Breathtaking in its scope of sweeping away red tape, the program called for 282 new measures to be enacted across the Community to construct a single market and bring national laws into line. As economic growth accelerated across the continent in the latter half of the decade, the goal of a single European market captured the imagination of governments and investors alike. But by the end of 1990, after German reunification convinced the continent's leaders that they had to accelerate the pace of European union, the global economy began to slow down, and people became more concerned about protecting their livelihoods. As a result, citizens started questioning the surrender of their national sovereignty, an outcome that was implicit in such union goals as a single currency and a common foreign and security policy. Some hope the storm will blow over when the European economy revives.
People get far too euphoric during the good times and far too depressed during the bad times.
But the current economic crisis is shaping up to be one of the more enduring periods of trouble the Community has faced. Economists say high unemployment and low growth are likely to persist at least through 1995. Major companies, such as Germany's luxury car maker Daimler-Benz, the Dutch electronics giant Philips and the French computer concern Groupe Bull, have laid off tens of thousands of workers in restructuring campaigns to prepare for the open challenge of the unified market. Already, several governments have started backpedaling from the more ambitious aims of the single market program. The goal of passport-free travel has been blocked by worries, particularly in Britain and Denmark, about unchecked immigration and the spread of international crime.