1986

Single European Act

The Single European Act amended the 1957 Treaty of Rome, which had aimed to create a true single market out of the existing common market. This was dependent on the free movement of people, goods, capital and services. Thanks to the new institutional rules and objectives laid down by the Single Act, the single market was considered to have been broadly established on 1 January 1993.

Another notable advance in the construction of Europe occurred in the same year with the reform of the European Structural Funds, which had been set up to tackle growth inequality between European regions.