Recent trends in EU internal market legislation: Bringing back the old concept?

This chapter revisits the concept of the internal market and the role of EU legislative harmonisation therein in the light of a number of challenges and developments, including the digital and green transitions of our society. More specifically, it will be assessed whether and to what extent these developments impact the EU’s legislative strategy in realising a ‘complete’ internal market. Or can we perhaps discern other trends in legislative harmonisation well beyond the idea of an internal market, wherein free trade and undistorted competition are prioritised? The internal market may then once again be seen as a ‘powerful unit of production’, providing the possibility for an increase in stability, an accelerated standard of living, and the development of harmonious relations, echoing Spaak’s 1956 report on the EEC’s common market. With a view to addressing this question, the original idea of harmonisation within the context of the internal market, as also described by Slot in his seminal article, will be outlined before current trends of the EU’s legislative praxis will be described.