Towards a Single Market: Strengthening the Economic Dimension of the Rule of Law

  • Inmaculada Ordiales Hurtado Área de Estudios y Análisis del CES de España, Spain
Keywords: Single Market, rule of law, investment, economic activity

Abstract

Geopolitical uncertainty and global challenges have led the European Union to prioritize the strengthening of the Single Market as the core of its growth and investment strategy for 2024-2029, highlighting the importance of monitoring its evolution and linking it to the Rule of Law, which is key to ensuring a stable and reliable economic environment. The article will briefly present the advantages offered by the Single Market as a driving force for productive activity and investment. It will address the main obstacles detected for its effective construction, delving into those related to the national appropriation of EU laws. The existing tools to overcome this problem (SMET, Solvit, EUPilot) will be analyzed and the recent incorporation of the Single Market dimension in the 2025 Rule of Law Report will be assessed.

Received: 20 April 2026
Accepted: 25 May 2026

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Author Biography

Inmaculada Ordiales Hurtado, Área de Estudios y Análisis del CES de España, Spain

Holds a degree in Economics and Business Administration from the Complutense University of Madrid. PhD in Economics since 2015. Specialist in Quantitative Research Methodology from the Polytechnic University of Madrid and the CSIC and Postgraduate Studies at the Grande École Supérieure de Commerce Extérieur de Paris. Currently, she is Head of the Economic Area of the Studies and Analysis Area of the Economic and Social Council of Spain, where she has worked since 1999. Her main areas of work include the Spanish and European economy, the production model, the competitive environment and public policies in general. Since 2017, she has been responsible for coordinating the Economic and Social Council’s reports on EU economic governance. Author of several publications in the fields of economics, digitalization and sustainability.

Published
2026-10-27
How to Cite
Ordiales Hurtado, Inmaculada. 2026. “Towards a Single Market: Strengthening the Economic Dimension of the Rule of Law”. Deusto Journal of European Studies, no. 75 (October), 173-201. https://doi.org/10.18543/ced.3637.