Single Market 2.0

This book examines the transformative power of the innovation processes set in motion by the European Green Deal and their impact on the EU Single Market. The book is structured into two parts: Part I examines the European Green Deal’s origins, drivers, and structure, highlighting its novel features and the holistic integration of sustainability across all EU policies. It sheds light on the history and evolution of EU environmental policies, tracing their development from the European Economic Community to the ambitious European Green Deal launched in December 2019. This part argues that the European Green Deal was the result of progressive integration of EU environmental objectives into a comprehensive regulatory body that has evolved organically at various institutional levels since the 1970s, and was galvanised by a nexus of scientific, societal, policy and political drivers that converged before December 2019, urging the adoption of a strategic and accelerated response to pressing climate challenges. Part II offers an original perspective on the EU Single Market from an ‘innovation systems’ perspective, centred on the quintessential structural element of the Single Market – the industrial ecosystem. Green Deal-related projects in the EU's Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe innovation programmes triggered significant transformations in the Single Market’s knowledge, technology and skills base, paving the way to a "Single Market 2.0". However, while progress is promising, challenges remain. For full economic benefits and long-term success, the technologies developed in this context need to increase their market readiness levels and overcome the difficulties arising from high implementation costs, structural disparities among the Member States, social acceptance, and the insufficient synergies between industrial, competitiveness and innovation policies. These synergies, in particular, are crucial in the EU's rapidly evolving technological landscape and can become the ‘North Star’ guiding the Single Market’s journey on its road to the future. This book provides valuable insights for policymakers, academic scholars and researchers, policy analysts and practitioners interested in the European Green Deal dynamics and a more competitive Europe.