Single European Act

The 1986 treaty revision of the European Communities set a 1992 deadline for completing the single market and expanded qualified majority voting.

European single market: An area where goods, services, capital, and people can move among participating European countries with few internal barriers. The treaty’s central programme aimed to remove barriers to these four freedoms by the end of 1992.
Treaty of Rome: The 1957 treaties that established the European Economic Community and the European Atomic Energy Community. The Single European Act amended the founding Community treaties rather than replacing them.
Maastricht Treaty: The 1992 treaty that established the European Union and created the framework for economic and monetary union. It built on the Act’s integration momentum while creating a broader union and new policy structures.
European Economic Community: The organization founded by the 1957 Treaty of Rome to build a common market among its member states. The Act revised this Community’s treaty framework and expanded its decision-making powers.
Qualified majority voting: A Council voting procedure in which a proposal passes when it meets specified state and population thresholds. The treaty extended this procedure to many internal-market decisions, reducing reliance on unanimity.
Eurosclerosis: A period of slowed European integration and economic difficulty, especially during the 1970s and early 1980s. The perceived stagnation it described created pressure for a concrete integration programme.
Amsterdam Treaty: The 1997 treaty that amended the European Union’s institutions and expanded cooperation in justice, home affairs, and other areas. It continued the treaty-revision process that the Single European Act had revived.
Luxembourg Compromise: The 1966 political agreement that allowed a European Community state to delay a vote when it claimed vital national interests were at stake. Its legacy of avoiding contested votes stood in tension with the Act’s expanded use of majority voting.
European Council: The institution where the heads of state or government of European Union countries set broad political direction. Its 1985 Milan meeting launched the negotiations that produced the treaty.
European Commission White Paper on the Internal Market: A 1985 Commission document listing barriers to trade and proposing measures to complete the European internal market by 1992. Its detailed timetable and measures supplied the treaty’s central policy agenda.

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