Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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131. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade to indicate the extent to which single market provisions continue to prevail throughout the European Union; the exceptions thereto; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30872/24]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The European single market is one of the EU’s crowning achievements, and seeks to guarantee the free movement of goods, capital, services, and people. These are known collectively as the ‘four freedoms’.

It has been a significant economic growth engine for the EU, providing for a shared approach to?the challenges of migration, terrorism and climate change, and helping deliver better infrastructure, digitalised public services, and cutting-edge medical treatment. It also creates the basis for a strong Europe based on solidarity, democracy and the rule of law. Ireland strongly supports the Single Market.

All of the above is achieved through common rules and standards that all participating states are legally committed to follow. The provisions of the Single Market extend across the EU and it is a key priority of the EU that its integrity be protected. EU Member States and the European Commission continue to work together to remove and prevent barriers to trade within the Single Market, particularly for services.

Over recent years, the departure of the United Kingdom from the European Union, and from the single market as well as the customs union, has presented challenges. The EU and the UK have agreed, through the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland, and later the Windsor Framework, a set of specific facilitations and related safeguards to allow Northern Ireland to retain access to the Single Market for trade in goods, thus protecting the all-island economy, while maintaining the integrity of the Single Market.

Single market provisions are tracked through the EU’s Annual Single Market and Competitiveness Report (formally known as the Annual Single Market Report). The European Commission published the latest Annual Single Market and Competitiveness Report on 14 February 2024.

The report details the competitive strengths and challenges of the Single Market, tracking yearly developments according to the nine competitiveness drivers identified in the EU's 2023 Long-term competitiveness Communication.

Those are the functioning of the Single Market, access to private capital, public investment and infrastructure, research and innovation, energy, circularity, digitalisation, education and skills, and trade and open strategic autonomy. The 2023 Communication established a set of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to serve as a dashboard of progress regarding these drivers.

While it is too early to establish stable trends, the report notes that nine KPIs have improved, against five that have disimproved; three are stable, and two do not yet have new data. Those areas which have seen a decline include:

• Venture capital investments as share of GDP
• R&D expenditure as a percentage of GDP
• Electricity prices for non- household consumers
• Average PISA (Programme for International student assessment) scores for 15-year-olds
• Exports of goods and services as a share of the rest of the world imports.