On 24 April 2025, the European institutions agreed – in response to the long-term need to strengthen the EU’s competitiveness in an environment of geopolitical and economic volatility – on a joint roadmap to deliver the ambition of “One Europe, One Market” by the end of 2027 (“Roadmap”). The Roadmap has not only a political but also a practical dimension: it includes time-bound targets for the submission of proposals and agreements between co-legislators, regular (quarterly) progress assessments, clearly assigned roles for the institutions and ongoing stocktaking for transparency. The wording of the Roadmap presented at the European Council in Cyprus is available at this link.

In the context of the content of “Boosting EU competitiveness: the way forward”, the “One Europe, One Market” agenda is built on five pillars, namely deepening the single market; simplifying rules and reducing red tape; affordable energy and the energy transition; industry and innovation; and mobilising investment.

The agreement on the Roadmap is also significant as it sets up a mechanism for continuous management of implementation and gives initiatives a high political priority, which is a signal to businesses that faster legislative progress and pressure for implementation can be expected in 2026-2027. The roadmap is to be fully implemented by 31 December 2027 at the latest, with the institutions committed to ongoing supervision of the implementation of individual steps.