Douglas Carswell's Blog

The value of the Single Market

Being part of the Single Market is one of the clear advantages of EU membership, right? 

But what does being in the Single Market actually mean? 

Like many folk, I used to assume it meant being able to trade freely with millions of people throughout the EU.  Except it turns out that the Single Market is not really about free trade at all.

If the Single Market meant free trade, then a producer able to sell in the UK would be free to do so across the EU, too. The Single Market instead means that a UK producer can only produce if they do so in compliance with a common set of rules – even if they are not looking to sell to the EU at all. 

The Single Market was supposed to extend economic freedom. Too often in practice it means wealth creators needing the permission of officialdom in order to produce wealth. No wonder the Single Market block is growing so slowly compared to the rest of the world.

Only about 10 percent of overall economic output in Britain is tied to trade with the EU*. Yet Single Market rules and regulations apply to 100 percent of all economic and commercial activity. Businesses that have nothing to do with pan-EU trade of any kind still find that they must comply with rules brought in under the auspices of the Single Market.

It is very much in Britain’s interest that we are able to trade openly with our neighbours. Given that we buy more from the EU that the EU does from us, it is clearly in their interests of have open trade too. But must we remain in the Single Market?

Businesses in Japan, China or Australia have to comply with EU rules in order to sell their products inside the EU. But they do not need to be part of the Single Market in order to do so.

Switzerland manages to do four and a half times more trade with the EU from outside than we do from the inside. Makes you think .....

*- Yes, you read that right. Depending on how you calculate it, between thirty and forty percent of trade might be linked to the EU, but that equates of about a tenth of overall economic output.

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