Single market conference 2016. EU2016 NL/Flickr. Some rights reserved.Last week, a cross-party group of British MPs tabled an amendment to the Queen’s speech calling on the government to commit to staying in the single market. As a result of their support for the unsuccessful amendment, three Labour shadow cabinet members were forced to resign.
What is the single market?
The amendment revealed a possible confusion by its supporters about the nature of the single market and the European Union. The wording of the amendment, which includes no reference to citizens’ rights guaranteed by EU treaties, implicitly suggested that 1) the single market provides trade access to the 27 other countries of the union, and 2) that the single market is the most important aspect of EU membership – indeed its core.
Under international trading rules, exporters anywhere in the world can export to or import from the European Union.
