José Manuel Durão Barroso President Of The European Commission Statement By President Barroso On The Occasion Of The Hand-Over Of The Report By Professor Mario Monti On A New Strategy For The Single Market Hand-Over Of The Report By Professor Mario Monti

Ladies and gentlemen,

It is a pleasure to receive from Mario Monti this report, a report for a new strategy for the Single Market.

You know that in my political guidelines I have made clear that one of our most important priorities for the future of the European economy is precisely the deepening of the Single Market. The Single Market is not just a market; it's the habitat of European prosperity. And if there is one lesson we can draw from this crisis it is that we cannot have a monetary union without an economic union.

An economic union in Europe is also about the Single Market, it's to deepen the Single Market. This is one of the most important ways of deepening our European project.

That is why the European Commission is now going to work on the basis of the proposals made by Mario Monti.

Professor Monti, I want to thank you once again for your extraordinary work: The input, the time devoted to this and the very broad consultations you have made with stakeholders all over Europe to prepare this report. I'm sure that it is going to be a very important basis for our work, an inspiration for the initiative that the European Commission will present. We intend to come forward with a proposal in July and it will certainly reflect many of the parts put now in this report by Mario Monti.

You know that I've created a group of Commissioners led by Michel Barnier to discuss in more in detail the Single Market, and I am sure that the contribution of Mario Monti will be a decisive one for this agenda – for the deepening of the Single Market as the European market for the 21 century and an essential part of the economic agenda of the European Union.

One lesson that we have to draw from this crisis is that we need to put together all those elements – the Stability and Growth Pact, the Monetary Union, of course, but also the stronger economic governance and increased economic policy coordination, and of course, all issues related to the Single Market. It is so much in the interest of our citizens and of our businesses, for the prosperity of Europe.