Brussels’ action against breaking of single market rules has plummeted under Ursula von der Leyen, with business groups and member states warning that laissez-faire enforcement is placing the 30-year-old project at risk.
Financial Times analysis shows European Commission action against internal market infringements by member states fell 80 per cent from 2020 to 2022, the first three years of von der Leyen’s term as president, when compared with the corresponding period under her predecessor Jean-Claude Juncker.
Failing to uphold single market rules — set up to ensure the free movement of goods, capital, services and people across the bloc — can lead to member states adopting different standards that gum up cross-border business and hamper competition with rivals in the US and China.