The European Movement in Scotland (EMIS) declared: “The three arms of the European Union have agreed a timetable towards making the European single market more globally competitive. By the end of 2027, the EU aims to have in place legislation that will benefit key economic sectors. They include digital technologies, financial services and supporting the growth of EU city regions. The initiative seeks to reduce bureaucracy and costs for business and stimulate economic growth.”
It noted the agreement to accelerate the reform of the single market, “known as a roadmap”, had been announced on Friday.
Read more
EMIS observed that this followed a meeting between senior representatives of the European Parliament, the Council of Ministers and the European Commission.
It added: “The plan is based on the 2024 report on the EU’s competitiveness by former Italian prime minister Mario Draghi. Donald Trump’s ‘America First’ policies, the almost total US monopoly of digital communications, the wars in Ukraine and the Gulf, and the rise of China…as a global economic superpower…has driven the EU to accelerate its plans to counter the threats of the new world order.”
David Clarke, who chairs EMIS, said: “The world has dramatically changed. The EU is responding with bold ideas and a united sense of purpose. The UK can opt to watch from the sidelines as Europe rises to the economic challenges of our time, or it can choose to re-engage by joining the European single market. We can join our friends and neighbours and fight our corner, or we can be outsiders at the mercy of the USA, China and Russia. Rejoining the single market is the only sensible route for the UK.”