European Single Market

European Single Market
EU member states   Non-EU states that participate with exceptions
Policy of	European Union
Type	Single market
Member states	28 EU states Austria Belgium Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Germany Greece Hungary Ireland Italy Latvia Lithuania Luxembourg Malta Netherlands Poland Portugal Romania Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden United Kingdom 4 non-EU states Iceland Liechtenstein Norway Switzerland
Establishment	1 January 1993
Area
• Total	4,986,038 km2 (1,925,120 sq mi)
• EU	4,324,782 km2 1,669,808 sq mi
Population
• Total 2015 estimate	522,000,000
• EU 2015 estimate	508,191,116
GDP (nominal)	2015 estimate
• Total	$19 trillion
• Per capita	$36,000

The European Single Market, Internal Market or Common Market is a single market that seeks to guarantee the free movement of goods, capital, services, and people – the "four freedoms" – within the European Union (EU). The market encompasses the EU's 28 member states, and has been extended, with exceptions, to Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the Agreement on the European Economic Area and to Switzerland through bilateral treaties.

The market is intended to be conducive to increased competition, increased specialisation, larger economies of scale, allowing goods and factors of production to move to the area where they are most valued, thus improving the efficiency of the allocation of resources. It is also intended to drive economic integration whereby the once separate economies of the member states become integrated within a single EU-wide economy. Half of the trade in goods within the EU is covered by legislation harmonised by the EU. The creation of the internal market as a seamless, single market is an ongoing process, with the integration of the service industry still containing gaps. It also has an increasing international element, with the market represented as one in international trade negotiations.

One of the original core objectives of the European Economic Community (EEC) was the development of a common market offering free movement of goods, service, people and capital (see below). Free movement of goods was established in principle through the customs union between its then-six member states.