BRUSSELS, March 19 (Reuters) – European Union leaders for the first time set deadlines on a series of steps to make the EU’s single market of 450 million consumers more effective, underlining the urgency of becoming more competitive against the United States and China.
Below are the deadlines set out in the conclusions of the EU summit on Thursday:
JUNE 2026
MAKE CROSS BORDER SERVICES EASIER
– EU governments and the European Parliament are to agree on a simple, unified and voluntary e-declaration system to make it easier for workers from one EU country to provide services in another EU state.
Providing services across borders is now difficult because of bureaucracy, fragmented 27 national regulations, administrative hurdles and complex documentation.
BY JULY/SUMMER 2026
COMPETITIVENESS OF BANKS
The European Commission will present a report on the competitiveness of the EU banking sector and make proposals to boost banks’ capacity to finance the economy while preserving financial stability.
REVIEW OF THE EMISSIONS TRADING SYSTEM
The European Commission will present a review of the EU emissions trading system (ETS) to curb carbon price volatility and mitigate its impact on electricity prices, while maintaining the ETS’s role in driving climate investment. EU members are split, with some pushing for major changes, and others wanting to maintain the system.
AUTUMN 2026
CROSS-BORDER RECOGNITION OF QUALIFICATIONS
The European Commission is to propose how to make free movement of workers easier across the bloc through better mutual recognition of professional qualifications and skills across European countries as well as their digitalisation and interoperability.
END 2026
EU INC
EU governments and the European Parliament should agree on a proposal to allow firms to set up in as little as 48 hours as EU-wide companies. Under a “28th regime”, these EU Incs would avoid the patchwork of the 27 sets of national corporate legal rules. It is designed particularly for start-ups and smaller companies wanting to build scale.
BETTER PROTECTION OF EU PRODUCTS MARKET
The European Commission will present proposals to strengthen safeguards for placing products of third countries on the EU market to ensure they comply with EU health, safety and quality requirements.
UNIFORM LABELLING AND PACKAGING
The European Commission will present proposals to address different product labelling and packaging rules across the 27-nation EU, including through digital solutions, and to tackle territorial supply constraints.
FINISH PENDING SIMPLIFICATION OF LAWS
– EU Governments and the European Parliament to agree on all pending packages of simplification of EU laws to cut administrative burdens.
AGREE ON PREFERENCE FOR EUROPEAN-MADE GOODS
EU governments and the European Parliament should agree on the Industrial Accelerator Act, proposed by the Commission in March, which establishes a “European preference” for public purchases in strategic sectors and technologies.
AGREE ON SEVERAL LAWS TO CREATE A CAPITAL MARKETS UNION
EU governments and the parliament should conclude negotiations on several proposals that would help create a Savings and Investments Union, which would help steer trillions of euros in EU saving into more productive investment including innovative companies. The draft laws cover securitisation, supplementary pensions, and the market integration and supervision package, which would establish a centralised EU supervisor for key financial market participants such as funds, stock exchanges or clearing houses.
AGREE ON A LAW ON A DIGITAL EURO
– EU governments and the European Parliament should conclude negotiations on legislative proposals for a digital euro.
MARCH 2027
REMOVE OBSTACLES IN EU SINGLE MARKET
EU governments and institutions to deliver concrete progress in removing barriers to the full functioning of EU Single Market, based on obstacles identified by the Commission in its Single Market Strategy in May 2025. These included a ‘terrible ten” barriers identified by businesses such as complex EU rules and limited recognition of professional qualifications and a push to boost cross-border services activities.
(Reporting by Jan Strupczewski; editing by Philip Blenkinsop)
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