Timeframe: Completed
Project Manager: Jörgen Hettne and Ulrika Stavlöt

In this project some central areas of the internal market will be analyzed; such as, financial services, union citizenship, company law and labour law.

One of the most discussed labour market issues confronting the EU in recent years is that of trade in services and how this should be regulated. Judging the debates the general attitude towards trade in services is significantly more negative than for trade in goods. In 2009, SIEPS presented the research report Trade in Services and in Goods with Low-Wage Countries - How do Attitudes Differ? (2009:6) which identified differences in attitudes towards trade in goods and services and describes the various factors that can explain these differences.

Focus will also be on the internal market's social challenges, especially the existing differences in the Member State's labor law systems and the development of services of general economic interest.

Furthermore, the internal market's more long term challenges are of continued interest. These are analyzed in connection with the present review of the internal market and within the framework of the Lisbon strategy and its development.