Re: Makes sense
The original common market was a much more limited free trade area. Coal and steel, and lack of tariffs. But if you were doing business in an area involving elfin safety, consumer protections, etc you had to deal with red tape on a country-by-country basis. Not that there was much of that in those days: if your toy had jagged edges, that was no business of the law (kid I knew at primary school managed to lose an eye).
For example, my first bike (as a child) wasn't legal under UK law due to not having a front brake, but was a lot easier for a child to ride due to both gear change and brake being back-pedal operated. And safer: borrowing a bike with a front brake, I went head-over-heels braking on the downhill! Mrs Thatcher's single market was about making it easy for a bike manufacturer to find a single set of rules that would make its bikes legal to sell throughout the EU.
Particularly important in areas like medicines, where red tape is complex and compliance onerous and very expensive.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
