Constructing a European market : standards, regulation, and governance

Abstract

The European Union's effort to create a single market involves the removal of trade barriers created by divergent national standards and regulations, which need to be reconciled to promote market access and inter‐state commerce. This book provides a comprehensive account of the regulatory strategies and institutional arrangements adopted by the European Union in promoting the single market. It provides a historical overview and detailed case studies of the various regulatory initiatives that have altered the boundaries between the public and private sector in fostering market integration. Efforts to remove non‐tariff barriers to trade have relied heavily on European case law, and this book argues that the European Court of Justice has actively shaped markets by balancing the goals of market liberalization and market governance, while also fostering legal compliance with stated regulatory objectives. Although markets are absolutely dependent on public authority, the book demonstrates how the EU has innovatively used non‐state actors to set standards for market access. By delegating regulatory responsibility to private standards-setting bodies, a hybrid model of regulation has emerged that draws on private sector resources to achieve regulatory goals, primarily by establishing minimum thresholds for regulatory standards and related testing and certification practices. Expected to be more effective than the time-consuming and ultimately limited harmonization of national practices, completion of the single market through principles of ‘mutual recognition’ and standard setting has been difficult to achieve. The effectiveness of this regulatory process in promoting market integration, and its impact on European business, are examined in detail. Throughout the book, comparisons are made with American efforts to remove internal trade barriers to demonstrate the difficulties of constructing a single market, and to highlight that both cases have involved public and private efforts to coordinate standards. Many of the strategies undertaken by the EU echo earlier American market-building efforts.