The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) demands urgent action from the European Commission and EU Member States to dismantle barriers fragmenting the single market and keeping living costs high, even as inflation rates fall.
Despite steadily decreasing inflation in Europe, cost of living remains a concern, as millions of Europeans — especially the 94.6 million people at risk of poverty or social exclusion — continue to struggle with elevated prices.
In its opinion How single market dysfunctionalities contribute to the rising cost of living, adopted at its plenary session on 29 April, the EESC identified single market fragmentation as a major driver of persistently high costs and called for swift measures to strengthen competition, lower prices and boost investment. (...)
To tackle this, the EESC has called for the following:
- Immediate removal of regulatory and non-regulatory barriers limiting the free movement of goods, services, capital, and people.
- Faster enforcement of EU rules that would see the Commission speed up infringement proceedings and use interim injunctions against clear violations of EU law.
- Elimination of territorial supply constraints that artificially inflate prices for consumers.
- Completion of the Capital Markets Union to unlock private and public investment across the EU.
- Promotion of labour mobility and digitalisation to enhance worker protection and economic opportunities.
- Better infrastructure integration in the energy and telecommunications sectors to create a truly unified market.
- Assessment of housing market barriers to tackle rising housing costs.
- Removal of healthcare market restrictions to guarantee affordable access to medicines. (...)
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