It is impossible to imagine the European Union without the internal market. The quest for a ‘common market’ was the prime rationale for the creation of the European Economic Community (EEC) in the first place. Thirty years later, the launch of the ‘1992 project’ marked a crucial turning point in EU decision-making. In subsequent years, the internal market — guaranteeing, in principle, the free movement of all goods, services, investment and people within the EU — accounted for as much as 70 per cent of all EU legislation. New policies for the environment, research, regional development and social policy were constructed to ‘flank’ the internal market, or to enhance or soften its impact.