Goods, people, capital and services are able to move freely around the economic union with the City of London being a firm believer in the process. One aspect of the union to consider is how the debt is moved around the union as well cleaning up the mess. What do Cyprus, Spain, Netherlands, Austria, Malta, United Kingdom, Germany, Hungary, Portugal, France, Ireland, Belgium, Italy, and Greece all have in common? Not only are they all European Union Member States but they also have over 60 percent public debt as a percentage of their gross domestic product (GDP). In other words for every £100 the UK makes, it has to pay out £76.50 in paying off debts.

In the single market debt moves around as well as capital, so should our financial centre be championing the single market cause? Should it be trying to implement much needed reforms or should it be sticking with the winning formula that has kept it in business. After all, the City of London is the leading centre for global finance, global commerce and is the most economically powerful city in the world according to Forbes magazine.

‘The single market is more and more necessary and less and less popular.’ - Michel Barnier, EU Internal Market Commissioner, November 2010

Maybe the City of London knows something that we don’t? There is definitely a competition between the ‘haves and the have nots’. Some economies are busy clawing themselves out of the financial meltdown whilst others are holding out their hands for more money. Ireland recently asked for another 24 billion Euros after receiving 70 billion Euros in 2008. Interestingly enough Portugal has been unable to sell their debt onto the voting public and a new general election has been called. With all of the disasters happening around the single market, why are we still involved?

Could it be that our economic future is intertwined with the success of the euro zone but we are scared of how the public view these things. With the rise of ‘so-called’ emerging economies, in order to compete on that global level a strong open market will create more growth. So there called be a valid justification for more integration at a time of market fatigue, as we cannot live without the markets. Our economic governance and productivity could unlock some of the scepticism around the single market idea.

Growth is the watch word for governments but does it really achieve more jobs and prosperity for people? The single market needs to be viewed in the social context rather than economic sense – people need jobs, health, security, and meaningful lives. A well functioning single market for goods, movement of people and services will provide the environment for the single market.

The EU 2020 single market act is not capturing the attention or the imagination of mainstream public – people are paying more attention to the governance reform acts. A precursor to the single market act was the report on the future of the single market by the Italian economist Mario Monti. The single market, a cornerstone of European integration, is ”ever less popular but ever more necessary”, said Mr Monti. To become stronger, it must serve citizens, consumers and small and medium-sized enterprises.

Here are some ways that the single market process can be energised within the EU area:

1. The economy needs to grow and re-balance around trade policy and regional generation.
2. Energy and agriculture could be opened up within the EU.
3. The liberalising of labour policy to allow more people to gain employment
4. Promoting employment rights without neglecting the rights of employment
5. More certainty about the social outcomes within the single market

So we should re-launch the single market and call it the social market economy. Remember it wasn’t the social model that failed Europe but the financial model. In order for us to be more social we need to consider how Europe is engaging with the rest of the world as other nations are growing at 10 percent whilst Europe is stuck at 2 percent growth.

We all know that the UK and Europe will never enter a happy marriage but maybe it’s time for an affair?

By giving up some of the cherished parts of the British economy, we could fully participate in the single market. Our competitiveness and security would be key issues within the implementation of the single market act. The infrastructure in which a market operates would have more attention paid to it, rather than just focussing on the barriers to implementation. There would be a huge economic impact of doing things in a joined up way across Europe and the single market.

Don’t waste a good crisis!

EU reforms are being made with the aim to restructure the banking sector to channel savings into investments. The primary purpose of a financial service should be to bring savings to investment and stock markets should be secondary. The banks would be well capitalised under the reforms and the cost of finance would fall.

There would be some pain; standards of living will have to fall by 25% to get to a sustainable base of savings rates in the UK. Sometimes pain is needed to ensure a relatively pain free future.