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The Single Market in Danger Both consumers and industries benefit from the EU Single Market; that’s why we are concerned about diverse national initiatives appearing in several Member States. The green transition led by the European Commission must become an opportunity to re-align all Member States on common, harmonised rules to avoid fragmentation of the Single Market, ensure consumer trust in it and support industry competitiveness. Mella Frewen
U
nited in diversity“ is a motto rightly cherished in the European Union. We are „united“ in a common space without borders, with free movement of people and goods at its core, and „diverse“ in the languages we speak, in the cultures to which we belong, and in the food we eat – to mention just a few. The Single Market, established nearly 30 years ago, is the corner stone of
the European Union. Food and drink products can travel throughout the EU freely, bringing a diversity of culinary tastes and traditions to the tables of all Europeans, wherever they may be in the region. Enabling regional products from every corner of Europe to be enjoyed at any time in all parts of the Union highlights the cultural dimension of the Single Market: it is not a mere economy-driven
ERNÄHRUNG | Nutrition volume 45 | 05. 2021
mechanism, it enables Europeans to discover one another and brings them closer together. The Single Market also enables micro, small and medium enterprises to access a market of 450 million consumers, well beyond the borders of the country in which they operate. It is by far the EU food and drink industry’s main market, accounting for around 90 % of its turnover.
