The Single Market Programme (SMP) is the EU funding programme to help the single market reach its full potential and ensure Europe’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. With €4.2 billion over the period of 2021-2027, it provides an integrated package to support and strengthen the governance of the single market.
The single market has been at the heart of the EU for nearly 3 decades. It enables citizens to live, work and travel wherever they wish, and offers consumers protection and greater choice of high-quality products and services at lower prices. Through legal certainty, access to markets and financial services, investment opportunities and access to funding, the single market is also a launch pad for our companies.
However, the pandemic showed that the single market is yet to materialise in a number of areas and can improve in others, and that a well-functioning single market is crucial for the resilience of our economy. The Single Market Programme pools crucial activities financed under several previous programmes. It will provide a more coherent and agile financing framework to support the following key objectives.
The Single Market Programme will strengthen the governance of the EU single market. It will help to
- make the internal market work better with measures including improved market surveillance, problem-solving support to citizens and business, and enhanced competition policy
- boost the competitiveness of businesses, in particular small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)
- develop effective European standards and international financial and non-financial reporting and auditing standards
- give even higher protection to consumers
- maintain a high level of food safety
- produce and disseminate high-quality statistics
The programme brings many activities together under one coherent umbrella to reduce overlaps. It focuses investment where it will have most impact.
