timely implementation and enforcement, so that One Europe, One Market delivers tangible benefits for businesses, consumers and workers across Europe.
Retail and wholesale represent one in five businesses in Europe and employ 26 million people, many in local communities.
EuroCommerce is the principal European organisation representing the retail and wholesale sector. It embraces national associations in 28 countries and 5 million companies, including leading global players and many small businesses. Over a billion times a day, retailers and wholesalers distribute goods and provide an essential service to millions of businesses and individual customers. The sector generates 1 in 7 jobs, offering a varied career to 26 million Europeans, many of them young people. It also supports millions of further jobs throughout the supply chain, from small local suppliers to international businesses. EuroCommerce is the recognised European social partner for the retail and wholesale sector.
