European internal market - Germany / Federal Republic of Germany 1992 - 100 Pfennig

On 31.12.1992 it is done: A vision becomes reality. The world's largest economic and social area is celebrating its premiere and the internal market is being completed. The twelve Member States of the European Community, with 340 million people, constitute an area without internal frontiers in which goods, persons, services and capital can freely circulate. At the same time, a »Europe of citizens« is emerging. In it workers have equal rights and opportunities to achieve equal opportunities for men and women as well as uniform protection at work or comparable breaks and rest periods. For the individual citizen in the EC, the single market brings a wealth of advantages that he is not so aware of. The position of the consumer in the internal market is strengthened: the choice of goods is increasing, the competition of the suppliers is exacerbated and pushes prices down. The opening up of the German market for banks and insurance companies from the Member States will facilitate access to cheaper motor or life insurance, which will significantly reduce the time required for bank transfers abroad. EC-wide investor protection secures investors' money. But it is not only in the goods and services sector or in the capital market that people benefit from the internal market. The free movement of persons also means twelve times more opportunities as a student or new entrant and better job prospects in the common market. The qualifications of workers are mostly recognized in neighboring European countries. Workers, the self-employed and freelancers can settle anywhere in the EC. The internal market is a sum of benefits, but also a task for each one. Twelve states have grown together without giving up their national independence. The vision becomes reality, but that does not complete the development of the EC. Political union and Economic and Monetary Union are the next goals to which the Community has come a long way since the Maastricht decisions. (Text: Commission of the European Communities, Representation in the Federal Republic of Germany, Bonn)