Single European Act

Signed in 1986, the Single European Act is a European treaty that came into operation in 1987. This treaty laid the foundations of what would later become the European Union.

Taking a further step in economic integration, the member countries of the then European Economic Community decided to deepen the free movement of goods, services, capital and people. This is where the Single European Act was to come into play.

Progress was not only made in the internal market and in freedom of movement, but the European institutions were also endowed with greater political and economic power.

Objectives of the Single European Act

If we analyze the objectives of the Single European Act, we will see that they are very broad. In this sense, they implied important changes regarding the way in which decisions were made in the European institutions, while at the same time establishing the powers of the European Commission and specifying what the functions of the European Parliament were to be.

The role of Europe in the world was not neglected either. Thus, a common foreign and security policy was established, all in order to maintain a coherent and stronger position worldwide.

Institutional changes

We have previously mentioned that there were changes in the decision-making mechanisms. Thus, by giving more flexibility, the Council no longer had to reach a unanimous agreement, as it was enough to achieve a qualified majority.

Thanks to the qualified majority it was easier to progress in economic integration, making great strides on issues related to the internal market. In fact, reaching unanimous agreements was only a necessary condition in aspects such as taxation or the freedom of movement of citizens.

Another aspect to note is that, thanks to the Single European Act, the European Council is recognized as an institution for the first time. In this way, an official character was given to the meetings in which the European leaders addressed the main European political and economic issues. However, we would have to wait for the Maastricht Treaty in 1992, where the functions of the European Council were clearly specified.

The European Parliament, as an institution representing European citizens, became more important, giving it the possibility of legislating together with the Council.

If legislative power was left in the hands of the Council and Parliament, the European Commission became the body that had the responsibility to enforce the laws passed in Europe.

Not only was progress made in institutional matters, since it also deepened in judicial matters. In this way, the Court of First Instance was created, which was in charge of hearing appeals brought by countries, individuals, companies, European officials and also appeals related to intellectual property.

Social and economic issues

Beyond the important advances in the political field, important economic and social agreements also took place. Thus, it was decided to carry out a series of measures that would allow deepening the common market, eliminating barriers to the free movement of people, goods, services and capital.

Walking towards monetary union, Europe prepared to establish a common monetary policy. Thanks to the Single European Act, the foundations were laid for a future Economic and Monetary Union.

European cooperation was a process that required coordination, which is why, from the Single European Act, other aspects in addition to the economic ones were promoted. For this reason, labor rights, health, environmental problems and areas so necessary for progress such as research and technology were addressed at the European level.

Trying to reduce the differences between the different countries, it opted for what is known as economic and social cohesion. This consisted of working to reduce the differences in the level of development between the different member states and their citizens.