SINGLE MARKET

noun (Business World) A free trade association allowing for a common currency and largely unrestricted movement of goods, capital, personnel, etc. between countries; specifically, such a free market as the basis for trade between member states of the EC (also known more fully as the single European market), planned for full implementation by the end of 1992. Etymology: Formed by compounding; a market in which, instead of trading co-operatively but individually, the member states would come together to form a single unit. The word single seems to have been substituted consciously for the common of Common Market in the sixties, before an actual plan for nineteen ninety-two was put forward. History and Usage: The removal of barriers to trade has been an important aim of the European Community since its creation, but it was not until the Milan summit of June 1985 that a definite target was set for the creation of a single market by 31 December 1992. From about 1989 onwards, there was a concerted government advertising compaign in the UK, urging companies to make themselves aware of the implications of the single market and to take advantage of the opportunities it offered for growth and enterprise. French officials now see the pillars to France's European policy as being: the development of the single European market, with the further opening of frontiers providing an important spur to economic growth, [etc.]. Financial Times 24 Mar. 1987, section 1, p. 3 In favour of a total ban are the state monopoly producers--Italy, France, Spain and Portugal. It is in their interests to block tobacco imports and protect their national products, against the spirit of the Single Market. Marketing 17 May 1990, p. 1