Completing the single market is Europe's only viable strategy

Former French Energy Minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher has issued a clear assessment of the continent's economic outlook, stating that the only viable strategy for Europe is to produce more and consume less. Speaking to Cinco Días, the French MP called for an immediate acceleration of European common market integration to navigate growing global economic headwinds.

Sceptics of deeper integration often argue that national regulatory control is essential to protect local jobs and domestic industrial champions from cross-border competition. National capitals frequently hesitate to remove remaining administrative barriers for fear of sacrificing domestic policy control.

Yet no single European country possesses the market scale or industrial capacity to confront global competition alone. Tearing down remaining internal trade barriers and pooling manufacturing strength gives European nations an economic resilience that national isolation can never deliver. Deeper market integration is not an administrative burden; it is the foundation for European self-reliance.

Sources

• Cinco Días: Agnès Pannier-Runacher, exministra francesa de Energía: “La única estrategia viable para Europa consiste en producir más y consumir menos” (6 November 2026)